When you pay nearly $80,000 for a car, you expect everything to be in full working order upon taking delivery, but as some Corvette Forum members have learned recently, that isn’t always the case.
More than one Corvette Forum member has reported their C7 Corvette Z06 arrived with cracks in its tires. Most recently, member ‘sdtoothdoc’ posted photos of his 2015 Z06 after taking delivery of it in San Diego showing large horizontal cracks in the sports car’s rather expensive Michelin tires.
He posted the following message along with the photos:
“Hey guys … my A8 Z06 finally got here in San Diego and I took her home a few miles away. As suspected, all four tires have cracks like Dennis’s from Las Vegas. When at the dealer, they said that four other Stingrays all have the same cracks in the tires.”
A Michelin rep has now addressed the cracked tire complaints, advising Corvette owners to not drive or move their cars in cold weather if they’d like to prevent cracks from appearing in their tires.
“This winter has been extremely harsh in much of the country and some recently shipped Corvette tires may exhibit cracking. In general, summer tires should never be driven on or moved in temperatures under 20°F because they may crack. Tires should be carefully inspected at the dealership before taking delivery of a vehicle. Never use a tire with freeze cracks, breaks, or damage to the sidewall or tread. For those residing in colder climates, Corvette owners should have a plan for vehicle storage during cold winter months. If your garage drops below 20°F regularly, consider removing tires and storing them inside. If you live in colder climates and want to drive your vehicle in temperatures below 40°F we strongly recommend investing in a set of winter or all-season tires.”
The C7 Z06 owner in this case is from San Diego, so his car likely wasn’t subjected to sub 20°F temperatures while at the dealership. Another forum poster who complained of cracked tires was from Las Vegas, again ruling out the possibility of sub 20°F temps. This makes us think the tire cracking is likely happening at the plant in Bowling Green, or on vehicle transporters. Owners should take the issue up with General Motors rather than Michelin, as it seems to be a delivery issue rather than a manufacturing flaw.
Comments
seriously?
brand new tires are cracking and you say to take it up with GM like it was GM’s fault they built the cars in a cold state? Yes GM should handle the issues but the tire companies warranty their own tires. This is a tire issue and no way should have been put on the road. Tire design has a lot of compromises to it but one should not be dangerous cracks when it gets a little cold out.
Well Michelin is not the company they once were. Not that they do not offer good tires yet but they have fallen into the OE tire trap that others have fallen in before.
The real issue here is you go OE you have to make tires for little to no profit. On cars like the Corvette they often go for a loss.
They also have to compromise the tread on the tires for noise and wear while still making the tire cheaper.
If you note many of the top brands walked away from OE supply a few years ago. Goodyear and others only do limited markets where they can make money or they do not have to compromise the tires as much. They got tired no pun intended of putting out poor cheap tires and not getting any profit and only damaging their reputation.
Firestone paid the price a few years ago with Ford for putting on cheap tires that cause many deaths. Firestone wants to blame Ford but they and Ford both made mistakes that lead to this.
The fact is there are many summer tires out there that will not crack so the compounding is an issue here. Someone made a mistake and now it is showing up and Michelin does not want to pay for it.
I deal with Michelin and BFG their sister company and we have seen more and more quality issues and more and more delays in production. I have wondered what is going on there?
The last set of Pilots I had on my Chevy were crap they had good dry traction but hydroplaned and had no wet grip even being rated as a All Season Pilot. I was never so happy as to dump them. I gave up on the at 25K miles.
Note the many cars with the cheaper imported tires like the Hankook and other lesser brands as they can make them cheap overseas and dump them on the automakers here.
Summer tire or not this should not be happening. What tire should crack just because of the cold?
Winter tires for a Corvette. Does anyone make winter tires for the Corvette.
Scott3 “Firestone paid the price a few years ago with Ford for putting on cheap tires that cause many deaths. Firestone wants to blame Ford but they and Ford both made mistakes that lead to this.” Wrong. Firestone employees testified the Bridgestone owned company ordered their workers to use defective rubber in those tires which were then supplied to Ford as OE. Ford replaced them at Ford’s expense, sued Bridgestone for the replacement cost. Federal investigation ruled Firestone, not Ford, was at fault. At that time, the tire manufacturers, not the auto companies, kept track of tire failures. Firestone was aware of the defect months before it became public. BTW, Bill Ford Jr.’s mother’s maiden name? Firestone. Yes, THAT Firestone.
Sam I am well aware of what all went on here. I live in Akron Ohio and have friends at Firestone and even had done work for Firestone in the past.
First off this is what happened. I agree the tires if I recall that had the issues were just from one plant and were compounded wrong. Strike for Firestone. The other part of this play is Ford wanted tires for their vehicle that were cost effective and that is what they got a cheap tires that had short cuts taken. Ford could have spec’d a better tire for the vehicle but they did not do it. Strike for Ford.
Now after all this went south Firestone remained in a state of denial and Ford on the other hand went to bat as did what was right and replaced the tires. While they were not fully to blame they did share a part of this by going to really crappy tires in the first place. A couple bucks more on the tire and they could have upgraded much.
I spent a New Years weekend with the gentleman that used to be incharge of the Firestone OE account before all this took place and he fully explained the details of how all auto MFG often will spec a cheap tire just to get the car out the door. GM for years used Uniroyals as they were cheap so they are just as much guilty as most other automakers. Often higher line cars like the Corvette and others could avoid this but not anymore.
Goodyear and others are opting out in many cases anymore as it is just not worth the effort and the risk to their rep.
As for the Firestonee marriage. Ford people were told not to throw Firestone under the bus because of this family relationship. Yet still the relationship has soured even with Ford holding back. The reality is no Firestones are even involved with the company anymore and most that are left are Fords or Firestones in California that are making wine.
I agree Firestone was the one with the most to blame but Ford started the avalanche when they did not spec a better tire for the vehicle.
You want a good view of the story read What Did Jesus Drive? as it covers this form the Ford perspective. The fact is it give good coverage of one side but both had a stake in it.
Kudos for Ford for doing the right thing when it went south but shame on them for asking for unrealistic cheap tires that lead to Firestone making inferior tires to meet their demands. Cause ands Effect Brother is the name of the game.
We have seen a similar deal with other supplier parts and recalls too.
These are very high performance summer tires…this is pretty routine. My Direzza ZIIs sit inside all winter – if I left them on the car outside, I would not be surprised one bit to find cracks.
You want a tire that grips like hell in the summer? Be prepared for it not to like cold weather. No one would be at fault there – that’s just how physics works. Should we also complain about the Corvette’s ground clearance when trying to drive it through a foot of snow?
It’s likely they went through a cold spell (maybe sat on the lot during one of the lovely storms or polar fronts this winter) before or during shipping, which would easily cause this. That said – there shouldn’t be any cars sitting outside in cold weather. You’d think the Corvette is special enough to warrant a nice heated (40* would be fine) warehouse to park them in.
I drive my 08 Z51 roadstr all winter, for 3 years now and get around fine with bfgodrich tires. Corvettes are not whimpy 40° and above vehicles. We have had temps as cold as -40° this winter and have had zero problems. If a person couldnt drive a vehicle in cold weather the world would come to a stop.
Here is the real issue nearly most of the country experiences 20 degree weather. While most Corvettes are not driven many are stored in cold storage and or moved in cold weather as even in places in the deserts it can be cold at night and warm in the day and never see snow.
The truth is you can make a sticky tire like this and not crack. Someone made a poor choice of compound at Michelin and in the end GM will pay for it.
Funny we hear little of the brands and makes with soft compounds having the same issues.
Michelin got the tire deal because they were willing to jump through hoops set by GM to make the tires. GM set the standard of performance and the price they wanted to pay. Goodyear played this game for years but were at a point they were rebuilding their markets and made their offer but really did not care to lose money so they did not offer as good of a deal as Michelin. You can hear all the press releases of praise but that is what it comes down to.
This is also why Goodyear is only on a few models now as they will only do what they can do where they can offer a quality tire and make money. One bad tire line can kill your rep even if you offer 20 more that are world class. In some cases it many only be part of a single tire line that could kill your rep on one car.
Between GM and Michelin, this should have been figured out and never occurred at the customer level. Corvettes are performance cars that require performance tires. But most Corvette owners are not racing their cars on the track. What GM and Michelin need to do is to give the customer choices when it comes to tires that fit the customer’s needs. Why can’t they make a tire for the Vette that meets most of the track standards, is reasonably durable, and can be driven all year. Reserve the “summer tire” for those wishing higher performance with the clear and loud proviso that the tire may not be used at temperatures below 40 degrees. This then puts the decision on the customer with the responsibility for tire quality, reliability and durability left on Michelin and GM.
It seems to me like a manufacturer defect on Michelin’s part, and a bad batch in the tire production run. If a guy from San Diego can find cracks on his tires after taking delivery, then that suggests the tires cannot even hold up to conditions during transport or storage prior to sale. Surely, the tires were specified by GM to withstand those scenarios.
It’s funny that we haven’t heard of tires cracking on Z28 Camaros. Those are some specific tires definitely not intended for cold weather. Also, wasn’t the Corvettes cold weather tested – with hopefully the production tires? I think GM did their due diligence and Michelin needs to review their quality control.
We did have tires crack on the Camaro 1LE and ZL1. Goodyear Eagle F1G2 tires are sitting cracked on many lots right now
All I can add here is that I drove my freshly built, 57 Corvette through heavy snowstorms in Connecticut in the early 70’s. Always made it home. But as far as Micheline Tires go, I always have them put on my new BMW’s when I buy.
But I am aware that OEM is a different story.
Anybody in their right mind in the sales chain should never have let this issue linger for a minute. The Dealer should have jumped on it with replacements immediately and then used it’s position to hammer on Micheline and GM.
What has happened to Goodwill?
I took delivery on a low mileage BMW SUV. My wife got a half mile from the dealership and a tire light came on.
The salesman said, “Oh ya. That happens because the cars sit on the lot.” I was like, “Did you hear what you just said?” “You know it happens and you send my wife off with a leaking tire?” Needless to say, that salesman has been fired by us. We now buy from another salesman at the same dealership, who is obsessed with customer service. The dealer made good on the tire. So I had them replace a second tire at my cost for a matched pair since it was almost 15,000 miles old.
For another time: Defective TPMS!
We received a 2016 corvette with Michelin tires with a plug in it
Got my 2015 Z06 with the Z07 package $120,000 vehicle with the Michelin Sports Cup racing tires and almost crashed when in winter mode on some icy streets returning to my home from the dealership. The tires are useless in this weather; and they don’t look like they’ll survive the 35 degree weather. Winter tires don’t exist for this car at present, so what the hell are we supposed to do as “daily drivers” with a car like this; take out our Ford Volt and watch the Z06 sitting in the garage ?!?! WTF?!?!
My 2016 Z06’s tires crackle in 50F weather. Slight crackling noise in 70 F in Florida where it spent the winter. Did not have that problem with my 2005 Corvette.