Volvo Repair: gear shift stuck in park, stuck key, intermittent basis

Question
Hi,
I have a 1999 S80 with only 31,000 miles that has been very well taken care of.  It sat for approximately six months without being started prior to my inheriting it.  It was running great until approximately one month ago it began getting stuck in park on an intermittent basis.  Nothing works to move it out of park including depressing brake pedal (gear shift does click when brake is depressed), turning steering wheel, jiggling gear shift, etc. There also appears to be no manual gear override on this model and year. It moves out of park only if it has been allowed to  idle for 10-15 minutes. It has been happening with increasing frequency and now seems stuck in park for good. In addition, I sometimes have problems getting the key out of the ignition when I turn car off.  Are these things related?  Why do you think car is stuck in park? Anything I can do at my end to fix this or at least get car out of park?

Answer
 Grace, you would have to pull off the shifter cover and inspect the interlock system. The solenoid "clicking" is a good sign. Inspect the linkage that puts the "pin" into the shifter. Claean and lube if necessary. Pop and coffee spills often make it sticky in there. The stuck key may be related also. If it soesn't know it's in park, it may not let you remove the key.

Mark