I attended the 2010 F-Body gathering this weekend and I had the pleasure to meet lots and lots of new people. one of those people happened to be Scott from the Camaro team from GM. (I can't remember his last name at the moment.)
he approached my car at the event and he complemented me on my car. his comments were mainly geared towards the black chrome Havoc wheels on my car. he then began to tell me how they originally had intended to have a black chrome wheel option on the gen 5 Camaro but the idea was quickly scrubbed due to the fact that the black chroming process involves a chemical that is not so environmentally friendly.
I then told him this: "so this is for the same reason why my Camaro has such a crappy paint job that chips as easily as when a leaf falls on it?" (well, it doesn't chip that easy but you know my point.)
he then kinda paused for a few seconds and then tells me that GM isn't the only American car maker that has this issue. I find it funny that he said that because I know quite a few people with full sized GM pick up trucks and a friend that has a 2009 Escalade and none of these peoples' vehicles chip nowhere near as easily like mine does.
he then proceeds to tell me blah, blah, blah this and blah, blah, blah that. so the bottom line is this: GM knows there's an issue but according to this guy they can't (or in my opinion, they won't) do anything about it. I then told him how unhappy I was with this issue and that the gen 5 Camaro would have been the perfect car if and when this issue was non existent.
what a load of you know what!
so while most people at this event were kissing this guy's butt, I gave him my .02 cents about this paint issue which I know won't go too far. if anything else it made me feel good letting it out to someone that works directly from Detroit.