2005 Volvo S40 won't shift into park

[Loungerist]

Hello,

My niece has a 2005 Volvo S40. Starting today, her car won't shift into Park. You can push the gearshift up to Reverse, but it won't go any further unless you push hard. Then it will go all the way up and feel like it's Park, but it will actually be in another gear and the Neutral light will still be on instead of Park. Once in this position, you can't get the gear shift back down unless you use the Shift Lock manual override key. We have to start the car in neutral and can't take the key out because it won't go into Park.

Does anyone recognize this problem and is there any way a casual DIYer can fix it?