Hey, what's the story with Vanagon tires these days?  The
last time I needed tires I went to replace the Continentals
and all the dealers said 'yeah, right - those are impossible
to get'.  Was told that the Michelins was a replacement so I
settled for those (worked out great by the way).  Last Sat.
I headed on in to get a new set of Michelins, the dealer was out,
called around, then called two wherehouses and they both were out
and had them on backorder for three weeks!  From what the dealers
say, these are only made/used/sold to Vanagon owners.  Now there
aren't that many of us on the road.  Is Michelin only making
a few dozen a month?  Anyway, I had to settle for unknown 6-ply.

-Scott.

> On another, older topic:  In the tire thread, someone had asked if
> "reinforced" was the same as "Load Range C".  If that got answered, I missed
> it.  Izzat the same thing?
>
> I tried for months to get Michelin replacements for the OEM 185R14 Load Range
> tires.  The local Michelin peddlers here in Beertown couldn't get them - said
> they weren't in the midwest warehouses.  They showed up in TireAmerica's
> computers, so I tried a special order.  They were perpetually due to arrive
> "next week".  I gave up and bought some Dunlop's.  Amazing!  They seem to
> improve the handling - they certainly make less noise while cruising and in
> hard cornering, and they look like they are wearing better than the Michelin's
> Did the British do something right?