My car has been in a Geico "preferred" shop due to an accident (whole left side of car) for 16 days (they had to redo everything at least once). Prior to accident, no known problems. After the accident, car would not start on 3 occasions, each time only in heavy rainfall, but jumper cables did the trick & still driveable. Issue was likely exposed wires from mirror that was ripped off getting wet (electrical). Literally the day I'm supposed to pick it up, suddenly it won't start, diagnosed "shifter cable is bad, car doesn't think it's in park", won't be covered under insurance, not related to accident (which I keep telling them, I'm sure it wasnt... it seems more like the shop broke it and everyone is scrambling to cover it up - they dumped my car somewhere without my knowledge and said their obligation was done, "come get your car that is now completely inoperable" after about $5,000 in repair) and is going to cost me $1200! Again, NO known issues prior to this, very coincidental that it "broke" under their care. Am disputing with Geico, they say wear and tear, but from what I've read, it would have specific symptoms leading up to if that's the case. Car was towed to Lexus for 2nd opinion. Immediately started; later they went to move it and did not start, did diagnosis, said same thing (I was told the bushing is worn and can't replace just a bushing so the whole cable needs replaced, lexus quoted $1082). need help if this is 100% wear and tear, or could have been damaged in the shop, basically how can I fight this, or can I prove somehow that this is a "gray area" situation, and they should cover it to honor their "preferred shop repair" and "100% customer satisfaction", or is there a way to replace just a bushing (at this point, I don't know what to believe and don't know enough about it). Has about 129k miles, automatic transmission, has only ever been worked on by 1 top toyota mechanic that I trust with my life (he's no longer there to help) It seems way too sudden and coincidence. Please help... will try to get them to send me a pic tomorrow

 

Your profile says you have a 2002 ES is this your car? Your post is a little confusing you are taking about the car not knowing it is in park then you say the car has a manual transmission which the 2002 ES never had. Do you have a 1992 by any chance?

 

Sorry... was up late trying to do this.. I fixed it, it's an automatic

 

I'm pretty sure the switch that detects Park is adjustable. I don't have info on how to adjust it though.

 

I had a shifter cable bushing fail (on the shifter end) in a 1998 Corolla with 195K miles. And Toyota only sells the entire cable and not just the bushing..... I did find a remedy that was not too complicated.
Please NOTE: I cannot confirm the shifter cable mechanism is the same for your Lexus

The link below shows the concept of it plus I made a bushing
http://www.diychatroom.com/f46/retai...-cable-131072/

I purchased from Home Depot
5/16" e-clip PLUS 1 size up and 1 size down e-clips so I had a variety to use
5/16" axle hat nut PLUS 1 size up and 1 size down axle nut I had a variety to use - I purchased the metal axle nut and not the one with plastic cover as noted in the link above
3/8" 1 hole plastic cable clamp PLUS 1 size up and 1 size down I had a variety to use. The plastic is firm but pliable - similar to the bushing in the Toyota

Remove the center console exposing the shifter & cable
I cut the ends off the 1 hole plastic cable clamp. This will become the bushing. I placed it in-between the cable and shifter post - trim to fit. Remove this piece, add white grease to post, reinstall this piece. If you omit making this bushing, the shifter will have too much play in it
Install the eclip over post. Test your work.
Once finalized, press on the axle hat nut.

I recently changed the shifter bulb in that same vehicle and the bushing repair is still in perfect shape (one year of use)

 

No way to know if the cable is bad without seeing it, however automatic shift cables rarely go bad. The cable itself is $250 online replacing it involves dismantling part of the interior but the quote from Lexus seems excessive.

BTW a common problem is the neutral safety switch gets dirty and will cause an intermittent start.

 

Thanks for the replies. I've gone round and round with my insurance Co, they won't cover it... I still don't agree with it, but I have to move on.

@Fortitude: someone else recommended this (to try to save the existing cable, since it's just the bushing that is bad), but I had already purchased the shift cable. I may still try it.

@Lexus2000: before I saw your reply this was the site I ended up purchasing from (after excessive searching and phone calls to compare pricing, I'm so glad I found this one).

Any other feedback is appreciated, part won't be here for a few days so I have that much time to decide if I want to attempt an at home DIY, or pay someone (not a dealer) to do it..
I am getting mixed info on one part: does the whole dash need to come out or just the center console? I haven't gotten my car back yet (due to Geico dragging this out and wasting my time) but I figured I'd ask here first.

 

Don't know, maybe you can get away with removing the stuff around the shifter and possibly having to remove the glove box.