Picture this: after driving 3 hours, you're in Chicago on Walton pulling up of the Drake Hotel. The XF is getting admiring glances from the folks, when you realize you need to back up so you can pull in a spot for the bellman to take your luggage. Cabs honking, friendly single-finger gestures being made, when suddenly, upon pulling upward on the ****, the entire lever, **** and both inner and outer boots came off in my hand!! I didn't even know we had inner boots!

My wife caught, in mid air I might add, a small stainless steel pin about an inch long. Figuring this was a key to the solution, we both started trying to get the pin back in a hole somewhere on the shaft. Got it in, snapped the outer boot into place and impressed the hell out of the bellman. I was, however, less than kind in my praise for DaimlerChrysler.

Needless to say, the dealer will hear of this, but I thought you would all get a chuckle out of this. Wife said the look on my face holding that shift lever was priceless...