I had a problem on my '98 exactly like this...If you look under your dash on the brake pedal arm, you will see a switch with a couple wires coming off of it. That is the switch that makes your brake lights go on and allows you to switch out of park on an Auto. On mine, one of the wires was pulled out of the switch (I guess I probably hit it with my foot or something). All I had to do was to push the wire back in and drive it to the dealership, or auto part store, and buy a new switch for around $15 or so. It is an easy swap. But like you found out, the brake lights dont work if this switch isn't working properly, so be careful. Hope this helps you out.