This problem just began this week, my son works for a nationwide auto parts store and he has two Sonics in his fleet, both with the same problem. The simple fix was to replace the button... $15.00 and all should have been well, but it didn't fix the problem, so he tried the suggested lubricant method. Now it's worse. It's harder to press the button in to change gear while it still sticks.This is a very common problem with the shift button sticking and I think it's a dangerous design flaw since while it's stuck you can bump the shifter into reverse while driving down the road. Grrrrargh! And I have to make a trip out of state tomorrow! I contacted the Chevrolet company and chatted with someone and they want to send me to the dealership, which by the way I went directly to the dealership when this happened the first time and was told they couldn't get to it for five days, oh and I'd have to rent a car for $35 bucks a day while they're at it. I don't have that kind of money, if I did I would have gotten the out of warranty / warranty. Geesh stupid me. Anyway, it looks like I'm going to have to replace the entire gear shift assembly. I'm thinking my son can do that, but then... I think I'd rather have the dealership do it so it's at least under warranty. Any thoughts / suggestions?

My Chevrolet Sonic has developed an issue where the automatic transmission shift lever button is sticking in the “in” position. In this position, the transmission gears can be changed without touching the button is such a fashion as to move the transmission from park to reverse, neutral, drive and in this car, it has a so called manual mode. So one could bump the gear from reverse to drive or from drive to reverse just by touching the gear shifter. Of course, with this button in the in position you cannot remove the key out of the ignition.

I feel this is a safety issue and thus reporting it as such. This issue can happen both driving and before driving. As it is not safe to drive the car this way I have taken this car to a Chevrolet dealer to be fixed. The Dealer is trying this first. Removed button assembly, cleaned and lube the gear selector button assembly. This may only be a temporary fix per service advisor. So if this happens again the service advisor says the whole gear selector assembly will have to be replaced to the tune of just under $300.

Note: I had sprayed some WD40 on the button before I took it in it worked for a couple of days before sticking again. It would be nice to get this issue included in a recall!

This problem has slowly become more and more of a problem over time. I keep my car clean, it has extremely low miles - it was out of warranty based on time (not mileage) when the problem first started. The shifter button will depress but not always release. This has become a lot worse over time.

Originally, this problem only occurred when placing the gear shifter into Park. Now it happens whenever the shifter is operated. So if I take the car out of Park and into Drive or Reverse, the shifter button will not release right away. Sometimes jiggling or applying a light tap to the shifter will cause the button to release. Sometimes the button will release after hitting a bump or just all by itself after a few minutes while driving.

This is a safety issue when driving as it is possible to shift from one gear to another (or into Neutral) when driving through inadvertent pressure on the gear shifter. I have been very careful when driving with keeping anything (wife's purse, my wallet, phone, etc) out of the gear shifter area entirely, and am a lot more careful driving until the button finally releases.

When placing the car into Park, it is not a driving safety issue so much as an extreme aggravation issue - as you cannot remove the keys from the ignition until the button has released (or you do the key removal workaround, which I will not go into here). Of note, though the button has not released, the car is actually in Park - but if someone were to pull on the shifter (without touching the button at all), the car could be taken out of Park and into Neutral, which could potentially lead to the car rolling without a driver present (say if you had an over-active teenager in the passenger seat of the car waiting while you were inside the bank) if the car is on an incline. I have had to spend 5-10 minutes while parked before the button has finally released.

The dealership wants ~$280 to replace the shifter today (10/20/16). From doing online research (here & elsewhere), the button assembly (spring & button) seem to suffer from wear & can be replaced (with quite a bit of effort) inexpensively by a handy person (which I am not) at low cost.

I am getting my car back from the dealership today, and will try the silicone spray as an intermittent fix. I was really hoping for more accommodation from the dealership on this, as even a few minutes search online shows this to be a widespread problem. Why it is not a recall issue, I have no idea.

I loved this little car when I first bought it, but this issue and 2-3 other small ones makes me regret the purchase more and more. My other GM/Chevrolet purchases (2001, 2005) are all still on the road without issues like this.

Update from Oct 24, 2016: So after the dealership quoted me $280 and I declined the repairs to the gear shift button that was sticking, I went home and sprayed some silicon spray into the area behind the button (on both sides and the top of the button in the narrow crack between the button and the housing around it), and now I have no issues. I did not remove the button or do any actual repairs, simply sprayed silicone. If you do this, it would be prudent to have some paper/shop towels to take care of drips and any over-spray. My spray had one of those long red skinny straw applicator attachments (like on a can of WD-40), which limited the over-spray nicely but I did have some clean-up for dripping silicone immediately afterwards.

I read about this fix here, and it works great. I do not know for how long, but I am glad I did not pay the dealership to replace the whole gear shift assembly, which is what they said was the lowest replaceable part.

This issue happened to me for the first time at about 64,000 miles. When I tried to put the car in park, the shifter button was stuck in the "in" position and would not release. I guess for safety reasons, the car wouldn't allow me to put it in park (could just move it to neutral). Therefore, I was unable to completely turn the engine off and get my keys out of the ignition. So, that's kind of annoying and a big deal.

Anyways, after waiting a few moments (less than 3 mins) it did eventually pop out and I was able to go about my day. After this, I tried to be more careful with the button. Maybe I was pushing too hard and forcing it to get stuck? But no, it eventually got stuck again later that night. So, rather than take it to the dealer, the first thing I did was put on some silicone spray (when it popped back out) and just kept pressing in and out. And boom. That fixed the problem (has been working fine the past 2 months).

I'm sure this was just a build up of grime and other things from normal everyday use of the car; but I would like to mention that I keep the car very clean and very rarely eat inside of it, so this did not happen due to a foreign sticky food or something getting stuck. Anyways, if this happens to your Sonic, give it a try before taking it to the shop. If you have some silicone spray lying around in the garage, then your problem has been fixed for free :) If it doesn't work, then maybe you have a more serious problem to worry about.

I was backing out of my driveway headed to work when the shifter button came out. So, I was in revere and could not get the button back in to put my car in drive. I was really upset about this issue. Had to miss a day of work and then be put in a rental car because the part had to be ordered. I had to pay $100.00 for the deducible. Than another issue happened the next week and had to pay another $100.00. This is the worse vehicle I have ever had. I have had a lot more issues with this vehicle and it's been ever since the say I drove it off the lot. I wished I could differently do something about this car and all the issues there has been.

This is the second time I've had to have the interior shifter knob replaced. The first time was in January of 2014. Apparently the cables in the shifter are positioned such that they rub against each other, causing the cables to wear, fray, and break. This second time was an emergency repair, as I was on vacation and needed it fixed so I could get home to work. Thankfully, the Chevy dealership in the area was able to confirm this was indeed the same problem I'd had before, locate a part at a nearby dealership, and get it installed for me the same day. That was a $370 repair. As I recall, my repair in 2014 was roughly $320, so I don't feel like I got shafted in the repair price for an emergency repair. I commend the dealer (Jeff Schmitt Chevrolet, in Fairborn OH) for the quick repair.

My car now has 45K miles and this problem is happening again for the second time.

The first time - they had to replace the how shifter assembly.

Update from Jul 15, 2015: This problem happened twice to me. First at about 16k miles - then at 45K miles.

On the second time (out of warranty) - the service man at first said it was do to sticky liquids, etc... I assured him no - that was not the case and he did some searching into the matter.

He found there indeed a history on this - and a simple and cheap fix that only takes about 10 minutes. The part was only about $6. He ordered the part and replaced it and all is fine. They covered the cost of it.

The part itself was simply a replacement button and small plastic piece around it.

So for now it is fixed and the repair seems simple enough.

Jim H