Q: My car is off, stuck in drive but the shift handle in park.

asked by on September 29, 2017

I was parking and as I putting my car into park, the shift handle slid up really fast, catching me by surprise. It made a wierd sound and the gear handle is now in park. I had to go to a meeting so I turned off the car, and put the e break. Coming back, I put the key in the ignition and it turns. The car turns on the lights of the dash, stereo works, Windows too. Just it won't actually crank to life. The brake pedal is really hard to push, and the steering will is movable. My car indicates that it's in drive though, and the gear handle won't budge. Please help. What can be wrong, and to those possibilities, the estimate of cost to fix. Thank you

My car has 57713 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Car is hard to shift Inspection $94.99 - $114.99 Get a Quote

Hi Ana. Thanks for submitting your question today. It’s quite possible that the gear shift lever may have broken, if the indicator is telling you the car is in "DRIVE" gear but it is pushed forward. As a safety device, the vehicle will not start while in a forward or reverse gear. The brake pedal being stiff is normal when this situation occurs, so it’s likely that your shifter needs to be repaired. The problem is not knowing what exactly is broken - so it’s best to first have a professional mechanic come to your location to complete a car is hard to shift inspection, so they can locate the broken parts and provide you with an estimate for repair.

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