So to my surprise, I was reversing into a parking space in my 02 XL-7 and my A/T select cable broke as I shifted into reverse.  The transmission landed in neutral.

I say surprised because I couldn't figure out what caused it...until I got the new cable from the dealer.

It turns out that where the cable is attached to the lever on the transmission itself had broken off at the plastic loop that holds the bolt that floats within it because it was seized tight.  Being seized, the plastic must have started crack when bending back and forth over the course of however long it was seized and it finally snapped.

I had to literally get under my truck with the e-brake on and shift it into drive to get home and then to work the next day where I came up with a temporary fix using a battery side terminal connector until the dealer could deliver me a new cable the next day.

Is this a common problem?  From now on I am going to regulary check this connection to make sure it's always floating freely.  The new cable wasn't cheap. 

never happend to me. your the first i heard about it. i think not common

I remember this happening to me on a 94 civic ,i got under there and left it in drive for the week it took to get a new cable,and every time i had to reverse it would be raining(got dirty every time) LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!