austin98513

Hello everyone, I'm brand new to Corvette ownership and would greatly appreciate your advice. I just got my first performance vehicle and first corvette in December, a 2023 C8 Z06. I just hit 1,800 miles and I've loved every second of it.

This past weekend I ran over a nail and I have a leak in one of my PS4S tires so I called my local corvette certified Chevy dealer. Here's what they told me, can I get a sanity check here?

- The tire is a run flat (duh) so they can't patch it and I'll have to buy a new one at about $460. Is it true it can't be patched? Is the price decent for one tire?
- The dealer mentioned they can't order the tire until I bring the car in. Why can't I order the tire now and bring in my car once it has arrived? Why would I drive the flat tire back and forth or leave my car there?
- I've seen people on this forum recommend an oil change and transmission filter change within 1500-2000 miles just to get ahead of potential issues so I figured I'd do the same while they change/fix my tire. Yes, I know GM doesn't want owners to change either until 7,500 miles. The dealer was willing to do the oil change but flat out refused to do the transmission filter change. They mentioned issues with the warranty, because GM "wants" to inspect the filters after ~7,000 miles. Should I call around? What's the advice of the folks here?

I live in the San Antonio, Texas area if anyone has area specific recommendations. Thank you in advance

GOLD72

Utter bull$hit!! Discount Tire will mushroom patch and plug it as long as the puncture is at least 1 or 1.5” away from the shoulder. DT has repaired numerous corvette run flats for me over the past 15+ years.

AzDave47

Michelin ZP tires are patchable if the damage is not on the sidewall or outer 1" of tread. If it is more in the middle then the tire can be patched by taking it off the rim and patching it from the inside. The 25 profile rear tires are difficult to take off the rim, the front 30 profile tires less of a problem. Not done right, it is easy to damage the rim.

Seldom is the Chevy dealer the best place to get the new tire (if needed). Is there a Discount Tire store near you? They are generally very competent, have good prices and have the equipment and people that can change or repair these tires properly. The Michelin web site describes the process of repairing their ZP tires.

A good number of people on the forum change the oil and filter and DCT filter early. The DCT filter will still need to be changed again between 7000 and 8000 miles if you do it early.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your Z06.

A good number of forum members just do the service per the schedule Chevy calls for.

JABCAT

I'd recommend visiting your local Discount Tire & having the tire repaired and purchasing their replacement certificates for your tires. There is zero reasons for using a Chevy dealership for tires.

348SStb

Your car comes from GM with a GM-backed first service which is valid up to 24 months from new and which includes engine oil change and transmission canister filter change. But you don’t want to spend that now: save it for later. You don’t have to use it at your first engine oil change.

The thing to do is pay for your own engine oil change after break-in at 1500-2000 miles. Tell the service writer to take care to NOT use the GM code for GM first free service — that you wish to save it for later — and tell him you wish to pay. (I did this successfully).

Just at around month 23, or after month 23 but before 24 months have passed, regardless of mileage, you utilize the GM first free service and do the engine oil and transmission canister filter.

GM has repeatedly said that there’s no benefit to doing the transmission canister filter early (before 7500 miles); they’ve also said that if you do it early, you’ll still need to do it at 7500 miles.

So — it makes sense, then, to try to save the free service for around month 23 when you will have as close to 7500 miles as possible in order to avoid having to pay for the transmission canister filter at 7500 miles. If your mileage is still too low and you have to do it again at 7500 miles, then so be it.

With all this being said: the dealer CANNOT refuse your desire to utilize the first free service and CANNOT refuse the transmission canister filter change as a part of that service. This is ironclad. Print out this post if you like and also print out the document from GM which discusses this service. It’s plain English.

More discussion about this here. Search the internet using Google and also search this forum for more discussion.
<https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c8-general-discussion/4773197-first-service-free.html>

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Regarding your tires, it would be good practice to purchase a Tire & Wheel Warranty from Fidelity or RoadVantage. These tires are mighty expensive and the wheels are as well. The price of the warranty is almost a joke in comparison to what the warranty could pay out.

As far as using the Chevrolet dealer for work related to tires, I tend to agree with what has been said here — I also prefer not to use the dealer — but bear in mind these lightweight forged wheels are big time money per wheel, and a cheap tire place is likely to not have the proper experience with delicate wheels from exotic cars; they also don’t like to take responsibility for slight scratches or blemishes that result from work being performed by staff and machinery not suited to high-value wheels. Many Chevy dealers don’t have all that much experience with these, either, but at least they’ll tend to stand behind what they do. Always take pictures of the wheels at the time of your visit to whichever shop; and ask the person helping you and another staffmember (that’s two witnesses) to take 1 minute to visually inspect each of the four wheels with you and to point out any damage or scratches. Have a roll of blue tape with you and ask them to mark where they see damage or scratches. If the wheels are perfect and there’s no blue tape, then take your pictures. If there’s blue tape applied, take your pictures with the tape in place also. Forget videos — they’re useless. The human touch is the best way.

Unlike regular tires, run-flat tires are not supposed to be plugged or patched. Do so at your own risk. It is worth speaking to some professionals about this topic rather than taking the advice of forum commentators, because you already have different information coming in on this topic on this very thread.

Mitchell_B

Find a dealer in your area who will change the engine oil and filter AND change the external transmission filter as well. Pay for this out of pocket and use the free service for both the eng/trans at 7500 - which is required for warranty.

Sad to say that this a ***** business and you can't believe what anyone tells you. That DCT filter needs to be changed because it is undersized and will go into bypass well before 7500 miles.

Corvette owners should get together to do this service themselves. All you need is one owner who has the tools and knows how to do this.

348SStb

Can you provide primary source or other reference material to support what you’re saying? GM has stated in writing in many places that changing the transmission canister filter early is neither helpful nor necessary. Sure I would certainly change it for free within 24 months rather than let the freebie expire; but I wouldn’t pay to do so early; I’d pay at 7500 miles if I already used the freebie previously or if I were beyond the 24 months. I read these forums regularly and I have not come across the claim you are making. I take you at your word but I am wondering how you’ve come to conclude the canister filter “needs to be changed” early.

Mitchell_B

I have an Anniversary Z06 - have owned it since 2/2023. With 5200 miles so far, I have changed the engine oil/filter and changed the DCT filter as well four times so far. Each time with oil analysis and I have cut the DCT filters open for inspection. GMs recommended service intervals for DCT filter changes serves their interests which is getting the car past the warranty period where you are now on your own. This has been debated so many times and in the end, you like others will do what you think is best regardless of what anyone says. Even in a perfect world where the DCT had proven itself to be bulletproof, I probably would still do the maintenance early. Its your call. Do a search in these forums for more info.

348SStb

Sounds like you don’t have any material to refer me to; you’ve concluded this on your own through trial and error. I am not disputing what you’ve said, but you’re not offering us in this thread any helpful information such as what you found in your engine oil, what you’ve found in your transmission filters, etc.

You have told me to do a search, but I know that option is available on my own. I’ve read plenty on these forums and I don’t feel like going down the rabbit hole. As far as I know, not many people have done 4 oil changes and 4 transmission filter changes within 5200 miles. If you had to guess, how many peers do you have in this area? You could be very savvy in doing so, but you cannot help me to become more knowledgeable in this area unless you share your findings. The question is, do you simply want us to do what you say, do you want us to do whatever the heck we please at our own risk, or do you want us to learn from your experience?

Mitchell_B

I will add that information from one particular inside within Tremec has been posted in another social media venue against his expressed desire to keep it all confidential - and he lost his job over it. So, there is little I will say here other than an engineer inside Tremec knew the DCT undersized external filter is one of the short comings of this transmission.

Mitchell_B

The DCT filters removed with an average of 1300 miles and cut open by me did not look like they would last 7500 miles.

EvanZR1

GM covers the DCT for 5yr/60K miles (powertrain warranty), personally I feel if it makes it through that period with no failures, it should probably last the life of the car. If you want to be extra aggressive you can certainly change it early, as a reference point, the Ron Fellows school changes oil & filter and DCT fluid & filter every 1,000 track miles.

AzDave47

Chevy maintenance calls for the DCT oil change after 24 hours of track usage, but 3 years or 45K street miles. You cannot equate track mileage/time recommendations with street miles/recommendations.

With my C6Z, on the street I generally drove it between 1000 and 3500 RPM. On the track it was usually 4000-7000 RPM and the water and oil temps were 40-80* hotter than normal street driving. I had a catch can installed in the PCV system. In 2000 miles of street driving including 90 miles at a steady 150 MPH (4700 RPM in 5th), the catch can got about 1/2 oz. of oil. In less than one hour on the track it got 4 oz.

CLAVERY

100% opinion there, not facts. Chevy dealers are trained to work on YOUR vehicle. Your random discount or belle tire shops are not. Now, i will concede that not all dealers are created equal and some have more qualified techs than others. But some of us are pretty good at what we do.

Them wanting you to bring the car in is probably their policy so you don't order the tire and then go somewhere else. Not a huge deal since most distributors will take the tire right back if not sold by the dealer. If not, the parts dept needs to work on their distributor relationship.

corvetteflier

Correct. I got the same BS from my dealer on my '18. Took it to Discount, after checking with Michelin who said it absolutely could be patched (middle of tread), and their exotic car specialist did it properly and for free. I tipped him $20 of course. Les Schwab patched one of my Falken UHP A/S--same place, but metal not a nail this time, the same way. N/C from them but still tipped 20 bucks for a job well done. Get it fixed--but, BIG O does not patch runflats because they are afraid to remount them I found out. Discount is the best for my money anyway.

JABCAT

That's also just an opinion. Chevy dealers are garbage and are no more trained to change tires than tire shop technicians that only change tires all day long (likely much less trained).

AzDave47

Our local Chevy dealer is so skilled at changing tires that it shipped wheels and tires out to a local tire shop when Chevy started building Corvettes with 25 profile run-flat tires.

AviatorTim

Total bullshit from your dealership trying to rip you off for unnecessary tire replacement. I've had not just one but two nails in my tires since getting my 2023 C8 Z06. Like you, my dealer refused to patch it. So I took it to PepBoys who patched it for $5. Both patches have been holding up just fine for months.

For added confirmation that this isn't a one-off anecdote, I recently did the Ron Fellows Driving School out Vegas. I asked them, when they get a nail, do they replace the entire tire or just patch it. They said they patch them. So, if patching it is good enough for cars driven 130 mph on the race track daily, it sure as hell is good enough for daily driving.

Hope you didn't let your dealership rip you off. Sounds like you need a more honest dealership. If they want to sell you $500 tires when you only need a $5 patch, I can only imagine what else they're ripping you off on.

EvanZR1

Directly from the Michelin Tire Owners Manual:
The do also state that repaired tires no longer have a speed rating, but this is due to the speed rating testing being done to new non-repaired tires, thus they can't guarantee the rating for repaired tires.