Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 09:45:33 -0400
Reply-To: Cory Sammons <slagskot@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Cory Sammons <slagskot@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Michelin is telling customers to call Nokian for
Vanagon/Eurovan Tires
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I also just put 4 new Agilis 61's on my Westy (free replacement of the
incorrect Rain Force MX's). Michellin did not seem to have any problem
shipping them (3 days) from Baltimore to Maine. According to the person I
spoke with, Michellin received a full shipment of the tires at the beginning
of August to all of their main distribution centers in the US. This doesn't
mean that they are getting any more, however, so if you want 'em, I'd order
now. You never know with these guys.
cory
84 westy
maine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold Teer" <teerhb@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 11:53 PM
Subject: Michelin is telling customers to call Nokian for Vanagon/Eurovan
Tires
> 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 tire 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 Agilis 61 tires. She then said
> Michelin is 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 Vanagons and Eurovans. She never asked me if I had a
> Vanagon, she knew I had one based on my purchase of the Agilis 61 in the
> 185/14 size.
>
> 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
Vanagon/Eurovan
> tire customers to him. He is genuinely surprised at what is going on and
> told me he was not
> familiar with the Vanagon or Eurovan 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 could 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 so that he could 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, but now that he will 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 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 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 a particular tire when in fact the tires were never
> discontinued. 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
> he is scrambling to determine how many Nokian CS's and CQ's to import.
>
> Thought I would pass this information along. If you want 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
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Harold Teer
> Harrisonburg, VA
> teerhb@hotmail.com
> '91 Westy
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
|