Another Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Cracked Corvette Wheels

By
Mitch Talley
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7
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Another Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Cracked Corvette Wheels


Alleged transmission and cooling problems in the C7 Corvette have already resulted in class-action lawsuits against General Motors.

Now comes word of another proposed nationwide class-action suit over what plaintiff Anthony Nardizzi claims are defective wheels on 2015-19 Z06s and 2017-19 Grand Sports.

Numerous stories about wheel cracking problems have been posted for years on Corvette Forum, and Car & Driver magazine even reported that it had to replace or repair six damaged wheels over the course of its 40,000-mile test period with a 2017 Grand Sport.

In 2017, Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter said on Corvette Forum that “a frequent sequence of events is that a wheel gets bent by a road hazard but the damage is initially almost undetectable to the driver. Maybe the driver notices a little more vibration, but many times not if the wheel is only slightly out-of-round (just a millimeter or two). A wheel that is not perfectly round puts stress in the rim that varies with each wheel rotation. Over time fatigue cracks can form after thousands or even millions of cycles. The wheel doesn’t look any different but begins to leak air at the rim. Since it is hundreds or thousands of miles after the damaging event, the driver often can’t remember hitting anything that would justify a crack in the wheel. I have actually experienced this myself.”

Another Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Cracked Corvette Wheels


In his suit, Nardizzi claims the defects actually exist from the time the car is new as he immediately took his 2018 Corvette to a third-party company to have the wheels coated and the wheel finishing company told him two of the wheels were already bent.

Replacing the wheels cost Nardizzi $7,500, of which General Motors finally agreed to pay $1,200.

The suit claims that GM is breaching its 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty by blaming Corvette drivers for the cracked and bent wheels. Nardizzi says that since the defects were discovered immediately in his case, they could not have been caused by a road hazard.

The suit alleges that GM knew or should have known about the defective wheels before Nardizzi leased his Corvette, based on internal data and numerous complaints already filed by other owners. Juechter’s comments in 2017 would seem to support that argument, though Tadge did end his response on Corvette Forum by noting: “Our field data does not suggest a recent significant increase in the wheel damage rate on our cars. There may be more reports of damage than historically, but, between the Z06 and Grand Sport, we are selling lots more wide-wheel cars than we ever have before. More cars on the road means more chance of hitting something in the road.”


Source:
carcomplaints.com

Related:
Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Alleged Defects with its 8-Speed Automatic Transmission
Federal Judge Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Over C7 Z06 Cooling Issues to Move Forward
Lawsuit Filed Against GM By Family of Man Who Died Inside his Corvette

 



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7 COMMENTS

  3. Wheels made in China, perhaps??? I’ve yet to find a quality product originating there.

  4. I have a 2017 grand sport and have replaced 5 rear rims. I have been leasing corvette every 3 years for 26 years and never before had i replaced a rim

  5. it is not just corvette wheels, mercedes wheels are easily bent. A friends MB C43 amg and an older MB SLS AMG both experienced bent rims, all four on the SLS. One Mercedes was driven very carefully by a middle aged married woman, the other driven by a senior, no hooning by either driver. perhaps the only solution will be to use more expensive forged wheels, vice the cast aluminum alloy wheels manufacturers choose because it is cheaper to manufacture. Tires over a foot wide with heavy solid rubber rings on both sidewalls (runflat support) makes these tires some of the heaviest ever hung off the delicate spider-web filigree of aluminum spokes attaching the hub to the rim, and this only on one side. Also, steel wheels will not have this issue. Keep the aluminum alloy wheels for track use on billiard table-smooth surfaces.

  6. Come on GM, you offer some of the best looking factory wheels out there. Fix the problem or do a better job of backing your products. Sure hope this doesn’t happen to my C6. Does this happen to the Camaro’s too?? Of course it would be nice if the damn cities would take better care of the streets. I spend half my time avoiding bs in the road.

  7. I have had two cracked rims replaced already. One was cracked in two places. That is horrible. I am taking my 2017 GS to the dealership this week to check the balancing again. Vibration starting up again. The same rim replaced once is losing air again. All kinds of problems with these rims. One other in my club had a cracked wheel at 5000 miles on his Z06. Another member had 3 bent rims, could not balance them.

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