Problems with 2008 Dodge Avenger POWER TRAIN

Transmission keeps slipping; i've had my car in the shop four times within two years and all they keep telling me that it is normal to have to bring the car in and have the transmission reprogrammed. *tr

2008 dodge avenger, 2.6l v-6, automatic transmission, 38000 miles. gear shifter stuck in park. there was absolutely no warning this failure was taking place. vehicle was driven the day before, parked overnight and the next morning the shifter was stuck in park. after doing research on this problem, it appears this has been an ongoing issue for this make and model of chrysler/plymouth product effecting upwards of 500 - 600 vehicles across the nation with the repair costs ranging from $230.00 - $400.00 +, not including the towing charges and other out of pocket expenses. this repair is not covered under the extended warranty. this is obviously a design flaw and the vehicle should be recalled and repaired at no cost to the consumer. *tr

A spring on the shifter assembly broke/melted and now the whole shifter assembly has to be replaced . *tr

My car was stuck in park. no warning or anything wrong with the transmission. it had to be towed to the dealership. they replaced a $20 plastic piece under the gear shifter that had broken, $400 and 2 days later i had my car back. this is a leading trend for this model of vehicle and should be a recall. *tr

Defective shift assembly, locks the car into park and cannot shift at all. can't drive the car. has to be towed to dealer and pay to fix a defective part that apparently, many 2008 dodge avenger owners have had problems with. the dealer is saying that since our warranty "just" ran out it will be at least $350 to fix. i understand that the part cost .75 cents. what our are rights!!!!! *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the gear would not release when the contact attempted to shift out of park. the manufacturer filed report 19810862 and stated that someone would notify her. the vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the failure and the current mileages were 57,719. updated 10/20/10 *bf updated 10/26/10

My car is stuck in park and will not move gears. i have researched on this and came to find out there are numerous of other customers with the same complaint. *tr

I have had no issues with this vehicle. 2008 dodge charger... purchased approximately 6 months ago, used and as/is. just took it to for an oil change two weeks ago, drive it on the weekends regularly with zero issues. got in vehicle today to pick up children and vehicle would not shift out of park. there is no recall, nothing being done about this issue that i have researched and found to be a "non-issue" by dodge. i have researched this same problem, and found numerous people with the same issue... gear shift module does not work and it's all of a sudden with no issues leading up to it. recall please. and this is a safety issue because of all the "what-ifs" that remain with this scenario. *tr

Defective shift assembly, locks the car into park and cannot shift at all. can't drive the car. has to be towed to dealer and pay to fix a defective part that apparently, many 2008 dodge avenger owners have had problems with. *tr

2008 dodge avenger will not shift into gear. the car has about 50k miles on it. i have read this is a common problem. *tr

2008 dodge avenger - car working perfectly before. parked and left at 5pm went out to do errands at 7pm and car would not disengage from park. dodge dealership called and will be fixed. *tr

Drove my car to work without any problems. it sat in the parking lot all day (10am - 5pm) then when i went to leave the car wouldn't shift out of park. *tr

Car was driving fine and without warning is now unable to shift from park without using the manual shift override. *tr

I have a 2008 dodge avenger r/t and yesterday i went out to my car to leave work and it would not come out of park. i googled the issue and found out that others, just like i, have had a piece in the shifter assembly break. unfortunately my warranty ended 3 months ago and i had to pay for this part out of pocket. the part i am replacing the broken part with is going to be exactly the same. i am certain i will have to replace this part again within a few years, if not sooner. this is a manufacturing defect and should not have to be fixed at the owners expense. nor should my family or the many others have to settle with sub par parts because daimler chrysler wants to save a couple of bucks by assembling cheap parts. my car is currently sitting in my driveway waiting to be repaired. thankfully i have a second vehicle and am able to get to work, however my wife and daughter must sit at home until i am home for work due to this issue. i really hope a recall happens soon. *tr

I have a 2008 dodge avenger and just the other day a little piece of plastic in the gear shifter broke, luckily it was in park and no one was driving the car when it broke. i spoke to dodge and the explained to me because the car was out of warranty that it was not a defective part but if you look on the internet the is a major problem. so either this plastic piece is defective or dodge makes parts just to last until the warranty runs out where they can get more money out of the consumer. the part can be replaced but you have to buy the hole assembly for one little plastic piece. *tr

I have an 08 dodge avenger with 26,866 miles. i was unable to move my car out of park into any other hear. i applied the brake, shifted the wheels, and tried the manual override but was still unable to get the car to shift out of park. the car was running fine, but would not shift. i took it to the dodge dealer and they replaced the shifter. i had to pay 100 to have this done. according to carcomplaints.com several people have had this issue with their avengers as well as their chargers. this is a dodge manufacturing issue and should be a recall service for all consumers that have a dodge avenger or a dodge charger. *tr

2008 dodge avenger is stuck in park, will not shift out of park. *tr

2008 dodge avenger: gear shift will not allow gear to move out of park. obviously a manufacturer defect. dodge has not recalled to fix the part. the cost of repair exceeds $400. i have removed gear shift plate and have to manually move a plastic part to shift gears. this is obviously dangerous. dodge is aware of the problem yet has not recalled in order to fix the defect - they are making the customer fix a mechanical problem at the customer's cost. *tr

Bought my car in march of 2009 it's a dodge avenger 2008, i have never had any problems with this car. as of 7/21/10 i get in the car with my children to go to the store and find that the shifter will not go out of park reason is there is a pink plastic piece under the gear shift plate that the spring flew off somewhere and the cable is not catching anything to let the car go in reverse. there has been three other people that i know plus i found a website that unfortunately alot of people that have the same car are having the same issue. this is ridiculous that there has not been a recall on this problem when the piece cost $40 but the dealership wants to charge $400 i am a single mother of two children and can't afford to pay for this. i have no other car. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the contact stated that the vehicle was stuck in the park position and would not shift out of position. the failure only occurred one time. the contact had not spoken with either the dealership nor the manufacturer when the complaint was filed. the vin was unavailable. the current and failure mileages were approximately 50,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. after starting the vehicle the contact noticed that the gear shifter would not shift out of the parking gear. the failure was not diagnosed by the dealer. there were no prior warnings. the current and failure mileages were 52,000. updated 09/15/10. *lj updated 09/16/10

It happened after the car was parked for 2 days. i went to start it up, and it wouldn't come out of park. after running a diagnostic test there were no errors found. i google searched the problem and found this link: http://www.carcomplaints.com/dodge/avenger/2008/transmission/transmission_stuck_in_park.shtml in there were similar issues people expressed anguish over. i read one post talking about a pink plastic part that had been the whole issue. sure enough, i went to my car and located the piece and did as others said, and my car was able to move out of park. i have not contacted a dealership about this yet, but knowing chrysler they probably won't offer this as a recall/warranty part. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the contact stated that he stopped the vehicle and shifted into park gear but the vehicle would not shift back into drive. the contact disconnected the linkage inside of the engine compartment. the vehicle then began to function normally. the vehicle was not examined by a dealer or local mechanic. the failure and current mileages were 100,000.

Automatic transmission: i was not able to put the car into drive, reverse or neutral. *tr

I got off work yesterday july 17 2010 and attempted 2 leave. except i couldn't because without warning my 2008 dodge avenger would not shift out of park..i. have only 36,056 miles on it and because i do when i called dodge 24 hr roadside assistance they wanted me 2 pay for the tow fee..but luckily it was a saturday so the dealership service dept was closed. i had 2 find a ride home and when i did i googled the problem and it took me 2 a website car complaints.com and its plenty other people who have had the same exact problem..so i read threw most of them and every 1 was saying how they pressed a pink button under the gearshift module 2 get the car out of park..so i got excited went back 2 my job where my car sat in the parking lot and pressed da pink button with a flat head screw driver jst 2 get the car out of park and drove it home where i got it sitting till monday morning wen i call the dodge dealership and complain bout their faulty piece of plastic that's messing every 1s 08 avenger up..i'm happy i'm avoiding a $105 towing fee but so unhappy at what i prepared 2 hear from the dealership 2 morrow. this problem is chrysler dodge fault and should b recalled. i take great care of my vehicle and i've been its only owner..if they don't offer 2 pay 4 it which i'm guessing they won't since majority of the complainers had 2 pay over $300 labor fees plus for a $45 part it would b highly unacceptable. please make sure dodge recalls this and give their once happy loyal customers their money back. *tr

Drove the 2008 avenger last night (thursday 7/15/2010), parked in the driveway. started the car today (7/16/2010) and car will not come out of park. stuck here till monday and have to have car towed to dodge dealer. goggled problem, and found 155 exact complaints. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the vehicle would not shift out of park gear. the contact stated he viewed detailed information regarding how to disengage the linkage inside of the engine in order to get the vehicle to shift out of park. each time the vehicle was shifted into park, the failure recurred. the vehicle was not examined by the dealer to determine the cause of failure. the failure and current mileages were 38,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the contact stated while attempting to reverse, the gear shift selector became lodged in the park position. the contact was able to dislodge the shifter but the vehicle would not respond to the selected gears. the dealer advised that the shifter would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not under recall. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 90,000.

I have 2008 dodge avenger and the automatic gear shift stick lock up in the park position. the override button under the cup holder failed to work also. i read on the internet that this has happened frequently with this vehicle model. my car was still under warranty but i still had to pay a $50 contract charge. the company said that they had theseparts in stock because they have received several complaints about the same problem with the 2008 dodge avengers. this is an awful feeling when you get somewhere and your vehicle locks in the park position and no one has an answer. *tr

On saturday 07/10/10 i had driven my car and did some shopping that i needed to do. on sunday 07/11/10 i was planning to go grocery shopping. i got in my car started the engine and tried to put the car in reverse to get out of my garage. the car would not go into reverse it was stuck in park. after several minutes of trying to get the gear shift to move out of park i gave up and went into the house. on monday 07/12/10 i had to call a tow truck to come and pick up my car and tow it to the dealership because the car was still stuck in park. when the tow truck driver got to my house he informed me that i was the 3rd dodge avenger in the last week that he had to tow to a garage because the gear shift was stuck in park. when i went to pick up my car at the dealership i was talking to the mechanic and he informed me that he had two other dodge cars in the shop that he was working on that had the same problem as mine. one was a dodge avenger and the other was a dodge magnum. he said that in the last couple of months his shop has been repairing more and more dodge vehicles with the same problem, gear shift stuck in park. he stated that there were at least 12 - 15 cars in the last month that they had to fix. i feel that someone needs to look into this of why so many dodge cars gear shifts are getting stuck in park and that dodge needs to possibly do a recall of this product. i have only had my car 6 months and i feel that this should not have happened. *tr

The contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger rt. after starting the vehicle the contact noticed that the gear shifter would not shift out of the parking gear. the vehicle has not been diagnosed and there were no prior warnings. the current and failure mileages were 126,704. i live 65 miles from my work and nearest dealership. vehicle will be towed to dealership tomorrow to be fixed. from the many complaints i feel this is a dodge defect and should be recalled. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. when the contact attempted to drive the vehicle, he was unable to shift out of the park gear. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer. the failure and current mileages were 61,927.

I left work today, get in my car, and try to leave, i can't!! why?!?! because the car will not go out of park, no warnings to lead up to this happening. it was such an inconvenience. i had to leave my car in an area overnight that i was not comfortable with. what a pain!! no recalls and a lot of money out of a single hard working man's income. i have not even had the car two years. due to my miles the warranty will not cover the repair. i'm going to have to get my car towed back to the dealership and am stranded and inconvenienced. i have a 2008 dodge avenger 4cyl. what the [xxx], dodge?? the entire shift assembly has to be replaced! information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the contact started the ignition and attempted to shift from park into the drive position. however, the gear selector would not shift into drive. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. the technician advised the contact that he would notify him by the end of the week to inform the vehicle cause of failure. the vehicle was being diagnosed at the time of the complaint. the failure mileage was approximately 48,800.

Very many 2008 dodge avengers are having an issue with the gear shifters getting stuck in park, including mine. (see website at the link pasted for proof: http://www.carcomplaints.com/dodge/avenger/2008/transmission/gear_shift_module_lock_up.shtml) since my car was just under the 36,000 mile cutoff for the factory warranty i was able to get the dealership to cover towing and fixing it for free. however, this apparently happens pretty often with these cars so what am i going to do the next time this happens and the time after that??? there is a spring attached to a pink button on the gear shifter that keeps popping off of everybody's car. there needs to be a major recall on this!! *tr

My 2008 dodge avenger has locked itself into park and will not disengage unless i take apart the console and use the override switch ti disengage the lock. i am worried this may happen when driving. *tr

Unable to use pink release switch on transaxle to reset transaxle and put vehicle in drive. 2008 dodge avenger starts but refuses to go into gear due to transaxle being locked. all remedies that are in owners manual failed to work and dealership service unavailable. *tr

2008 dodge avenger's gear shift will stop working for no known reason. no warning is given when this happens. in order to get the car to shift into gear, on must completely disassemble the console to find the 'magical pink switch'. one you pull the pink switch the gear shift will move to reverse. the dealership is charging approximately $300 for the repair. *tr

2008 dodge avenger will not shift out of park. after investigation, the spring that connects the shift lock and the brake has broken off. this has caused me not to be able to drive my car. it has been stuck in the driveway for about six weeks. *tr

My wife, my mother-in-law, and i all drove my car on friday with no issues. the next time i tried to drive my car on saturday, i could not shift my car out of park. my car is a 2008 dodge avenger. we tried several times, making sure the steering wheel wasn't locked, the brakes were pressed when attempting to move out of park, checked the transmission fluid and checked anything else we thought might cause the issue. after all that failed, i researched a little online and found a forum on customercomplaint.com where several owners of the same vehicle type had the same issue. apparently there is a very small, pink plastic hook in the shifting assembly that allows the shifter to move out of park. not surprisingly considering how small it is, this hook breaks, preventing the car from shifting. on the forum, multiple people complained that the dealerships were telling them this wasn't covered on warranty. my warranty was up, so i used a suggestion from the forum to use a compression spring to hold the pink assembly in place once the hook breaks. not an ideal fix, but it works and only cost me a couple of dollars for the spring instead of the 100-300 dollars involved in towing and having the dealership look at it that others on that forum went through. *tr

Dodge avenger 2008 shifter assembly breaks and leaves the car stuck in park, at the dealership this will cost over $400 to fix and i am going to attempt to fix on my own due to financial difficulties but this is a very common problem with this and the sebring models and it should definitely be addressed. *tr

2008 dodge avenger stuck in park and will not shift. car drove fine to work and when i moved it at lunchtime, but when i went to leave work it would not shift out of park. *tr

After research, this complaint has been filed as early as july of 2008. then very aggressively within the past 6 months. went to leave a park with my 2 daughters friday and could not back out of parking spot due to shifter locking up. searched manual for answer and tried the over-ride switch to no avail. tow driver told me he had seen this problem just days before with a dodge. informed me of the color and purpose of the culprit and after research? lo and behold, complaint after complaint filed for the past 2 years (next month) about the little plastic pink piece that renders shifter useless. this site proclaims to "administer safety recalls to support the nhtsa's mission to improve safety on our nation's roadways, your complaint is important to us and if warranted, the (odi) will open an investigation to determine if a safety defect trend exists." well how many people have to be left stranded, miss a days pay, fail to pick up their children and/or borrow money for this repair (as i have had to do), or flat out be left without transportation. because they have no means for repairs that are due to a factory flaw that everyone (dealerships and o.d.i.) refuse to acknowledge? lets see one of you head out to work, jump in the car to pick up your child and or pack the trunk for vacation. only to discover that you can't shift out of park due to dodge's arrogance. think you see a defect trend then? recall warranted? two years folks! and complaints being filed more consecutively by the day. as for the lifetime powertrain warranty? talk about false advertising and misleading a consumer. buy american? think i'll go with toyota next round thank you. at least they will fix their defect trends. though it appears that they were pushed to do so out of prejudice. dodge can get by with the very same act of ignorance. since the tow man couldn't get my car in gear, when he lifted it for hook up. the front bumper dragged the parking curb and scarred it major. *tr

We were on our first day of vacation. we ordered some take out and were going to pick it up. we pulled over into a parking lot to grab our debit card out of our console. we put it in park and then tried to continue on our way when it wouldn't come out of park. the car no warnings that anything was wrong. we ended up having to call our sister and broth in law to help us. our two year old was in the back seat. we had to take her out and put the car seat in our sisters car. then we had to call and cancel our take out. we eventually put the car in drive manually tearing apart the console and driving it to dodge. this was the worst start of ant vacation we have ever been on. with all these complaints about the gear shift locking up and there is no recall yet. seriously, this is hard to believe. now i just blew 300$ of our vacation money. something needs to be done. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge avenger. the contact stated that the gear shift lever would intermittently become stuck in park and often, would shift into park while driving at various speeds. the dealer advised there was an unknown safety mechanism on the vehicle that prevents the vehicle from shifting, which was fractured. the vehicle was left with the dealer where the contact was awaiting unknown repairs. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileages were 31,000.

I own a 2008 dodge avenger and everything has been sooo great until two weeks ago i started my car and when i tried to shift into reverse it would not budge. after searching the problem on the internet i found a temporary solution, the use of a butter knife to move the hot pink lever under shifter which inturn releases gear from park. so in order to drive my vehicle i must use the butter knife to release from park...........everytime!! i contacted my local dodge dealer and they stated they had not seen any problems like i explained. i ordered(from the dealership) a shift assembly which is $50.00 + tax. (i knew what part i needed from a post from this site) and now my car is at the dealership getting "fixed" and labor is due to run me $114.00 + .!!! i ask that dodge be required to recall this particular part and reimburse those who have had to have it fixed. *tr

On my wife's 2008 dodge avenger, the gear shift module is stuck in park. doing research online, this appears to be a very common problem for 2008 dodge avengers (and other chrysler models), and a recall to fix this issue is definitely needed. *tr

My car was acting fine yesterday and then today when i went to leave for work it would not come out of park. this has never happen since i bought the car two years ago. but i tried everything to make it work and the car still wouldn't come out of park. my sister's boyfriend took the console apart and removed the area covering the gear and there was this pink button that would allow the gear to move. the whole shift assembly will need to be replaced but the problem can happen at any given time without warning. no indicator light or anything to let you know that the part is broken. the car just won't move!! *tr

I was getting ready for work, had to be there by 7am. my fiance' had already left for work. i went to start my car and it wouldn't come out of park. tried over and over to get it out of park. as a result of this happening i was late for work and i can't afford to be late for work. we are docked points when we are late or miss work and i am never late and never miss work. you can be terminated with just 4 points. i did research on the internet about my car, trying to find out what could be wrong with it and found out alot more people have had the exact same problem as i have. this could have happened anywhere. luckily it happened in my driveway but i have a small child that i'm out with alot by myself. i feel it is a safety concern because you don't know when it's going to happen. it's a plastic piece that breaks off and causes the spring that's attached to it to let the car out of park fly off and then you are just stuck. there is no way to over ride it unless you take the entire console out and manually pull the pink lever back. i'm not a helpless female but i can't take a complete console out by myself. so therefore i feel that puts myself and my daughter in a bad situation if we are out by ourselves and this happens. i called the dealership and they said it would cost around $300.00 plus tax to fix the problem. but the problem is that they are just replacing it with the same plastic moldings that will break again at some point and time. i feel very unsafe with this car the way it is. right now i don't have the money to pay 300.00 for something that i might have to replace again in a day another week or who knows when. i have not had it repaired at the moment..i'm driving with my console completely off and manually pulling up on the pink latch and putting it in gear. i think it's really sad that the company can't stand behind their product and let the consumer know that they are important and will fix the problem the right way. *tr

I have a 2008 dodge avenger and was not able to shift the car out of park. using a good deal of force i was finally able to get the car to shift out of park. while doing this i heard a piece of plastic break off. i researched this problem on the internet and found 33 other 2008 dodge avenger owners reported a similar problem. i called a local dealerships service department and the service manager said he was well aware of the problem. he stated that there was a problem with the shift lock mechanism and that the repair would run approximately $300. with so many complaints regarding the same problem, which can result in the car not being able to be driven, i feel that an investigation into this manufacturing defect is warranted. *tr