2022 XC40 - first flat tire - VOC failed

DanOB · Sep 10, 2022

After just seven months of ownership, we had a sidewall tear on passenger front 20" Skorpion, caused by small rock on dirt road. Put on the donut and drove 30 miles to original dealer. Total cost $435.00.

Did not want low-profile tires but needed the car right away so took a chance. Hoping now that I don't endlessly regret it.

Donut worked well.
Impressed with rim quality.
Very concerned now about tire quality. Is there any better competitor to the Skorpion at this size?
VOC failed. Dealer says we will have to leave car there for full day to resolve "software issue."

All comments welcome.

DFrantz · Sep 10, 2022

What about the tire quality concerns you?

What failed with VOC? Was it the cars connectivity or did you use the cell phone app?

DanOB · Sep 11, 2022

Thanks for your reply.

Concerned about tire quality because the sidewall tear occurred as I was reversing slowly on a dirt road, and rock was on the edge of a driveway and not more than 4" tall. The tire was penetrated on the outer edge, so although the sidewall was torn, the rip began where the "corner" bottom edge of the rubber meets the road. This is not a typical situation for us but a good tire should survive it. Also, generally, a Volvo SUV AWD with 8" of ground clearance should be "solid" -- a "survivor" of anything short of serious off-road conditions. I realize this is not a Jeep nor a Tacoma Sport but we were not moving fast in rugged terrain nor jumping over boulders in Sedona.

Pressing the SOS and VOC buttons did nothing. I called Volvo Support from my cell phone and a tech answered immediately and provided good support. However we may be in a rural situation someday (without cell signal) so I will be dealing with the VOC with my dealership.

DFrantz · Sep 11, 2022

DanOB said:
Thanks for your reply.

Concerned about tire quality because the sidewall tear occurred as I was reversing slowly on a dirt road, and rock was on the edge of a driveway and not more than 4" tall. The tire was penetrated on the outer edge, so although the sidewall was torn, the rip began where the "corner" bottom edge of the rubber meets the road. This is not a typical situation for us but a good tire should survive it. Also, generally, a Volvo SUV AWD with 8" of ground clearance should be "solid" -- a "survivor" of anything short of serious off-road conditions. I realize this is not a Jeep nor a Tacoma Sport but we were not moving fast in rugged terrain nor jumping over boulders in Sedona.

Pressing the SOS and VOC buttons did nothing. I called Volvo Support from my cell phone and a tech answered immediately and provided good support. However we may be in a rural situation someday (without cell signal) so I will be dealing with the VOC with my dealership.

Unfortunately I'd say that's how any tire would respond that isn't an off road tire. They're really made for the street. The lower profile means it doesn't take much to pinch them. Folks love em though.... bigger and bigger they go.

As for the VOC that's interesting. Though I'd say since it also uses cell service, unless it's got service and your phone doesn't, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Glad they were quick to respond, they usually are unless there is an outage. It should be fixed, but I can't say I'd see it as a major risk factor. The odds of being in an accident where it automatically calls because youre knocked out but the call saves life or limb are pretty remote.. they exist though.

Mr.phil2u · Sep 11, 2022

DanOB said:
Thanks for your reply.

Concerned about tire quality because the sidewall tear occurred as I was reversing slowly on a dirt road, and rock was on the edge of a driveway and not more than 4" tall. The tire was penetrated on the outer edge, so although the sidewall was torn, the rip began where the "corner" bottom edge of the rubber meets the road. This is not a typical situation for us but a good tire should survive it. Also, generally, a Volvo SUV AWD with 8" of ground clearance should be "solid" -- a "survivor" of anything short of serious off-road conditions. I realize this is not a Jeep nor a Tacoma Sport but we were not moving fast in rugged terrain nor jumping over boulders in Sedona.

Pressing the SOS and VOC buttons did nothing. I called Volvo Support from my cell phone and a tech answered immediately and provided good support. However we may be in a rural situation someday (without cell signal) so I will be dealing with the VOC with my dealership.

It sounds like you have the wrong wheel tire combination for your driving needs. Do you have clearance for beefier tires on your 20” rims? I would find a good tire store and see what my options are.

DFrantz · Sep 11, 2022

Mr.phil2u said:
It sounds like you have the wrong wheel tire combination for your driving needs. Do you have clearance for beefier tires on your 20” rims? I would find a good tire store and see what my options are.

I think a bigger tire would have a chance of running into issues. A smaller rim would be the way to go if it's a regular use in the rocks. A 4" rock might sound like a Honda Fit commercial.. but it's no small thing. The good news is, with most people wanting bigger wheels, you can probably find someone with a smaller OEM wheel and even trade them even up and both end up ahead of where you want to be. Technically they'll be getting the better deal.. but the first time you don't blow out a tire you'll still feel like you're ahead.

Alternatively there are tire and wheel products your sales department can sell you that cover these sorts of damages. They actually can be a pretty good value so long as they were doubling their profit margins. Typically we can sell them after the fact too so long as we verify there aren't any pre-existing conditions. If you go this way, make sure it covers cosmetics and damage. The biggest payoff is fixing curbed wheels for most folks.

DanOB · Sep 11, 2022

Thanks for the replies. My goals with the post were two-fold:

1) To find out if there's a stronger tire than the Skorpion in this size.
2) To get a sense of whether I can expect these Skorpions to blow out regularly.

The idea is to avoid cratering my tires. Just standing by the road for 45 minutes entails serious physical risk. Then there is the time required to get it to a dealer, the loss of work time, frustration, etc.

Is it for certain that I can run 18" or 19" wheels on this vehicle as a direct replacement?

Would 19" wheels provide more protection than the 20"?

Thanks.

Ultrarunner511 · Sep 11, 2022

DanOB said:
Thanks for the replies. My goals with the post were two-fold:

1) To find out if there's a stronger tire than the Skorpion in this size.
2) To get a sense of whether I can expect these Skorpions to blow out regularly.

The idea is to avoid cratering my tires. Just standing by the road for 45 minutes entails serious physical risk. Then there is the time required to get it to a dealer, the loss of work time, frustration, etc.

Is it for certain that I can run 18" or 19" wheels on this vehicle as a direct replacement?

Would 19" wheels provide more protection than the 20"?

Thanks.

We had the 20 inch Pirelli scorpions on our 2017 XC90 from the factory. I think they were a different aspect ratio and width than the XC40’s. Ours was 275/45R 20. Never had a blow out in the 45k miles we used them. However, we went off roading in Colorado and they definitely took a beating. Chunks of tread were torn out causing pretty significant vibration on the way back. We replaced them soon after because we couldn’t get them balanced the same. The surface was just rough.

I’ve seen positive reviews of the Vredestein Quatrac here on Swedespeed. We have used the Michelin Pilot AS/3’s for over 45k miles now. Some off roading in California during road trips and they are smooth as the day we bought them. Still 20k miles left on the tread too.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

31355 · Sep 11, 2022

No….these tires will not blow out regularly. You just had bad luck. Just like falling off a chair and breaking your arm…..most simple falls don’t cause broken bones, but just right and it does. Just like your tire…you hit the rock just right. End of story. These tires are used on SUVs by many other brands on millions of cars. They are very good tires and not some how inherently “wimpy”.

DanOB · Sep 11, 2022

Thanks for the replies. After this experience and seeing how thin the sidewall is on the Scorpions (it looked like crumpled paper), I have no faith in them, especially at $400 each. Since Michelin tires are considerably cheaper, especially at CostCo, I'll buy these in future.

31355 · Sep 11, 2022

DanOB said:
Thanks for the replies. After this experience and seeing how thin the sidewall is on the Scorpions (it looked like crumpled paper), I have no faith in them, especially at $400 each. Since Michelin tires are considerably cheaper, especially at CostCo, I'll buy these in future.

You do realize your conclusion is completely subjective, right? You also realize the thickness of the tire doesn’t directly correlate to its strength, right? You also realize claiming Michelins have a thicker sidewall is also subjective, right? And you realize Costco tires are specially made for them at a lower standard of quality than “normal” Michelins tires, hence their lower cost, right?

I can’t even roll my eyes enough at this post. Next I suppose your windshield will crack and you will claim Volvo uses glass that is too think and order a different brand of glass because you subjectively claim it’s better l?!? Lol.

DanOB · Sep 12, 2022

*********** said:
You do realize your conclusion is completely subjective, right? You also realize the thickness of the tire doesn’t directly correlate to its strength, right? You also realize claiming Michelins have a thicker sidewall is also subjective, right? And you realize Costco tires are specially made for them at a lower standard of quality than “normal” Michelins tires, hence their lower cost, right?

I can’t even roll my eyes enough at this post. Next I suppose your windshield will crack and you will claim Volvo uses glass that is too think and order a different brand of glass because you subjectively claim it’s better l?!? Lol.

Right, OK, you do realize that I've had a "lived experience," right? You do realize that when a tire fails as this one did, while driving three miles per hour, that it is reasonable for me to conclude that the tire is no good, right?

You do realize that Internet forums are filled with trolls, right? And that some of these trolls have agendas, right? [Rolling eyes at clear attempt to bait me with personal insults]

31355 · Sep 12, 2022

DanOB said:
Right, OK, you do realize that I've had a "lived experience," right? You do realize that when a tire fails as this one did, while driving three miles per hour, that it is reasonable for me to conclude that the tire is no good, right?

You do realize that Internet forums are filled with trolls, right? And that some of these trolls have agendas, right? [Rolling eyes at clear attempt to bait me with personal insults]

Clearly you know very very little about tires.
Has it ever occurred to you that you had previously hit something that damaged the sidewall internally, and this rock was the final straw that caused it to fail?
If you want to call a previous Volvo service and parts manager a troll, and someone that has literally replaced and sold thousands of tires in his cares a troll, have at it. But that doesn’t make you a tire expert or even smart. I mean, you don’t even understand how Costco tires are even marketed. Jeez. It’s pretty funny to think because you had one weird experience that now there are literally hundreds of thousands of these tires rolling around on the road on luxury SUVs and they’re all so fragile at any given moment they might bump into some thing and explode and leave you stranded….. since we all know that’s not the case I don’t understand how you can make such a conclusion because you had one flat tire. Again, if the tire was previously damaged this is a perfect example. It’s also possible that the tire had a manufacturing defect. Again, that doesn’t make all the tires trash. What a stupid conversation. Get a brain. Clearly you’ll see there’s not another person here that has made a negative comment about the tires. You’re all alone on this one

Ultrarunner511 · Sep 12, 2022

*********** said:
Clearly you know very very little about tires.
Has it ever occurred to you that you had previously hit something that damaged the sidewall internally, and this rock was the final straw that caused it to fail?
If you want to call a previous Volvo service and parts manager a troll, and someone that has literally replaced and sold thousands of tires in his cares a troll, have at it. But that doesn’t make you a tire expert or even smart. I mean, you don’t even understand how Costco tires are even marketed. Jeez. It’s pretty funny to think because you had one weird experience that now there are literally hundreds of thousands of these tires rolling around on the road on luxury SUVs and they’re all so fragile at any given moment they might bump into some thing and explode and leave you stranded….. since we all know that’s not the case I don’t understand how you can make such a conclusion because you had one flat tire. Again, if the tire was previously damaged this is a perfect example. It’s also possible that the tire had a manufacturing defect. Again, that doesn’t make all the tires trash. What a stupid conversation. Get a brain. Clearly you’ll see there’s not another person here that has made a negative comment about the tires. You’re all alone on this one

What the hell is going on with you recently?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DanOB · Sep 12, 2022

*********** said:
Clearly you know very very little about tires.
Has it ever occurred to you that you had previously hit something that damaged the sidewall internally, and this rock was the final straw that caused it to fail?
If you want to call a previous Volvo service and parts manager a troll, and someone that has literally replaced and sold thousands of tires in his cares a troll, have at it. But that doesn’t make you a tire expert or even smart. I mean, you don’t even understand how Costco tires are even marketed. Jeez. It’s pretty funny to think because you had one weird experience that now there are literally hundreds of thousands of these tires rolling around on the road on luxury SUVs and they’re all so fragile at any given moment they might bump into some thing and explode and leave you stranded….. since we all know that’s not the case I don’t understand how you can make such a conclusion because you had one flat tire. Again, if the tire was previously damaged this is a perfect example. It’s also possible that the tire had a manufacturing defect. Again, that doesn’t make all the tires trash. What a stupid conversation. Get a brain. Clearly you’ll see there’s not another person here that has made a negative comment about the tires. You’re all alone on this one

OK! Since you persist with rancor and insults, I got your number, and I presume everyone else reading this thread will as well.

And while you're jiving along, trying to lower the dialog and make sure I'm fully discredited, remind this luxury SUV customer once again of how stupid I am for blowing a 7-month-old, $400 tire in a dirt driveway that is used hundreds of times per year without any previous incident -- the homeowner could not believe how this occurred. Keep re-stating it so we really get the message. Writing tip: throw in some fresh name-calling for a little variety.

If your goal is to steer me into buying Michelin tires in future, you have succeeded.

Meanwhile, I seriously doubt the other three super-expensive Scorpions are going to make it to 50K miles. But if they do, great! I will be posting to SwedeSpeed about all of it. When you buy a $50K SUV with 8" of ground clearance, you deserve the truth about its 20" wheels and tires...don't you?

(From 2001-2008, I drove a Datsun 280ZX for 35K miles without a blowout on any surface, dirt, rocks, tree roots, the car just worked. So that's my benchmark.)

If somehow this thread disappears, I'll start it all over again, believe me.

31355 · Sep 12, 2022

DanOB said:
OK! Since you persist with rancor and insults, I got your number, and I presume everyone else reading this thread will as well.

And while you're jiving along, trying to lower the dialog and make sure I'm fully discredited, remind this luxury SUV customer once again of how stupid I am for blowing a 7-month-old, $400 tire in a dirt driveway that is used hundreds of times per year without any previous incident -- the homeowner could not believe how this occurred. Keep re-stating it so we really get the message. Writing tip: throw in some fresh name-calling for a little variety.

If your goal is to steer me into buying Michelin tires in future, you have succeeded.

Meanwhile, I seriously doubt the other three super-expensive Scorpions are going to make it to 50K miles. But if they do, great! I will be posting to SwedeSpeed about all of it. When you buy a $50K SUV with 8" of ground clearance, you deserve the truth about its 20" wheels and tires...don't you?

(From 2001-2008, I drove a Datsun 280ZX for 35K miles without a blowout on any surface, dirt, rocks, tree roots, the car just worked. So that's my benchmark.)

If somehow this thread disappears, I'll start it all over again, believe me.

You are really gonna make a lot of friends here….. it’s hilarious how you’re single experience is literally now being used as factual evidence against millions of other experiences that are the opposite. You’re right, these tires are so awful millions of people by them and they’re just furious! Haven’t you seen all of their endless off-road adventures documented online where they blew their tire out driving over a stone…. If you bother to look around here there are many stories of people going actual real offloading with these tires and they have no issues. You can also go to YouTube and look at countless videos of actual real off routing with these exact tires and guess what no one has an issue. So while no one says you didn’t have a flat tire and it didn’t seem like a very big obstacle that in no way isn’t a reflection on the tire but rather on some unique one off circumstance. I’m guessing you’ll also be the customer that win your water pump fails next week you’ll rant and rave endlessly about how Volvo needs to have a class action lawsuit for all of the failing water pumps because yours did. You might want to look outside your bubble. I’ve been a member here for over 20 years and I can spot someone like you a mile away. How I deal with that is blocking you so congratulations you’ve made the list.

spiked60 · Sep 12, 2022

Just because Volvo calls it an XC and it has some ground clearance, doesn't mean it is going to be a rugged offroader.
20" wheels and low profile tires, of any brand, will inherently be more at risk of issues off of a smooth asphalt street, hell new XC60's & 90's have optional 22's.

One reason I purposely downsized to 18's on mine, but my intent is different than the average school pickup car.

My oem 20's did not have 4" of sidewall and the first time I took it miles down a remote fire road I was just waiting for a sidewall blowout. And if it had happened, I wasn't going to blame the tire manufacturer

As for your situation, without knowing more about the life of the tire, no one will ever know why that one blew out. I've had really weird luck with tires in my life, random blowout, slice through the Tread, and never once did I say the manufacturer (or tire dealer) was scheming to get me

I hope you find resolution and can enjoy your XC40

DanOB · Sep 12, 2022

*********** said:
You are really gonna make a lot of friends here….. it’s hilarious how you’re single experience is literally now being used as factual evidence against millions of other experiences that are the opposite. You’re right, these tires are so awful millions of people by them and they’re just furious! Haven’t you seen all of their endless off-road adventures documented online where they blew their tire out driving over a stone…. If you bother to look around here there are many stories of people going actual real offloading with these tires and they have no issues. You can also go to YouTube and look at countless videos of actual real off routing with these exact tires and guess what no one has an issue. So while no one says you didn’t have a flat tire and it didn’t seem like a very big obstacle that in no way isn’t a reflection on the tire but rather on some unique one off circumstance. I’m guessing you’ll also be the customer that win your water pump fails next week you’ll rant and rave endlessly about how Volvo needs to have a class action lawsuit for all of the failing water pumps because yours did. You might want to look outside your bubble. I’ve been a member here for over 20 years and I can spot someone like you a mile away. How I deal with that is blocking you so congratulations you’ve made the list.

I did watch those off-roading videos before I put down my $50K, and they are very convincing, so I had good reason to believe that I could drive a dirt road with no incident. Maybe this is a "freak" occurrence -- but based on the circumstances, I'm entitled to believe that it is not. The next 4-5 years will tell me all I need to know about these tires.

I came here looking for support and advice and I received some helpful replies, for which I'm grateful. When rancor and name-calling pops up, although it speaks for itself, I call it out anyway, because it is toxic and unacceptable behavior -- so there you go.

Thanks again to those who replied in a sincere and helpful manner.

DanOB · Sep 12, 2022

spiked60 said:
Just because Volvo calls it an XC and it has some ground clearance, doesn't mean it is going to be a rugged offroader.
20" wheels and low profile tires, of any brand, will inherently be more at risk of issues off of a smooth asphalt street, hell new XC60's & 90's have optional 22's.

One reason I purposely downsized to 18's on mine, but my intent is different than the average school pickup car.

My oem 20's did not have 4" of sidewall and the first time I took it miles down a remote fire road I was just waiting for a sidewall blowout. And if it had happened, I wasn't going to blame the tire manufacturer

As for your situation, without knowing more about the life of the tire, no one will ever know why that one blew out. I've had really weird luck with tires in my life, random blowout, slice through the Tread, and never once did I say the manufacturer (or tire dealer) was scheming to get me

I hope you find resolution and can enjoy your XC40

Thanks. Based on what you're saying, I should not expect these 20" wheels and tires to survive the occasional dirt road, so therefore my expectations at purchase were unreasonable and I've made a very costly mistake. That's important to know. Had I known this I would have waited 4-5 months for the next shipment of XCs with 18" wheels or just bought something else.

I'll now research how much it's going to cost me to trade in these 20" wheels for something more durable.

31355 · Sep 12, 2022

DanOB said:
Thanks. Based on what you're saying, I should not expect these 20" wheels and tires to survive the occasional dirt road, so therefore my expectations at purchase were unreasonable and I've made a very costly mistake. That's important to know. Had I known this I would have waited 4-5 months for the next shipment of XCs with 18" wheels or just bought something else.

I'll now research how much it's going to cost me to trade in these 20" wheels for something more durable.

You’ll probably find it interesting that I live in a rural area. There are a boatload of Volvo cars that drive daily on gravel roads to owners homes. There are many customers that drive thousands of miles on gravel roads and dirt paths and have zero issue with tires. You are literally going off the deep end. There are countless SUVs that have low profile sidewall tires that drive around on gravel roads and dirt paths with zero issue. It’s crazy that you think that because you had one flat tire you know I have to buy all new wheels and tires. Thousands and thousands of all the owners do what you did every day on their way to their house and never have a flat tire. No they don’t go tackle the Rubicon Trail but it’s absolutely ludicrous for you to think that the type of driving you want to do is completely incapable of being done with the tires currently on your car. Do you realize how many other people driving all sorts of different brands do exactly what you do every day for the lifetime of their ownership without a single issue.

You had a little bad luck. That’s all it is. Why are you so cranked up by this? People have more tire failures on pavement than they ever do in the off-road experience you had. As you can see other people that I’ve posted here think the exact same thing. You blaming the tire manufacture is even more silly than thinking you need to buy smaller rims. I mean range rovers actually drive on the Rubicon Trail with low profile sidewalls and get along fine. A larger sidewall is certainly less likely to be damaged but that doesn’t just mean automatically that a small side wall is guaranteed to have damage. It’s not.

2022 XC40 - first flat tire - VOC failed

DanOB

DFrantz

DanOB

DFrantz

Mr.phil2u

DFrantz

DanOB

Ultrarunner511

31355

DanOB

31355

DanOB

31355

Ultrarunner511

DanOB

31355

spiked60

DanOB

DanOB

31355

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities