I just purchased Nokian C2's--8 ply D rated 185/R/14 in Burlington
Vermont--In stock @ Vermont Tire $80 each. Haven't mounted yet. Update
later.

Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: Harold Teer <teerhb@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 11:38 PM

> 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
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Harold Teer
> Harrisonburg, VA
> teerhb@hotmail.com
> '91 Westy
>
>
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