Yesterday morning went to start my '07 and had a real problem inserting the key into the ignition.
The key was only going in half way and was giving me a lot of resistance and was feeling a lot like all the other locks in the car, all of which have systematically, one by one, failed.
I guess in my tries I also moved around the steering wheel too much for its liking and locked the steering wheel. No biggy, so I thought.
I gave up trying to get the key in as I was running late to work and decided to deal with it after work.

Once I get home, I try to get the key back in and, voila!, goes in no problem (I live in SoCal, btw)
But I cannot get it to turn for the life of me. The steering wheel is locked, and I mean LOCKED.
I jostle and jostle the steering wheel left and right while turning the key like i've always done in the past (and it's always worked), but to no avail.
Put more force into turning the wheel. Nothing. (Don't want to put force into the key and brake it).
Try to rock the car, nothing.
Jack up the front of the car, nothing.
Cursing at the car, nothing.

Am I missing something really obvious here? Is there anything that I can do or is this a failure of the lock system that I have to send to the shop to fix?

 

 

Damaged tumbler wafers in the lock. Common.

I rebuild/retumble the locks for this problem, and you could need a fresh key if it is worn as well.