Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure on the 2005 Chrysler 300
When shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Chrysler 300 report shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 57,500 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles, from 36 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 42,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 150,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 107,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43,000 miles | 58,250 miles | 80,000 miles | 125,250 miles | 150,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 1,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 80,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 62; the 2005 has 51. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
My car is stuck in park and had to be towed to a mechanic. The mechanic told me that the part needed was part of a recall. When I called chrysler they told me that even though there is a recall my car was not part of the batch. They stated that they pick a certain amount of cars to be part of the recall but that the other ones get omitted. I called chrysler and they gave me a case number 17859460 and when I asked to speak to a manager they hung up on me. I don't feel that it is fair that I need to pay for the part and labor because chrysler decided that my car was not part of the batch. Chrysler wants me to have to pay for the parts so that they can make money off of me but I feel that they need to take responsibility for something that they are in default for. *tr
2005 chrysler 300 touring - gear sift gets stuck in park. Have had the dealer check to see if they can diagnose the problem everytime it goes in for service. Have had this fixed once over two years ago - dealer stated that they adjusted the linkage. It worked fine for a while have since moved to another city and go to a different dealer. New dealer has been able to recreate the problem once in their shop but after they had the interior apart hey couldn't get the car to do it again - so it has not been fixed. Car has 61,000 miles and has had this problem since 24,000. *tr
Transmission stuck in park, towed to dealer 9/24/09 part 4578029ac shifter no recall noted this happened on 9/21/07 same issue same part; complaint filed then too no recall noted. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Chrysler 300
Other powertrain problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other wheel or tire problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 51 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure happen on the 2005 Chrysler 300?
Across 36 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 57,500 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure on the 2005 Chrysler 300?
51 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed