Shift lock release

Hi there,
There is a (silly) safety lock on the ignition to stop it starting in gear, or the key being removed if not in park, and a sensible safety lock on the gear shift to stop kids letting it roll down a hill. Try putting your foot firmly on the brake, press the park release button beside the gear shift, while pulling the shifter out of park and back into park.
Getting the key out: Sometimes the steering wheel is placing pressure on the steering lock and key release mechanism, so try turning the steering wheel in any direction it can go while trying to release the key. It should come only out when you are in park.

ok the safety feature on an auto gearbox is that the gear select has a solinoid lock on the shift & you norm have to start engine first before you can select drive now if the engine is running & not allowing you to select a drive then for some reason the solinoid is losing its signal or going faulty or even the shaft needing a little lube IE: wd40 now my volvo won't even allow me to take the key out untill its in park hope this helps

Most likely you have a problem with the shift interlock solenoid located under the shifter. It gets its signal from the brake switch every time its pressed. If your brake lights come on when brake pedal is pressed, then you can assume the brake switch is o.k.

It could possibly be a bad electrical connection or poor connection with the transmission. Did the mechanic get any error codes?

replace the shift lock solenoid which is located by the shifter cable inside the car. That solenoid operates as a lock and disengages upon pressing on the brake pedal to shift

Your shift inter-lock servo is bad (Dealer only)

Do not shift into park and move the steering wheel to lock it. It will lock itself if the vehicle is moved or someone tries to steel it. Reason is that the lock pin hsas many holes to drop into and if you lock it when you have turning pressure on in it. You will lock it with pressure on the lock pin.
Second, always set your parking brake before, not after putting it in park. Never put your front tires against a curb and put it in park without letting the vehile roll away from the curb.. An don't hang you car on a slope by putting it in park. Parking brake always befor parking gear and hands off steering wheel when placing in park. Try it, you'll like it.. forcing your shifter to come out of park can cause damage to the shifting componants. Let me know how it works for you. - Ned_

I got same problem when I first got the car (bought used), took me a day to find out one of the fuse blown caused the problem now I always have 10A fuse spare in my glove comparment, check all your fuses (I believe it's an Audio/Clock 10A fuse) will solve your, good luck ...

The term "shift lock" is the system that is in place to prevent the vehicle from being shifted out of Park into Reverse or Drive WITHOUT having the driver's foot firmly on the brake pedal. The brake light switch on the brake pedal closes a circuit that energizes a solenoid under the shifter. When the brake is applied, and the solenoid is energized, the shift lever is no longer "locked", and can be moved to the desired position.
The idea here stems from a phenonomon several years ago that dealt with the issue of "Sudden Intended Acceleration". What was happening here was, for some unknown reason, engines started developing high RPMS for no reason, and several accisents were reported due to this issue. The vehicle would accelerate "unintendedly", when putting into drive or reverse, and could hit something.

follow instructions in manual for SHIFTLOCK RELEASE

Turn off car.
Engage Parking Break
Take ignition key and put into shift lock release slot (near gear shift)
Push down on key and at same time MOVE gear shift to neutral.
Remove key, start car as normal and disengage parking break...

good to go.... mechanic can replace/repair if this is an ongoing issue: $85 I read somewhere...but heard it's not hard to do yourself for $35 someone else wrote.

Goodluck