So i traded for my 05 aveo about 6months ago... and about a week after i got the car my key would not come out of the ignition. and i could not get the car to go into gear without pushing the shift lock with a key or screwdriver.. so i do some reading here and a few other places and it turns out everyone says the shifter needs to be replaced and that this is a common problem for the 2005 aveo. well i tried and tried to get teh key out and finally the ignition switch housing broke. leaving me to unscrew the 2 phillips head screws and pulling the electric side of the ignition off to be able to have my car still function (be drivebale to work).

i bought a new column of a guy on craigslist here in phx az. came out of an 04 aveo hatch with 26k miles. column basically brand new.(yay for me) well thats what i thought. well turns out the 04 clock spring is differnt then the 05 clock spring so i had to swap that out. and put my old one on.. works like it should thats the only diffence between the 2 if anyone was wondering.

well heres the issue i ran into.. as stated before my key would not come out after i put it all back together but the ignition is there so my car wont get stolen. well my father was there with me giving me some lessons in common sense. lol. well he reached up behind the wiper and light switches and found a relay to be extremly hot even only after a few seconds of haveing battery power.. this didnt seem right so he unplugged it and my key came out and the car starts key works as it should.. well after a little bit more of research this relay locks the key into the ignition if its in gear which has to do with the solinoid under the shifter and shifter itself. so if anyone is hurting for money or dosnt have the time to sit there and go to a shop to have there key removed just unplug this relay on the right rear of the wiper switch undo the harness dont disconnect the relay itself and your problem is solved.. just be smart and put your car in gear when your ready to remove the key.. (SAFETY) let me know if you need a better description i will be taking pictures and adding them for reference here...