Gear selector issue

[tmjohansen]

I have a 2001 Ford Escape and had an issue today. After getting to my destination I went to put the car in park and it would only stay in drive even if the gear selector was in the 'park position'. I shut the car off and then realized that I would be unable to start the car back up with it currently in drive. After looking around I discovered that the wire from the gear selector in the steering column to the transmission was not connected to the transmission. I was able to 'manually' put the car in park under the hood to get it started and then to drive the same way. My question is, has anyone ever replaced this wire before and if so, how difficult was it (or how much was it at your local shop)?