[MRO1791]

Almost a year ago, I had a flat on Interstate 10 in Arizona. The factory flat failed to inflate the tire; all of the sealant just ran out the hole. But, I did have AAA, so they gave me a lift into town where I had the tire replaced, and bought another cannister of sealant from gm for about $30.

Last week, 60 miles from my house on Interstate 5, I had another freeway flat. This time it was Saturday night. All the tire shops were closed and AAA was very busy. That tow cost me $134, after AAA's portion. That was an all day affair. I had a trunkload of groceries and a $150 worth of meat. Most of the meat went bad.

Look, I like the car. I think some things could be better, but I'm mostly happy with it. I also think the Fuel Max tires are decent as long as you don't run over sharp rocks or glass or whatever. But for GM to equip a car with tires that are not that robust is unforgivable.

I'll be buying some kind of spacesaver spare, jack and wrench is carrying that around in my trunk because GM was too lazy to engineer a better location for the DEF tank on the early models.

I don't blame the car, and I don't blame the tires (which should have a little tougher if no spare is supplied), but I do blame GM for thinking this was an acceptable practice. I've bought my last GM car.

You appear to have worse than average luck when it comes to flat tires. When I got my 1996 Saturn, I did not like the donut, compact spare.. so I went and found a regular rim, and put a full size tire in there which doesn't quite fit, but it has been there now for 22 years, and it has not been used, ever. Granted a much lighter car than the Gen 1 Diesel Cruze. I have one still and had another. Clearly the DEF tank was a quick fix for Gen 1, Gen 2 has the same compact spare as the Gas model. Those that have deleted emissions on their Gen 1, some have pulled the tank and made room for a compact spare. That said, if you had a spare, it is possible you'd never had to use it seems Murphy's Law knows you well.

Lastly, I would not be so sure GM had anything to do with the tires, nor susceptibility for a flat, most modern tires are very resistant to flats, and those Goodyear high efficiency tires seem to not be an exception. What pressure were you running? If GM screwed up, I'd say it was there pressure recommendation of 38PSI on a tire rated for 51PSI. I run about 49-50 in mine, so far, no problems.