Michelin tires and their problems

"Bill Putney" > wrote in message
...
> David wrote:
>> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
>> n.umich.edu...
>>
>>>On Sat, 18 Jun 2005, RQ wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Below is a cut and paste from an e-mail in response to my query of
>>>>Michelin
>>>
>>>>All tires with the Michelin name are built to Michelin quality
>>>>standards.
>>>>There are different tires built for different purposes and expectations
>>>>but
>>>>the quality would be the same. If the tire has the same name on the
>>>>sidewall it would be the same tire regardless of where it was purchased.
>>>
>>>Horse****. ALL manufacturers have firsts, seconds, thirds and so on, of
>>>any given product. That's the nature of mass production. And since
>>>there's
>>>always a buyer who puts a litle higher priority on price than the next
>>>guy, there's always a market for those seconds. By the time you get to
>>>thirds or fourths, the product often gets sold under a different name.
>>>Fourths or fifths and below usually get destroyed or recycled.
>>>
>>>But there's a thriving market for seconds.
>>
>>
>>
>> When I worked for DC Canada, all autopar tires were made by Michelin. We
>> had complaints from dealers that the cost on the tires were more then
>> what Costco sold them for. Michelin told US (DC) that Costco tires were
>> primarily Blemished tires, that is why they were cheaper.
>>
>> So I would have to agree with Daniel.
>
> They aren't required to tell the customers that they are buying seconds?
> What's to keep a business from selling seconds and charging full price
> since, as far as the public knows, they are all the same tire. Sounds
> fraudulent if that's the case.
>
Actually we asked that question. The rep stated that they are cosmetically
flawed, and not engineering flaws as to affect there handleing and wear so
it is perfectly legal.

That is why if you notice, some tires from Costco and Crappy tire have a
very noticeable sidewall ridge were the belts meet.

Well, that's one potential problem we come across rarely in Europe...

Thx for the info.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

> wrote in message
...

[...]

> the VAST majority of "blems" were white-wall related.
> The white rubber was not exactly in the right place in the carcass, so
> when the white-walls or white letters were buffed out they were not
> totally white.
[...]