My daughter was driving on expressway and had just taken an exit through town about a mile when her rear drivers side tire (Goodyear assurance) blew out on the inside of the tire. The blowout was in the sidewall near the rim and was about 3 inches long, which I have a picture of. She said she heard a "pop", low tire pressure light came on and then a rumbling noise. Luckily she was able to get it off to the side of the road safely. This 2013 Malibu only had 12,000 miles on the tires when this happened. Approximately 5 days earlier I had just taken the car into a dealership near our home and had the oil changed and tires rotated but no one had acknowledged any problems or bulges with any of the tires.. the dealership where we bought the car would not have anything to do with the tire issue. They stated the warranty does not cover tires and we would have to deal with Goodyear ourselves. Upon doing some research on the internet, I had discovered that many complaints had been made on these particular tires such as bulges in the sidewalls and blowouts with very low mileage. It's obvious there is a defect of some kind and these tires need to be investigated before someone gets killed. My daughter said she never ran over anything, it just popped on its own. Thank god she had just gotten off the expressway as this could have caused a tragic accident.

- Otisville, MI, USA

2013 Chevrolet Malibu. Consumer writes in regards to purchased vehicle with no spare tire in the trunk. The consumer stated when she purchased the vehicle, she was not informed the vehicle did not come equipped with a spare tire. When she experienced a tire blow out on the freeway. It was then, she was told by aaa, there was only an air pump, which was of no use, since the tire has shredded. The consumer was told, there was no spare tire, because it saved on weight, thus having better gas mileage.

- Houston, TX, USA

On my way to work today I had a flat tire, which resulted in me having to call onstar because there was no spare or jack in the truck. Once I called on star it took them three times calling me back to get road side assistance on the phone. I was stuck for two and a half hours before the tow truck even arrived. Once the tow truck driver arrived I asked him what happened to road side assistance he told me that on star just called his office and told them that I needed a tow truck to tow my car that I only had a flat tire. That could have been fixed if I would have had a spare tire instead of a can of goo and a tire pump. Once the tow truck driver got my car loaded that is when I leaned that I could not ride in the tow truck. So after being stranded on side of the road for two hours had to wait on a ride home and the dealership closed at 5 pm so, I still can't get my car until the next day because of a flat tire that could have been avoided if I had a spare tire. So, I couldn't make it to work and I had to thumb a ride home because of GM wanting to save.4 mpg of gas by taking away the spare tire and jack.

- De Berry, TX, USA

The following is a summary of a flat tire incident my wife had on I-75 at davidson on 6-18-2013. I have already submitted this to Chevy.com/warranty, and felt that you too should be aware of this occurrence. "had a flat tire, 6/18/13 on my 2 month old Malibu. Called on-star, no help after 1&1/2 hours. Called on-star again, no help after total of almost 3 hours. Michigan dot road service came on scene and tried repair with emergency repair kit. No good, tire did not inflate. Finally called aaa who responded in 10 minutes. Wanted tow to dealer, but dealer (rinke) was closed after 6:00pm. Was towed home at cost of $84. Next day, 6/19/13, took tire off vehicle and brought to (rinke) service dept. For repair at cost of $25. Asked about repair/replacement of canister in emergency repair kit. No one at dealer service had ever replaced the canister or were familiar on how to repair it. Went to parts dept. To purchase a replacement canister - none available, would have to be ordered at price of over $26. Asked about purchase of doughnut emergency tire and tool kit - again, none available, would have to be ordered at a price of over $400. With complete absence of dealer assistance, I took tire home and installed on vehicle. My resolution to avoid a recurrence of this event was to go to our local bell tire store and purchase a new wheel and tire so that my husband (84 years old) and I (75 years old) would have the security of a replacement tire if we encountered a flat again. In our opinion, the elimination of the emergency spare tire was a bad move, and the unavailability of replacement components is a sad and disconcerting condition."

- Shelby Township, MI, USA

I recently purchased a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu eco and found out that there was no spare tire. How can the government allow manufacturers to sell vehicles with no spare tires? a compressor and tire sealant will not work with a sidewall blowout, or an unrepairable puncture. I checked with the dealer about purchasing a spare with a jack, and the cost was $500 - which is ridiculous!! I you want to make highways safe, insist that manufacturers offer spare tires and jacks at a reasonable price, or make spare tires mandatory. I would appreciate your feedback. Thank you

- Medway, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, she noticed that the rear passenger side tire was flat. The vehicle was not equipped with a spare tire. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000.

- Toms River, NJ, USA