Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure on the 2006 Dodge Charger
When shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Dodge Charger report shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 31 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 47,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 57,445 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47,555 miles | 55,849 miles | 75,000 miles | 91,000 miles | 105,000 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 Charger
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 2006 dodge charger was stuck in park and would not shift. The dealer is telling me they have had many issues with the shifter and are wanting to charge me $400 to fix it. The employees at the towing company also advised they have seen many problems with it. In researching it, I found it is a flimsy pink piece called the park lock out mechanism, which costs $49.99 to replace. If there have been this many issues, it should be recalled. *tr
My 2006 dodge charge keeps getting stuck in park and the pink release does not work either, I have to slide a steel wire all the way to the left in order to get it to give. There are a million forums and complaints based off of this exact issue and yet no recall because its not a safety issue? Maybe not but it is obviously defective. My warranty is up and cant afford to fix the issue so I have to do this everytime I get into my car. How many complaints and forums need to go up before they make a recall for the defective part? *tr
My 2006 dodge charge keeps getting stuck in park and the pink release does not work either, I have to slide a steel wire all the way to the left in order to get it to give. There are a million forums and complaints based off of this exact issue and yet no recall because its not a safety issue? Maybe not but it is obviously defective. My warranty is up and cant afford to fix the issue so I have to do this everytime I get into my car. How many complaints and forums need to go up before they make a recall for the defective part? *tr
Also reported on the 2006 Dodge Charger
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other engine problem
Other fuel system problem
Other powertrain problem
Stalling while driving
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 31 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 2006 Dodge Charger?
Across 31 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 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 2006 Dodge Charger?
31 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 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