Should I be able to put my shifter out of Drive so easily?
 

Hi all. First off, first time poster. So thanks in advance for any advice you give.

Now then: I have a 2009 Civic Hybrid. It's a great car, I love it to death but I've noticed that I can easily put my gear shift out of Drive and into something else (like Neutral) with almost no resistance. Shouldn't the car stop you from changing gears unless you have your foot on the brake and are not driving at a speed that would damage the actual engine of the car? I noticed it last night too when I was planning on stopping and backing up on the road I was on, and even before I had a chance to put my foot on the brake I found the gear shift giving way from its Drive state.

I hope I'm just overanalyzing this, but if it's abnormal then it's a problem. For example, I can easily go from Neutral to Drive while driving down the highway without taking my foot off the gas. I can even do it by accident if I'm resting my hand on the shifter.

And no, I don't feel anything wrong with the car when I do this, or wrong with the car in general. There's no weird noises, nor does anything feel "off". I have almost 40K miles on the car.

Thanks!

Re: Should I be able to put my shifter out of Drive so easily?
 

Also, I've not tried to put the shifter into something dangerous like Reverse. I'm not stupid... I'm not going to do this while going FORWARD.

Re: Should I be able to put my shifter out of Drive so easily?
 

In pretty much all automatics I've driven, you can shift between drive and neutral without pushing the button. Same goes for going from a lower gear to a higher gear (i.e. 3->D or 2->3, if your gear selector has multiple gears like that).

Going into reverse, however, requires the car to be pretty much stopped.

Then again, I'm just speaking from my experience with other autos, not an 09 Hybrid like you have

Re: Should I be able to put my shifter out of Drive so easily?
 

Its normal..i have a 2007 civic and can do the same thing..I used to power shift my automatic mustang when i had it..not smart but it would chirp the tires from 1st to 2nd..then throw it in drive.. :) but i have the civic now as my young days are over.. lol