I've got a 2002 Maxima GLE. I parked it, went to eat, and when I came back the key would _not_ turn. It was mechanically locked, and wouldn't go out of the lock position.

I tried all the obvious - jiggling the steering, the shifter is in Park, pushing the car a little to see if I could disengage the lock, wiggling the key in various ways into the lock, etc... Nothing works.

Any ideas what this is? Just a busted ignition cylinder? Is this known issue, or rare? Pretty expensive to fix?

What's really really sweet is I went out of warranty 1 month ago. Awesome.

I'm going to try the 'backup' key in case the one I'm using is worn, but it looks fine to me.

Thanks!

 

I have a 2000 and am having the same problem occasionally . I was told that it was the ignition switch. Hope this helps

 

I've replaced one on a Honda before. Not a very hard job to do, just takes time and patience. I'd go to the dealership and ask for a "good faith" type of job, though. Only one month out of warranty and it breaks? Rub that part in... especially if you go there to get your routine maintenance done. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, the part from an OEM for Honda was about $70 shipped. I'd imagine a newer Nissan to be somewhere north of that figure, however. Once the covers are off the column, its pretty easy.