My daughter'* ignition switch came out when she removed her key last night. She has a pontiac Grand am and it is NOT in the steering wheel. Is it dangerous for her to drive car and is this a costly problem?

That is not your ignition switch.......did just the lock cylinder come out, or did the lock cylinder AND pass Lock sensor come out?

I have never seen that happen.......was someone previously in there?

The lock cylinder in on the right, sensor on the left......

Would I drive it like that? No....

Totally agree with Gus, I am not sure how much it will cost to get it fixed, but I would not advise driving it until it is repaired.

What year is your daughter'* pontiac Grand am ?
Wonder if there might be any applicable recalls?
I definitely would not attempt driving the vehicle without it repaired as well.

the later ones had constant security issues. sounds like someone didnt put it back together right when poking around in there or broke a retainer of some sort.

It is a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am and since I am not sure what it is I took a picture of it. The car still operates with it out. Hope this will help.

That is definitely the PassLock sensor......on the side is a tang with a retainer on the end of it......that has to be broken......in order to remove it you have to turn the key to on, and then you depress that retainer to pull it out of the housing.....

Or possibly, a previous owner may have had a problem turning the key.....now the only way you can remove the tumbler/sensor, like I said, is turn the key to on, then depress the retainer in the housing, and pull the sensor out........however if you can't turn the key, then you can't depress that retainer.....so the only way to remove it, is to break the tang holding the retainer......to do that, you have to drill a hole into the housing to break the tang......if someone destroyed the housing while drilling, that retainer may have nothing to "bite' on.....

Thank you for your help. Looks like we will be taking it to the repair shop or dealership.