NHTSA complaint #11438958

Owner complaint summary

The cheap plastic transmission drive selector broke off when I took delivery of the rental car. I was astonished to find that the thing just broke and pulled right out of its socket while I was attempting to back it up right out of the rental parking lot. I've driven cars since 1971 and I've never seen a drive selector just break off that easily before. That should just never happen. I never could get it into drive again without just turning the car off. I finally figured out how to get it into Reverse and Drive and Neutral, but that's it. There were no warning lamps and the indicator on the shift lever that's supposed to tell you it's in Park never lit up. Without it going into park, there is a real risk of the car rolling away. Turning the car off does put it into Park because it's an electronic transmission apparently. But I had to engage the parking brake when putting it into Neutral when I went to park. I'm just astonished Nissan would put something this fail prone on the road. The shift control should just never break whether it's a lever, or dial or pushbutton. I am now liable for a $400 repair job. I realize that this was just a cheap rental car, but I strongly feel that it shouldn't have happened. Wouldn't want anyone else to have this issue.