How Much Should An Ignition Switch Cost?

Cost of labor is highly variable depending on location, which makes any answer you get here nearly worthless. Why not pick up the phone, call the nearest Saturn dealer, and ask?

I paid like $450 in NYC like a couple of months after my LS2 warranty went out. That didnt inlcude the tow. This was in 2001.

byrdsfan replied $450 give or take - prior to reading his post I was thinking my Sister paid about the same for hers on her '95 Saturn and apparently my thinking was accurate.

That's about right probably. snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com

If you have some patience, a Haynes or Chilton manual, and a few tools, you can do this yourself and save a lot. If I recall correctly, the parts to replace the ignition cylinder were less than $30. You will need a very compact and thin-walled socket to remove the bottom trim piece off the steering column though due to an inset hex-head screw (this was on my '94). I found a 'skewdriver'-type tool from K-Mart for around $10 that came with very compact sockets - it easily fit into the opening to remove that screw. Info on the tool can be found here:

You may also want to replace your keys, because they tend to get chewed up when the cylinder goes bad, and a chewed-up key also contributes to the difficulty in removing/turning it. Also, I've spoken with a Saturn tech that feels that heavy keychains dangling on the key can accelerate the wear of the cylinder over time. Makes sense. Lane [ lane (at) evilplastic.com ]

That's what I would guess it would cost so why did a poster say it would cost $450 to replace? After all, how much time would it take a mechanic to change it? An hour?

You may also want to replace your keys, because they tend to get chewed up

I think this was the problem (not from heavy keys though) because for a couple of months the key was hard to turn and I'd have to remove it or jiggle it and it seemed to get progressively worse until now I can't start it at all

We had a '93 SL2 with a similar but different problem. After about

220,000 miles, the worn ignition switch would take any ket that would physically fit into it. I discovered this when I accidentally used the key from my '93 Nissan Ultima!

That's a good one! Sounds like a great feature on some new model.. universal ignition switch!

I just paid 550. Thats 310 for labor. A pretty high price, I think.

I have a 97 sl1 and i spent 70.00$ 19.00 for the part the + tax and labor.

This sounds more reasonable since I doubt it would take over an hour to diagnose and change. So why are some people saying they paid $550, 450 etc