[Mach 1]

because your car is 13 years old and the shifter mechanism probably has never been cleaned, oiled, or maintained in any way.

take the console off and look around. see if you can find the problem. also look underneath the car at the cable and the linkage on the tranny. disconnect the cable from the tranny and move the tranny lever by hand to isolate the problem to the tranny or the shifter.

let us know what you find..