It seems that most of the time the auto shifter on my '00 has trouble shifting out of park and requires a lot of effort. Anyone else experience this or know how to fix it?

 

i have this problem with my 02, i seems worse at times, but no idea how to fix it.

 

i have it too and i showed it to my friend who works at Audi as a mechanic. He says although this is an issue, there is nothing to worry about. He said the park gear is made stronger than the others so it wont wear out with this. hope this helps.

 

I have the similar problem. I thought it could be the PNP (Park Neutral Position) sensor but then the forum would have many threads on that front.

Solns:
Adjust the shift cable. First disconnect the cable from the shifter arm connected to the tranny and run thro all the grears by manually moving the shifter. Spray WD40 where the the shifter arm connects to tranny. Then adjust the shifter arm to make it a bit tighter --meaning put back the cable at the bottom of the adjustment slot. Over time the cable would move to the top of the slot and u will see the same issue. In short you will have to adjust the cable once every 6 months.

Also, when you put into park engage the emergency brake before that and when you take out of park, move the shifter and then disengage the emergency brake.

Sometimes I wonder if I will break the shifter becoz I have to put that much effort to take out of Park.

Hope this helps.