Wanted to share it with everyone so they don't go through what I went
through.  (Maybe the rest of you all know this already, but I thought
I'd share.)

I went--ironically and luckily--to a Nissan dealer today to see about an
item for my 2003 Altima and when I got back to the car, I put the key in
the ignition and--nothing.  The car wouldn't start.  Didn't even try to
turn over.  Total silence.  The electrical system immediately went on,
so I knew it wasn't a battery problem (and it should have been; I was
parked there a mere ten minutes, so even if I left my headlihts on it
should have made no difference) but the car wouldn't even try to start.

Well, I was sweating bullets already.  This car is two weeks old and has
400 miles on it.  It should not have any problems, let alone one this
apparent caliber.

I went back to the dealer and told them what happened.  They said they'd
be happy to look at it, but I'd have to figure out how to get it from
the curb to the service center--half a block, but might as well be a
thousand miles if it can't start.  They suggested I call a towing
service.  My insurance will pay for towing, but I don't know who to call
or if they'll pay for *anyone* at all or just certain people.  (Hmmm...a
good time to call them and find out.)

Then I persuaded the service manager to come over and take a quick look.
  I was parked half a block from the showroom and he agreed, all the
while asking me obvious things: did you have an aftermarket alarm
installed?  Are you sure you're not out of gas?

He couldn't start it either at first, and was truly puzzled.  Then he
put his foot on the brake, slipped it out of Park and into Neutral, and
voila, it started perfectly.

Turns out the shifter doesn't always click firmly into Park, so you
might think it's in park even when it's not quite locked.  The engine
won't start as a safety feature so's you don't fire up the car, slip
into Reverse when you think you're still in Park and rear-end another
car, or worse, a person.

I was so grateful that it was just this minor issue (and felt so lucky
that this happened near a car dealer and not in the middle of nowhere
with no one to ask) that it ddn't occur to me, but now I'm thinking,
What kind of safety feature is it that I can remove the key from the
ignition even though the shifter isn't locked in Park??

I'm pretty sure my old Altima wouldn't have let this happen.  Certainly
I never ran into this problem with that car, or any other I've owned,
for that matter.

Any thoughts from others here?

John