I have searched and have seen a few instances of this. My 2007 Sahara/80K miles auto shifter all of the sudden became very loose when shifting into drive etc. It then became very difficult to select a gear and now is stuck in park at a repair shop (funny how that happens). My wife was driving it and she has been told that it is a "broken shifter". The linkage/cables/etc are still ok.

I am being told that parts and labor will be $525..does that seem high?

 

yes, it sounds very high especially since the problem is most likely related to a shift linkage that popped off and is jammed up. this happened to sm_rubi and blonda in moab earlier this year and on the trail and all we had to do is take apart the center console and reconnect the linkage. granted, this was a pain in the butt to do but, no new parts were needed and it was otherwise a free fix.

 

I am going to go look at it this afternoon. I don't really know how just the "shifter" would break. I believe the $525 price includes a whole new shifter.

 

Is it at a dealer shop? They like to replace whole assemblies, rather than just parts.

Take the t-case cable, for instance. When the 35 cent plastic retainer breaks at the t-case, they want to replace the whole cable.

Have them show you what is broken.

 

This happened to me also. I was leaving for work and the linkage in the pass side of the shifter popped off somehow. I put it back and no problems yet.