Michelin Tire Z51
 

Had a small puncture which was fixable. When the tire repairman broke down the tire, the sidewall, bead area, broke down and a small piece separated. Therefore the bead area was damaged and the tire would not hold air. The tire never lost any air from the puncture, so there would have been no damage to the sidewall. Has anyone else had this problem?

No, and it sounds like the tire repair shop owes you some cash. I have never heard of this happening to anyone else's car. I think you got some really shoddy work.

I hate to say it, but :iagree:

It's not the tire's fault or a tire defect. It's the fault of the tech not knowing what he's doing.

:iagree: and I'm in the tire business.

My son had a set of summer tires taken off his car so he could run all-seasons during the winter. The tire shop gave him the summer tires in big plastic bags, which we thought was nice. Until spring, when we discovered a chunk of bead missing from one of the tires. Of course, by then we couldn't prove that business caused the damage. But we've never gone back.

Run Flat tires have very stiff sidewalks which require good equipment and trained techs to change them correctly. THat is why some shops refuse to change or repair them.

z51 tire
 

It was repaired At Buds Chevy in St Marys OH a large corvette dealer

Car dealers aren't tire shops. I'd never have a tire changed at a dealer. Places like Discount Tire have the right equipment and trained techs since all they do is tires.

:iagree:

I would have no problem with a large volume Corvette dealer changing a tire on my car. Changing these tires isn't hard, it's just takes the right equipment and some experience. A large volume Corvette dealer would have both. I would be more skeptical of large chain tire dealers. Ideally, I'd seek out an independent tire dealer with experience in UHP run flats that could show me around his shop.

I'd definitely be going back to that shop and demanding they replace the tire.