I don't know why I didn't think to post this before, but I have one experience where a letter to Chevrolet paid off.
This was back in '96. My wife bought a '95 fully loaded C4 coupe. After a few days we noticed a whistling sound under the hood. I opened the hood and found that the radiator hoses were completely collapsed. Further investigation showed that the coolant resevoir tube where the hose attaches did not have a hole through it. Also found a large hole in the wheel well cover, where apparently someone had shut the hood with a wrench still on top of the tire. Several other flaws, including a noticeable flaw in the passenger seat leather.
I wrote a firm, but politely worded letter to the President of Chevrolet, that this wasn't what I expected from a $44K car. I honestly did not expect to hear another word. A few days later, my wife called me at work saying that an engineer from the Corvette plant wanted to come to the house to see the car!
As it turned out he was coming out to see his wife at the plant in Fremont, CA. But sure enough, a few days later he showed up at the house with tools & parts in-hand and made repairs on the spot.
I can't say that this is normal, but apparently the engineers do make regular visits to sites closer to Bowling Green.
We had friends with a ZR-1 with a cracked hood. They brought their car over for him to look at. He said that it was a known problem and offered to ship a new hood out free. As it turned out, they drove back to Bowling Green and had the new hood mounted and painted at the factory.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if you have a valid case, can get to the right people, and handle it tactfully, Chevy will work with you.

Can you post the address from chevy that you wrote to..

I can attest to the fact that real humans do read your letters. Years ago I worked for a GM subsidiary and had access to the Chevy Customer Assistance Center, I saw many letters posted on the wall both good and bad. I can't say you'll always get satisfaction but you will be heard. You can call the 800 number that people use for getting the resto-packet, it's the same place...I'll look it up in the mean time.

A long as the car is under warranty. If not... your just blowing wind at them.

You can get a "restoration package" at no cost from GM/Chevrolet. Sinply call the Chevy/Geo customer assistance hotline at
(800) 222-1020 or 810-696-4800. Have your VIN handy, as they'll ask for it. The contents of this package varies by year.

This was taken off of the Vette Net home page.

Topless93,

Thanks for posting the number!

what is a restoration package ?

A restoration package for newer vettes contains tech info, clubs listings by state,
VIN and RPO breakdowns, specialty parts suppliers and a ton more!! best of all its free!! call the number and have your VIN handy...

Thanks I'll try it out