Automatic Transmission problems of the 1999 Volkswagen New Beetle

Problem: gear shifter for automatic transmission locked in park position. On multiple occasions the transmission shifter has locked in the park position. In order to get the car into a drive gear, it was necessary to turn the car off and on several times while pumping the brake pedal. It has taken as long a 30 mins. Of this process to get the car out of park. On each occasion my car was in a parked position. However, this problem could potentially occur if the car were placed into park at a traffic light or stop sign. Should this happen, it would create a traffic hazard. This same problem has been noted by multiple consumers throughout various internet websites.

Since purchased the vehicle has been slow to shift into gear from park or neutral, the consumer has had near accidents on several occasions, the dealer has not been able to repair the problem. Nlm.