NHTSA Complaint #10618026 — 2006 PONTIAC SOLSTICE

VEHICLE WAS IN DEALERSHIP FOR IGNITION SWITCH RECALL WORK (RECALL 14063 AND 14113). WHEN VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO ME UPON COMPLETION OF THE WORK, THE VEHICLE WOULD SOMETIMES START, AND SOMETIMES NOT. I START WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN GEAR, CLUTCH DEPRESSED. THIS MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THE ISSUE, WHICH THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN REPORTED WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE HALL EFFECT DEVICES IN THE KEY HEAD. I AM AN EX GM ELECTRICAL ENGINEER - I UNDERSTAND NEUTRAL SAFETY. THIS IS NOT A CLUTCH/TRANSMISSION NEUTRAL SAFETY ISSUE, THIS IS A KEY SWITCH FAILURE TO ENGAGE CRANK ISSUE. THE OLD IGNITION SWITCH ALWAYS STARTED IN THIS CRANK CONFIGURATION. AT THIS TIME, I HAVE MY VEHICLE AT HOME, AND BOTH RECALL KEYS HAVE DEMONSTRATED A REFUSAL TO START THE CAR AT TIMES. TURN THE KEY, NO CRANK. GREAT, IF I DUMP THE CLUTCH AND STALL THE VEHICLE, I MAY BE IN A ROAD CONDITION THAT IS VERY DANGEROUS AND BE UNABLE TO START MY CAR. IT "COULD" BE A WALK HOME FAILURE PER THE TECHNICIANS COMMENTS IF I UNDERSTOOD HIM CORRECTLY. IN RETURNING "ONE" OF THE "TWO" SUPPLIED KEYS SO THEY COULD ORDER REPLACEMENTS, THE COMMENT WAS MADE THEY HAVE SEEN THIS ISSUE WITH HALL KEY HEADS BEFORE. EXCUSE ME, I WOULD THINK A "NO START" CONDITION IS A RECALL CONDITION -- YOU CAN GET SOMEONE HURT IN TRAFFIC. I WOULD ALSO THINK ALL KEY HEAD SHOULD BE CHECKED FOR PERFORMANCE PRIOR TO INSTALLATION IN SERVICE. HOW MANY OF THE RECALLED "FIXED" VEHICLES HAVE THESE UNSAFE KEYS IN CUSTOMERS HANDS? I CHALLENGE THIS SOLUTION AS A "FIX", AND QUESTION THE RECALL SOLUTION. *TR