Hi Joe,
perhaps you are over-reacting a bit...
looks like you had fun writing this piece though.

'never bring up tires' ..lol.
Don't let people get to ya !
I absolutely LOVE the 10 michelin Agilles 205/65 R15's I own.

absolutely a demon tire for highway and rain use.
if they were closer, or I needed them , I'd buy 'em.

great opportunity for someone to move up to 15's on their vanagon too.
'Before tire prices went up about a year ago' ...
I paid $ 150 for a new one ..
If you can even get them right now, they are likely much more than that
each, new.

the tire age thing ....
I'm sensible about that ...
I don't go nutty if the tire is say 5 yrs old and has been cared for at
all ...
like not in endless sun, driven hard and worn unevenly etc....
let's see.......5 of the ones I own I bought new in about 2005 ..
they're not bothering me age wise.
I don't certify them for 100+ mph of course.
just be sensible .

these are my absolute favorite 15 inch vanagon road tire.
somebody should jump on the opportunity.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

On 2/17/2012 6:40 AM, Joe T. wrote:
> Dear Esteemed Members of The Vanagon List House Subcommittee on Classified
> Advertising and Tire Safety Regulatory Adherence,
>
> After spending some time on the web researching my pre-owned
> Michelin Agilis 51 205/65R15 tires' shelf life, as well as anectdotal
> evidence regarding treadwear and real-world life span, it seems to me that
> they're universally considered a long-wearing, long-life tire.
>
> Now if I lived in the desert and left the sidewalls exposed to the harmful
> UV rays of the sun at all times, ran them over every rocky trail at Moab,
> and shot at them randomly with my pellet gun while keeping them inflated to
> only 15 PSI at all times, then I could see their safety being a major
> issue; however, these ran on my lightly-loaded Wolfsburg Westy for 5000
> miles and were rotated once in that span.  They were bought by me from an
> extremely meticulous Syncro owner who rotated them religiously.  He bought
> the pristine Syncro GL upon which they were originally mounted from a
> powder-coating shop owner in Oregon who used said pristine Syncro GL as a
> second vehicle.
>
> I'm not an insurance expert, nor do I claim to be.  I could not find any
> real linkable information regarding a uniform policy of paying out or not
> paying out insurance claims based upon the age of tires, Michelin or
> otherwise.
>
> I've represented these tires as best I can, and appreciate the assistance
> regarding discovery of their manufacture date and location.
>
> I offer humble apologies that my original advertisement did not include my
> location; however, as has been pointed out, my Samba ad, the one with
> pictures (everybody likes pictures,) did note that I am in Denver,
> Colorado, and the tires are here with me, stacked gingerly (in the
> industry-standard one atop another method) my garage just to the left of my
> workbench and in front of my deep-fryer.  It should be noted that the
> deep-fryer (a Bayou Classic 700-701) is currently out of service for the
> winter, so no transfer of pontentially damaging radiant heat has
> occurred.  Also of note is that they are stacked in proximity to my bench
> grinder, but I have not used the bench grinder since the tires' placement,
> and do not plan to until after they are gone.  They will be moved to a
> safer location should any emergency use of my bench grinder be warranted.
>
> While the vetting process has been thorough and at times trying, I'm
> satisfied that I have met all requirements of the Subcommittee regarding
> full disclosure of the condition, age, location, and use of the
> Michelin Agilis 51 205/65R15 tires in my possession to the best of my
> knowledge and without any nefarious intent whatsoever.
>
> I'd like to close by saying that as a member of this venerable group for
> thirteen jovial years now, I now am kicking myself squarely in the ass for
> forgetting the one, unmistakable, cardinal rule of this particular faction
> of the Vanagon community:
>
> Never bring up tires.  Never, ever, ever bring up tires, even if
> you're just trying to unload a set because sucked in the snow, they're
> taking up space in the garage, and you acted both in the hope that another
> Vanagon owner could get some good use out of them and in the possibility
> that you can balance the Vanagon budget a bit after dishing out
> precious cash for a different set more suitable for your current needs.
>
> Sincerely,
> Joe T.
> '85 Wolfsburg Westy Subie 2.2 (Brown Beige Metallic, Mftr. Date March 1985,
> currently running Yokohama Geolander 215/70R15, Mftr. Date August 2011.)
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 7:29 AM, Joe T.<vanagon85@gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> Thanks Miguel, good information there.
>>
>> I wrote down every little number on one of the tires last night, but
>> apparently not in any real legible way.
>>
>> I'll need to take a closer look now that I know what I'm looking for,
>> because according to my crack code-breaking skills, these tires were made
>> in 1967.  Something tells me that's incorrect.
>>
>> --
>> Joe T.
>> '85 Wolfsburg Westy Subie 2.2
>> Denver, Colorado, USA
>>
>>    On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 11:28 PM, miguel pacheco<mundopacheco@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>> Here's a good link for determining tire manufacture date :
>>> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11
>>>
>>> Miguel
>>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Joe T.
> '85 Wolfsburg Westy Subie 2.2
>