Transformer
Do the math. Save the world. — Mark Leon
I actually like the gear change chime because I have the issue where the car doesn't go from Park to Drive all the time as intended, so the chime is a nice confirmation.
Perhaps that's the undocumented behavior that when starting on the car, it won't shift into gear until it gets about halfway through the power-up self test.
One technique is to wait for about half the safety/warning lights to turn off before shifting into gear. (I buckle the seatbelt during that time.) @PianoAl's technique is to click and hold the stalk, holding until it shifts.