My 99 tahoe is the same way, it is a huge pain in the ass. it works quicker if you turn it towards you then quick to the start position.

I have the exact same issue with my 2002 Tahoe. Parked it in the driveway, came the next morning and could not turn the key. The steering wheel was not locked up, but I could not turn the ignition key. Tried jiggling the key while turning the steering wheel and shift lever. Checked all fuses, disconnected battery to see if it would reset something. I tried everything I could think of without success. Finally, I figured some sort of locking pin is not engaging properly and I took the butt end of my screwdriver and tapped about 10 times on the ingition switch right where you would put the key in. It was a nice solid tap, not banging it. Sure enouth, I put the key in and it turned right over. Hope this works for you!

Thanks Angry Tahoe Owner! I just had the same symptom for the first time with my 2005 Suburban. I parked it in the driveway, and next time I got in I couldn't turn the key, couldn't move the shifter and the steering wheel wasn't locked. A few whacks on the ignition with a rubber mallet and presto, she started right up. Other than that and $4 gas, I love my 'burb.

Hi, same thing happened to my 2003 Suburban, for years not an issue until my 16 year old took it a block away and the key would not turn. Called me on the cell phone and of course was thinking she wasn't doing something quite right. Got there and couldn't get it turn myself after trying everything, turning the wheel, locking and unlocking, etc. Called the dealer and off course never heard of this but must be the master cylinder. Have it towed in right away and will be around $360 to $380. Of course I knew someone else must have faced it and solved it. Did the but end screwdriver trick 10 times and also turned towards me before turning and it worked right away. Will work on it tomorrow to be sure it is reliable. Any more ideas?

same issue with my 03 chevy impala...the tow truck driver was able to diagnose the problem: neutral safety switch was faulty! of course dealership could NOT duplicate the problem and I finally convinced them to replace the switch as I only had a few more days of extended warranty and this is an expensive job ($1500)as transmission has to be dropped! dealership still argued with me, but did it and I have not had a failure since! knock on wood! If this happens again, you might try pushing the gear shift lever forward....this did work for me, but I didn't want to do this the rest of my life!

HI, THE SCREWDRIVER TRICK WORKED FOR ME THANKS SO MUCH.

I found that the most common answer is for the key not turning is the ignition cylinder having something bent or damaged not allowing the key to turn at all. My friends are having the same problem, and my friend and I have looked at it for them. Best advice is have it diagnosed by chevy technicians at a dealership maintenance shop to verify. My buddy and I had to tell our friend we would not fix it for them due to the fact of the small parts and amount of work required to pull everything out around the steering wheel hub assembly to get to the ignition cylinder. Plus you need special tools which are not worth buying for one job. That's why it will cost close to $400. The ignition cylinder is around $130 from what I found on the internet and that doesn't include shipping. This looks like a 4 hour job easily at the least. If the mechanics charge around an average hourly rate of $60, that's $240 just for the labor at least. Now your bill is a total of $370. This is an estimate from what I know by doing the research on my own. I highly recommend not trying this yourself. I hope this helps you understand the difference between having the problem fixed professionally and the easy tap start that works for now.