Yonder
Well-known member
Let me begin by saying this is not intended to be a complaint or snivel session about Michelin, FMCA, WIT or any other avenue to the Michelin Advantage program. My motivation to write this story is to help others who have never used the program but had high hopes for it.
BTW, did find a thread on this subject but it was several years old and the forum suggested I start a new topic.
We bought our motor home about 15 months ago and I knew the tires were pretty close to being aged out. So I had planned for the last year that I would go to the Michelin Advantage program through FMCA and get my tires at a significantly reasonable discount. The short answer is that when the dust settled I am getting approximately a 6.6% discount. When you consider all the hassle and phone calls and juggling and searching for somebody that would actually install the tires on the motor home, this simply was not worth it to me.
We all are offered discounts so frequently these days that 10% has, in my mind, become 'retail'. If its not more than 10% it scarcely allows me to even pay attention to it with most purchases. Granted, 10% on six MH tires would be a pretty reasonable discount it would certainly be something I would seek. Come to find out, the convoluted program not only requires the participating dealer to order the tires from Michelin using your credit card but you don't even get a clear indication of the exact price you will be charged before doing so.
I did get a list from FMCA a showing the price of the tire but the dealer couldn't confirm that that would be the actual cost. What the price does not reflect is federal excise tax, shipping and, as I knew, all the install and balancing labor costs. What surprised me on top of all of this is that Michelin actually dictates exactly what the dealer must charge for their labor to install it. In my case, that labor was significantly more than what they told me up front their own labor cost would be for those installs.
Bottom line: I'm not sure if the experience was more disappointing or frustrating but for 6 1/2 % I would have never bothered. My time to make it all happen was simply not worth it. Your mileage may vary but I just wanted to share my experience in the hope that it helps somebody else who might have had an expectation like mine, i.e., thinking they were going to get a significant discount on the purchase.
BTW, did find a thread on this subject but it was several years old and the forum suggested I start a new topic.
We bought our motor home about 15 months ago and I knew the tires were pretty close to being aged out. So I had planned for the last year that I would go to the Michelin Advantage program through FMCA and get my tires at a significantly reasonable discount. The short answer is that when the dust settled I am getting approximately a 6.6% discount. When you consider all the hassle and phone calls and juggling and searching for somebody that would actually install the tires on the motor home, this simply was not worth it to me.
We all are offered discounts so frequently these days that 10% has, in my mind, become 'retail'. If its not more than 10% it scarcely allows me to even pay attention to it with most purchases. Granted, 10% on six MH tires would be a pretty reasonable discount it would certainly be something I would seek. Come to find out, the convoluted program not only requires the participating dealer to order the tires from Michelin using your credit card but you don't even get a clear indication of the exact price you will be charged before doing so.
I did get a list from FMCA a showing the price of the tire but the dealer couldn't confirm that that would be the actual cost. What the price does not reflect is federal excise tax, shipping and, as I knew, all the install and balancing labor costs. What surprised me on top of all of this is that Michelin actually dictates exactly what the dealer must charge for their labor to install it. In my case, that labor was significantly more than what they told me up front their own labor cost would be for those installs.
Bottom line: I'm not sure if the experience was more disappointing or frustrating but for 6 1/2 % I would have never bothered. My time to make it all happen was simply not worth it. Your mileage may vary but I just wanted to share my experience in the hope that it helps somebody else who might have had an expectation like mine, i.e., thinking they were going to get a significant discount on the purchase.