CAR PROBLEM - gear box

[victory01]

i found a car that i would like to purchase, however there is a small problem that i find annoying with it which has stopped me from buying it.

it is an auto but the gear box is shifted upward. there is no park, and P is actually R, N is D, and so on. in order to put the car in park you have to put on the emergency parking break on. i was wondering if anyone knows if this is a hard problem to fix and how much it might cost me.

its an 88 mark vii.

-victor

[drew_goring]

Hard to say. Could be a small 10$ fix, or the tranny could be on it's way out. My suggestion would be to take it to a mechanic and have it inspected if you are serious about buying it. Should only be a hundred bucks or so and could save a lot of headaches in the future.

[Merlin390]

88 Mark VII take it to a Lincoln dealer. I will ask one of the techs in the morning what it could be and get back to you.

Has anyone else worked on the transmission previously?

[victory01]

88 Mark VII take it to a Lincoln dealer. I will ask one of the techs in the morning what it could be and get back to you.

Has anyone else worked on the transmission previously?

i dont think so. i only went to take a look at it last week and thats one of the problems that the car had.

[The Korean]

I would definately let someone look at it. With experience with cars/trucks (fair amount), I would think that if the transmission shift fine, then it shouldn't be an expensive problem.

[spiffykyle]

My dad had this problem on an old buick when i was in high school. I remember it shifted fine but the "park" was inaccessible. Took it to a dealer and while it wasn't a $20 fix, it still wasn't that bad, like $80 to $100 i think.

Definitely get it inspected by a mechanic before you purchase though. I've done this with every car I've purchased and its saved me a lot of cash more than once.

spiffy

[victory01]

well i talked to the seller again and he said he installed the cable himself which is why its a little short. and yes, it does shift fine.

how much do you think this would cost to get a new cable attached?

thanks for all the imput so far!