Trouble getting shift lever to move

My friend has one of these cars and when she starts it she said she has to squeeze the shift lever to put it into drive, the problem is it took her 30 minutes the other day to move the lever. My question: Is there something wrong with the transmission or can it be as simple as greasing a cable that might be sticking?

My catera does the same thing. I havn't gotten it fixed yet, but here's the problem. There is a cylinoid in the shift lever operated by stepping on the brake pedal to release it. It is probably from the cold weather. It usually acts up when its cold out. Its in the console, it's electrical. It shouldn't be to much to repair. Let me know if you get yours fixed, what they said.:cool: