Car Ignition Repair & Replacement

An ignition that will not turn strands you exactly as completely as a lost key, and it almost never fails without warning. It gets stiff, then it needs jiggling, then one morning it does nothing at all.

What is actually wrong

Worn wafers inside the ignition cylinder — years of use wear both the key and the lock until they no longer engage
A worn key rather than a worn ignition — sometimes the cheap fix is a freshly cut key from the original code
Steering lock engaged — the wheel is under tension against the lock pin, which stops the key turning
Key snapped off in the cylinder
Electrical fault behind the ignition switch, which is a different repair from the lock itself

Try the steering wheel first

If the key will not turn, put light pressure on the steering wheel left and right while turning the key gently. If the wheel was resting against the steering lock, that releases it. This costs nothing and resolves a meaningful share of the calls we get. We would rather tell you than take the call.

Repair or replace

A worn cylinder can often be rebuilt or rekeyed to your existing key rather than replaced outright, which keeps you carrying one key instead of two. Where the cylinder is beyond rebuilding we replace it and, where the vehicle allows, key the new one to match your door locks so a single key still works everything.

Broken key in the ignition

Leave it alone. The instinct is to fish the broken piece out with pliers or a screwdriver, and the usual result is the fragment driven deeper and the wafers damaged. Extraction is straightforward for us with the right tool and considerably less straightforward after someone has been at it. Turning a key extraction into a full ignition replacement is an avoidable expense.

Why will my key not turn in the ignition?

Most often the steering lock is engaged or the cylinder wafers are worn. Try light pressure on the steering wheel while turning the key gently before assuming a fault.