I was driving normally looking for a parking spot and found one. I stopped and tried to go into reverse and the shifter would not engage into reverse. I press the button and the shifter goes all the way down and back into park, but does not engage anything along the way - it kind of stops in "drive" but it easily slides down and back up. I tried driving and the car would not go out of first gear. This just happened one second to the next. The only way I can "park" is by turning the car off. When I turn it on again it's automatically in 1st gear and wants to drive.

Anyway, I was far from home so had to drive the car in first gear (before I disconnected the battery) to a mechanic that I've used on occasion in the city. That's where the car sits now.

Does this sound like a broken shifter linkage? Seems similar to some of the posts here. But I was late for work, away from my garage and forced to leave it at a shop.