NHTSA Complaint #10713496 — 1999 CHEVROLET MALIBU

IGNITION SWITCH HAS BEEN GETTING LOOSE AND DIFFICULT TO TURN ON FOR A LONG TIME. RECEIVED NTSB RECALL LETTER ABOUT UNINTENTIONAL KEY ROTATION FOR THE 1999 CHEVY MALIBU. I FOLLOWED THE NTSB INSTRUCTIONS AND REMOVED THE KEY FROM THE KEY RING. ON APRIL 21, 2015 THE CHEVY DEALER GLUED A PLASTIC HOUSING TO MY KEYS. AFTER RECEIVING MY KEYS BACK I COULD HARDLY GET THE KEY TO ROTATE THE IGNITION LOCK, I HAD TO JIGGLE THE KEY QUITE VIGOROUSLY TO GET THE IGNITION TO OPERATE. FOUR DAYS LATER THE KEY FELL OUT OF THE IGNITION AND THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN WHILE I WAS DRIVING ABOUT 40 MPH. ALTHOUGH DIFFICULT TO STEER AND BRAKE I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY BRING THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, LOCATE THE KEY ON THE FLOOR AND AFTER REINSERTING THE KEY RESTARTED HE CAR. I HAD A ROLL OF TAPE IN THE GLOVE BOX AND I USED IT TO TAPE THE KEY IN POSITION. NO FURTHER DIFFICULTIES. ON APRIL 27, 2015 I REPLACED THE LOCK CORE SUCCESSFULLY. THE RECALL FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM IS NOT ACCEPTABLE OR SAFE. I KNEW THE IGNITION LOCK WAS GETTING BAD BUT WAS NOT AWARE THAT THE ENGINE WOULD SHUT DOWN IF THE KEY FELL OUT. THIS FIX GAVE ME A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY THAT A PROBLEM WAS TAKEN CARE OF. WHEN I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER I THOUGHT THEY WOULD REPLACE THE LOCK CORE AND KEYS AND NOT JUST GLUE A HOUSING ONTO MY WORN-OUT KEYS. MY REPLACEMENT OF THE LOCK CORE SOLVED THE PROBLEM THE WAY THE DEALER SHOULD HAVE. A LETTER NEEDS TO GO OUT TO ALL THAT RECEIVED THE RECALL LETTER THAT THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE FIX IF THE LOCK CORE IS NOT REPLACED. WHEN THE DEALER SHOWED ME THE FIX I LAUGHED AT THE TIME AND SAID YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME THAT I'VE WASTED 1:45 OF MY TIME WAITING FOR THE GLUE TO DRY. I DO NOT KNOW WHO THOUGHT THIS WOULD SOLVE ANYTHING OR APPROVED IT BUT I THINK THEY ARE AN IDIOT AND SHOULD BE FIRED FROM ANY POSITION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SAFETY THAT THESE RECALLS ARE SUPPOSE TO ADDRESS. *TR