It’s been reported for years that some owners are experiencing problems with their wheels cracking on C7 Z06s and Grand Sports.
A Pennsylvania law firm is asking affected owners to contact them to take part in a class-action lawsuit against General Motors.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., says the class action has been filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California on behalf of owners of 2015-2019 Corvette Z06s and 2017-19 Grand Sports.
The suit alleges that the wheels “are prone to bending and cracking, necessitating costly repairs and replacements” and that such cracking “can puncture the tires, causing air leaks and tire blowouts.”
According to the complaint, said defect is a result of making the rims out of a cheaper cast material instead of being forged, and also because GM used less material than necessary to try and save unsprung weight (or weight that is not borne by the cars’ suspension), resulting in cracks under normal driving conditions because the rims are too weak.
The suit also argues that Chevy is systematically denying claims about the wheels made by owners during the three-year, 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, forcing owners to pay thousands of dollars on their own to repair and replace the wheels.
U.S. purchasers or lessees of either a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (2015-Present) or Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport vehicle (2017-Present) designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, sold, warranted, and/or serviced by General Motors LLC are encouraged to contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], or John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected], to discuss potential legal claims.
Numerous stories about wheel cracking problems have been posted for years on Corvette Forum. 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 weighed in on the subject with the following response to an Ask Tadge question on the Corvette Forum:
“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.”
Source:
Kehoe Law Firm
Related:
Another Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Cracked Corvette Wheels
Federal Judge Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Over C7 Z06 Cooling Issues to Move Forward
Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Alleged Defects with its 8-Speed Automatic Transmission
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I’m sure this “class action” suit will be as successful as the three C7 Z06 over heating actions.?. What a waste of time with small returns (if the suit prevails), for the Vette owners and big “Attorney Fees” awarded to the Lawyers.
The only one to make any money in there is the law firm for their expenses (new business). The members receive next to nothing.
GM: Geunk Metal, always has been always will be Geunk!
Will keep an eye on my rims very closely as I only have 23 miles on my new last years model. Thank you for alerting me about this defect.
This is nothing another Taxpayer Bailout won’t fix!
Really? Because now is the time to file a class action lawsuit, when the nation as a whole is suffering. Lawfirm sees big dollar signs at a time win those dollars need to be spent fighting this pandemic. I don’t know why customers are complaining, it’s not like they aren’t going to replace them anyway.
Ya come on GM, bs. Take care of these people and stop whining. You took the cheap way out and got caught. Pretty sad. Glad my C6 has no wheel issues. For 80k+ wheel problems should be zero. Seems odd that these are the same roads used for yrs by many Vettes and the C7 has the problems and no others. Take care of it GM.
Tldr*
I buy track car, extra light everything, drive on the street, hit a pot hole break something and bitch.
Seriously, buy street rims and keep the stock ones designed for the track for when you need them. Alternatively, drive the car cautiously. This isn’t a lawsuit, seriously. You know what you’re purchasing. Next, someone will have a class action lawsuit against GM for wasted money on Corvette body repairs for carbon fiber cracking when any other modern material would rebound. Get out of here man. If you buy extra light sports things, you get what you pay for. Typically, these items aren’t built to be sturdy in the long-term.
LOL….maybe GM should put in the owners manual to “Watch out for pot-holes”.
Solution: Buy aftermarket wheels
Question: What rims don’t bend or crack when you hit major pot holes?
It’s not whiny bs.
You see this happening with GT-Rs? Do you see it happening with GT350s? Do you see it happening with the last generation Dodge Viper? What about any variant of C6?
They went cheap, and to be honest they have a history of doing this. Look at the current ZL1 and its oil pump failures under normal driving conditions. At least GM doesn’t run and hide from that issue.
Don’t disregard issues with a company’s product that they sell to people at a premium WITH A WARANTEE, and then side with the bastards when they won’t honor their agreement.
6 repaired wheels in 40K miles? C’mon, man.
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