even though there was an active recall on the 2003 honda civic for the ignition switch Honda refuse to cover this under the recall since the key would not turn and car was totally locked up. the recall was for "being able to remove key while car was not in park"...I called various dealership and other authorized repair stations and they ALL told me they have encountered this problem several times already and the car had to go back to a dealership for repairs. the part alone was over $600.00 (aftermarket was over $900.00 believe it or not).

Not only were we without a vehicle for several weeks...when the repair was finally done the car had to go back since the dealership did not properly align the steering column--causing my wipers to be inoperative during a bad storm - and the column cover not properly reassembled - causing part of it to fall into my lap while driving....If there was a recall for the ignition switch it should have covered this too...I could not verify that the key could be removed while the car was in gear because the damn key would not turn at all for me to check. I ended up paying for towing, parts, labor, and the loss of 2 days of work due to Honda not fixing it properly the first time!!!