Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure on the 2008 Dodge Avenger
When shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Dodge Avenger report shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 42,500 miles and a quarter after 62,500 miles, from 46 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 77,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 41,895 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
15% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35,105 miles | 42,000 miles | 54,000 miles | 61,758 miles | 77,000 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, every year of the Dodge Avenger
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.
I have a 2008 dodge avenger and the vehicle is stuck in park and no manual override to correct the problem. I have done some research on the internet as well as spoke with someone with dodge/chrysler and they are aware of the problem, but have not placed a recall or tsb on the vehicle. This is a major inconvenience for me. I have researched and their are an enormous amount of concerns and complaints about this issue. *tr thank you
The gear shifter got stuck in park. It had worked fine previously without any hitches. We have owned the car since dec. 2009 and never had any problems with the gear shift sticking. Then one night it was just stuck. We had to call a tow truck and the guy had to manually put the car in drive so we could get it to the dealer. *tr
I have a 2008 dodge avenger with 40,800 miles on it. I had a problem with the gear shifter stuck in park . The problem seems to be very common in many dodge vehicles , it seems to be a very cheap plastic part . Could there be a recall on this problem???? *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Dodge Avenger
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other speed control problem
Other engine problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Alternator or charging system failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 55 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 2008 Dodge Avenger?
Across 46 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 42,500 miles and a quarter after 62,500 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 2008 Dodge Avenger?
55 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.2 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