A Metro Vancouver mother is sounding the alarm about a potentially deadly safety problem with a popular General Motors vehicle.

GM has recalled almost 3.4 million cars because of faulty ignition switches. But when Amanda Hamel discovered a similar ignition problem with her Saturn vehicle, she was shocked to learn the company wanted her to pay to fix the problem.

Hamel bought her 2004 Saturn Vue from a used car dealer recently because she was looking for a safe vehicle for her growing family.

“I knew there were some recalls going on with GM, so I went online and I checked for any recalls with the Saturn Vue and I saw absolutely nothing," she said.

She was happy with her purchase, until one day when she put her key in the ignition, and the vehicle into gear to drive away and her keys fell onto the car’s floor, while the vehicle was still running.

"I was pretty annoyed. I put the video I made on Facebook just to warn people because it can happen to anybody," said Hamel. 

Hamel says GM didn’t seem concerned with her issue. The Saturn Vue was not on its recall list. The company told her it was normal wear and tear and it was going to cost her $150 to look at and another $300 to fix.

Hamel was upset, especially since GM admits 13 people have died because of ignition switch defects in its vehicles.

She says the company told her the problem was likely caused by the original owner hanging too many keys from the ignition switch.

"How do you know there's too many? Where does it say you're only allowed one or two or what's exactly too many?" Hamel asked. 

Consumer advocate Phil Edmonston is outraged.

"If you have a key ring with more than one key, you shouldn't have to pay for that with your life," he said.

GM has recently recalled several older model vehicles for ignition switch defects, but the Saturn Vue is still not on the list. And Edmonston says GM is asking the courts to exempt owners of vehicles made before 2009 from any future compensation.

“To me that shows the true nature of General Motors, and frankly I'm disappointed, because I think they've really dropped the ball," said Edmonston.

Hamel says her GM vehicle is going to stay parked until the ignition problem is fixed because she’s too scared to drive it.

CTV News contacted GM Canada to get its reaction to Hamel’s ignition problem. After refusing to fix the defect for weeks, it had a change of heart. In an email it told CTV News, "We are working diligently to resolve this customer's issue as quickly as we can.  We take our customer's concerns seriously and we have a team looking into this issue further."

For more information on recalls visit www.safecar.gov. It’s got a recall link where you can enter the year, make and model of your vehicle and it will instantly tell you if the vehicle is subject to any recalls.