I have not been using my 1996 Mazda over the past few months. Today I went outside to start it up and the gear shift simply would not come out of park. Anybody have this problem? Any suggestions? Is there a way you can manually unlock the gear shifter?

 

It happened to me when my battery went dead. Get a flat head screwdriver and pry the little cover off the gear lock switch in the top right on the shifter assembly then stick a screwdriver or a pen or something that will fit inside then push it down into there. Make sure you have your foot on the brake when you do it and now you can shift again.