Great, something else on this car I have to worry about breaking. First the steering wheel lock, and now this. Oh well.
But if it makes anyone feel better to know that issues like this are fairly common, take a look at this known issue with Chrysler LX-platform cars and their automatics:
Can't shift out of park, into gear, and pink thingy replacement
Just think, with one snap of a small arm (about the diameter of a headphone jack) that holds a spring, your $35k charger, magnum, or 300 becomes driveway ornament. Engine runs fine, just cant get it to shift out of park, unless you remove most of the shifter bezel, and move this "thing" manually with a screwdriver.
They are all doing it folks. The drive to make these cars cheaper so they get more profit out of them is leading to more and more of these issues that none of them want to deal with unless you hold them to the fire.
That's why I can't tell anyone what my dream car is. Anytime they ask, I tell them I don't have one because I haven't built it yet.