Monday, April 6, 2015

$$$$$$$$ minus RECALL = $$$

Michelin Recall

After I posted yesterday’s blog, I got online to be sure that the Michelin Tires we were going to purchase would work on the motorhome…and what others thought of them.  During this search I see the word “Recall”, so on a hunch I do a search on the tires we had on the motorhome, Michelin LT 225/75R16, and recall.  BINGO, found out that our tires were on a recall because, “a small number of the tires being recalled experienced tread loss and/or rapid air loss.”

Discount Tire Store

We arrived at Discount Tire in Canutillo, Texas.  This store was opened in 2011, and looks brand new.  At 8 am, we were the first and only customers….but others showed up soon after opening.  I explained about our blowout, about the recall, and the staff there (sorry, forgot names) were so great.  I think Andree was the name of the sales guy who took care of us.  He got the stuff together, talked to the manager, and went out to see if the inside duel tires, which were just being taken off, were also of the same batch as the other four.  The manager tells me that “if” they are, we would get six new tires compliments of Michelin, but we would need to pay for balancing….and had the option to buy a three year guarantee for all the tires for $22 per tire.  I asked him what would happen if we had a blow out in Canada or Alaska?  He said, “Provide us a receipt and we will reimburse you.”  So for right around $500, we have seven new tires.  Six provided by Michelin, the spare bought by us, lifetime rotation and balancing, and three year full guarantee on all seven tires.  Essentially we saved around $1,200 had we bought six new tires.  We were in at 8:00, out by 9:30.  ALL of the staff were just great.

safercar.gov recall check

Safercar.gov provides a search of tire recalls, investigations, and complaints.   Had we not known about the recall, chances are that the staff working at the tire dealership would not have known either.

tire example

Above is an example of a tire that blew similar to ours.  Andree looked at ours and said, “It is exactly like how the recall bulletin said how the tires were failing!”  Had we been going 70 mph, the tire probably would have come apart, perhaps doing damage to the inside tire too.  We were very fortunate.

Our Spare Tire   Front Tire

So now we have a GREAT spare, seven new tires to drive on….

Lost lug-nut cover

We did lose one lug-nut cover in the process……and

Old Car

…..we won a slightly used car!  (ok, I threw that one in for my brother-in-law Arnie…..this is the type of car that he use to work on….but he would NEVER give it a paint job like this!)

Headed to Silver City, NM

Hit some winds today, blew up a bunch of dust to the east of us as we headed up to Silver City, New Mexico.

Headed to Silver City, NM

They are building some sort of reservoir at the foot of the mountains…and that also blew up a bunch of dust.  The picture does not catch it, but with the naked eye it looks like a steady flow of dirt blowing from west to east along the work area.

 Rose Valley RV Ranch     Rose Valley RV Ranch

We are at the Rose Valley RV Ranch in Silver City.  It is a Passport America park, you get the 50% discount if you stay two nights, which means you buy one, get one free, which we call a BOGO in the grocery stores back home.  The park has around 70 sites, and they are somewhat spread out.  We got a pull-through for $38.00 total for the two nights.  Does not have cable TV, but there are over-the-air stations, and you don’t have to worry about large trees block your satellite signal if you are so inclined to use satellite.  The WiFi is not the best, but they are in the middle of doing upgrades….a week or so from now and it should be pretty good according to the lady in the office…..who was super nice.

 Rose Valley RV Ranch

We know one thing for sure, we are not going to have any noise coming from behind us because all those neighbors will still be fast asleep when we leave.  (if you can’t see it, it is a graveyard)

8 comments:

  1. Great example of how doing your homework really pays off. Nice job on the BIG savings. I'm amazed that 6 tires would only have cost you $1700 total. 3 years ago our 6 were $2400. We need to look up Discount Tire. Thanks for the tip and safe traveling!

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    1. There is a BIG difference in the price of a Class A tire and a Class C tire. Not nearly the weight load in a Class C as there is in a Class A, and the tires are much smaller. Had we kept our Class A, we would have been paying at least $600 a tire installed, if not more. I wonder how many times people have changed tires not knowing they had a set of tires which were recalled? And these tire places can't be expected to know about every tire recall...well, perhaps they should, but they don't.

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  2. Praise God that He provided for you to have such an important issue dealt with, for much less money, than normal! I'm happy for you. Enjoy your travel time! Blessings... Lynn

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  3. Good job on the research. That worked out very well!

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    1. What is ironic is that I made a list of things to do before we left Florida....and under tires I put a big question mark. I had decided that I would let Arny look at them as he did last year. The tread was in real good condition, there were small cracks on parts of the side walls, which I have read are normal if they are not deep...and these were not deep from what I could tell. And like you said yesterday, they were only 4 years old. Anyway, we both feel much better...it is always good to know you are on good, new tires.

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  4. Well, you're certainly 'blowing across Texas'. Thanks for the info. I followed your link and checked on my Michelins but I guess they're okay.

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    1. "IF" you were the one who bought them, or bought the motorhome new with them on it, then the tire manufacturer is suppose to contact you. In our case, the previous owner bought them, I am sure they sent him a notice about them but by that time he was already selling it, or had sold it through PPL to us.

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