I have a 5-speed 1998 Neon coupe. I've owned it for 3 years and had no problems at all with it up until last Summer.

I "lost" my gears while driving home from work. A friend of mine looked under the hood and said that it appeared my shift cable had came loose (off??), slipped it back on for me I guess, and I had no further problems... I know I should have taken it to a mechanic then, but I honestly didn't have the money and thought it was a very simple fix.

3-4 months later my shifting very suddenly became very loose and I "lost" my gears while driving into work. I had it towed to a shop where they told me the bushings were bad and needed to be replaced. In September, along with some other minor work (turn signal, spark plugs), the bushings were replaced.

Now, 5 months later I noticed my shifting becoming loose yet again. And before I could get it into a mechanic... yep, lost gears again. Yep, again, bushings.

Any ideas as to why this keeps happening?? Are they not using the correct bushings, or could something else be affecting the cable/bushings/etc??? I don't shift my car hard/fast, I live in a pretty flat area, no crazy roads, potholes, etc., I know how to drive a stick (not forcing it into gears or anything), and I generally take really good care of the car... so it's incredibly frustrating to me to feel like I'm going to be in the shop every 6 months for the same reason.

 

The bushings get old and worn out and then fall out. Get you some booger bushings from www.boogerbushings.com and never have the problem again. Great product and affordable.