NHTSA Complaint #10134750 — 2001 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

STEERING COLUMN LOCKED UP TWO TIMES WITHIN A 2 WEEK PERIOD AFTER HAVING RECALL PERFORMED IN YEAR PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT. FIRST LOCKUP OCCURRED FOR 2 1/2 HOURS AND SECOND OCCURRED FOR 20 MINUTES BOTH OF WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO BE COMPLETELY UNUSABLE SINCE IT COULD NOT BE DRIVEN. BEING CONCERNED WITH THE LOCKING AFTER THE SO CALLED RECALL FOR THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK PROBLEM BEING PERFORMED, I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I WAS INFORMED THAT THE LOCKING MECHANISM WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED NOT UNDER ANY WARRANTY OR RECALL BECAUSE IT WAS "BROKEN". LATER I FOUND OUT THAT A BAD WIRE IS THE REASON FOR THIS PART (#88965331) HAVING TO BE REPLACED. I CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE AND WAS INFORMED THAT THIS BROKEN PART HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RECALL AND THEREFORE HAS COST ME $486.97 OF WHICH $282 WAS FOR THE "GM GOODWRENCH" TO PERFORM LABOR DURING 3 HOURS THEY SAID IT TOOK. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT TOOK A GM GOODWRENCH MECHANIC 3 HOURS TO REPLACE A COLUMN LOCK PART BECAUSE OF A WIRE. GM GAVE ME THE TYPICAL BRUSH OFF FOR CORVETTE OWNERS WITH REGARDS TO THESE COLUMN LOCK PROBLEMS BY TELLING ME THAT THEY WILL KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IN THERE RECORDS. HOW CAN A CAR WITH ONLY 13K MILES START HAVING FAILURES OF PARTS THAT NOBODY EVER HAS ACCESS TO WITHIN THE STEERING COLUMN AND THEN GM HAS THE NERVE TO TELL ME IT IS NOT A DEFECTIVE PART. *NM