RE: Michelin Agilis 51/61 Tires- Dis-Information

["Steven M. Leffler" <sleffler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well being a Michelin Dealer, a Nokian Dealer, and a bus owner, I just
couldn't sit by the sidelines on this one. I just spoke with Michelin
and they have some of the 185r14's in route, but I wouldn't hold my
breath waiting for them. They'd be coming from Italy and it would
probably be a couple of months till their available, if ever. The
Nokian's are an excellent tire, though the brand new Nokian CS is
preferable to the CQ for those who want more of an all season tire than
a winter tire.

For those of you with 15 inch tires, the Nokian CS is also available in
a 205/65R15 with a load range C. I just spoke with Al Dibaggio and while
he was in Finland he spoke with some of their tire engineers about using
the reinforced sidewall tires vs. the load range C tires. If you have a
camper, the engineers recommended that you not use the reinforced tire,
as they do not carry enough weight for a typical camping user.
(Reinforced is ok for those with a regular bus that isn't being loaded
up - and for those I'd recommend the Nokian NRW)

Spam me if you must, but I'd be negligent if I didn't throw in a bit of
shameless commerce. For those of you who are willing to help support a
fellow bus addict, please buy your Michelins or Nokian's from me by
pointing your browser at www.etires.com. If you don't see the tires you
want, call, we'll get them. We ship free throughout the lower 48 states.


Thanks

Steve Leffler
President, eTires.com
79 Riviera Camper (Daily Driver)
73 Transporter (my next project)



Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:02:58 -0500
To: type2@xxxxxxxxx
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: vanagon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, westyvanagon@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Michelin Agilis 51/61 Tires- Dis-Information
Message-ID: <20010917.100258.-179643.1.wilden1@xxxxxxxx>

A recent post indicated that Michelin was not going to continue
importing
the Agilis tires that work well on Vanagons and Westy.
I spoke with Tim in the Texas Regional Offices of Discount tire company.
He telephoned Christy with Michelin and she said that there was not a
recall, not any problems and the tires are available, although they are
not a hot item and you may need to order them in advance of your need.

-------------------------
Could you please advise me of how the following information may effect
the 4 Agilis Tires I purchased from your Forest Lane Store in Dallas. 
Is there going to be a recall or similar event? 
I've only got 1500 miles on my Agilis tires and I'm not looking forward
to paying out more adjustment fees. 

Stan Wilder 
214-352-5396 
----------- Everything below this line is a copy--------- 
Today, I spoke with a Michelin rep (Kristy or Christy) at the national 
customer number (800-847-3435) for Michelin. According to her, the
Agilis

has been discontinued in the US and Michelin has not made a decision
about 
what they will replace the tire with or if they will import the Agilis
in

the future. My first thought was that she was mistaken since I purchased

five 
Agilis 61 tires two weeks ago from Tire Rack. According to her, I was 
extremely lucky to have received the tires and that Michelin was now 
directing all Vanagon and Eurovan owners to call Nokian Tire North
American 
Headquarters at 800-565-2525 and that Nokian was going to import tires
to

fit the vans. Kristy never asked me if I had a Vanagon, she just assumed
I 
had one based on my purchase of the Agilis 61 in the 185/14 size--I
suppose 
that is the only vehicle the Agilis 61 is appropriate for in the US. 

I called Nokian at 800-565-2525 and spoke with Al DiBaggio at Nokian 
Headquarters in Nashville. He was extremely helpful and said that both 
Volkswagen and Michelin customer reps had started directing Eurovan and 
Vanagon customers to him. He is genuinely surprised at what is going on
and 
told me he was not familiar with the Vanagon and is trying to decide how

many tires to import to meet demand. He asked VW for information on how 
many Vanagons were produced so that he may estimate an appropriate
number
of 
tires to order, but as of this 
afternoon, he hadn't heard back from VW. I directed him to the 
www.vanagon.com site to get a feel for Vanagons, etc. 

According to Al, he will have two tires in a 185/14 that have the load 
carrying capacity for Vanagons. Al said the demand for these tires was 
unexpected and that since he will now be carrying them, information on
the 
tires will be added to his website http://www.nokian.com/ . He hoped to 
have this information posted by tomorrow afternoon. 

One 185/14 tire is a Nokian CQ with a load index of 100. He has 12-14 of

these in stock and will receive more. These are supposed to be a fairly 
aggressive all season but more of a winter type tire. 

Another 185/14 tire is a Nokian CS with a load index of 102 and he
expects 
to receive them later this month. 

We have all heard of Michelin reps in the past saying Michelin was 
discontinuing tires when in fact the tires were just backordered. But, I

have never heard of Michelin reps directing customers to another tire 
company. Based on my conversation with Al DiBaggio, he certainly
believes

that Michelin has discontinued the Agilis in the US and is scrambling to

determine how many Nokian CS's and CQ's to import. 

Thought I would pass this information along. If you need further 
information, check the Nokian website tomorrow or call Al, or call
Michelin 
and see if you get the same story I did. Al did say he was leaving for 
Finland later this week or early next week--I forget which. 

Now you know as much as I do. 

Harold