[DML] Three needles in a hay stack : finding tires. LONG

["dmc_5180" <dmc_5180@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,

With all the commotion lately about the availabilty of matching set 
tires. I decided to hedge on the future and try to put together a 
set of new skins. I figure I've got one more season on my current 
set of Michelin pilots. 

My mission was to find another set of Michlin pilots. Not an easy 
task these days. But perservence paid off.

Lucky for me I happened to have 1 new rear that I bought a year ago. 
I had one rear that had been giving me grief with slow leaks. (Dry 
wall screw in the face that was well desguised) I had a problem with 
this 3 weeks after the set was installed new. I got it fixed which 
worked for a while. Then the problem popped up again in the fall 
2004. I thought it was the same tire that I had experienced the 
problems with before. So, decided to get a new tire thinking that I 
didn't what to have a tire with 2 repairs patches in it. Well, it 
turned out I was wrong and it was the other tire this time. so I 
figured I could live with one repair in each for now. That is how I 
ended up with 1 new rear tire (Spare) 

OK, fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I decided to try get a full set for 
the future. I did a google seach on the specific tires I was looking 
for. After trying the Tire rack and Discount tire. I came across 
another major online seller Phillipstire.com. I clicked on the tire 
specs and types and thought I hit the Jackpot! The order page came 
up with a full listing of all the Michelin pilot sizes with prices. 
This is good news I thought A few minutes later my order was placed 
and I was feeling pretty good that I had been able to find a set 
without to much trouble. AAH not so fast. I got a phone message at 
work last Thursday from the tire place to call them. I was affraid 
this might happen. The nice lady said that the tire was discontinued 
which I already new ofcoaorse. Then she tells me the problem is that 
they only have 1 tire in each size in stock. so I said. I'll take 
them anyway, figuring I could track down one more front tire 
somewhere else.  Well, after searching the net some more and I went 
to a local michelin dealer to try my luck with them (None found). I 
went back to the google page again and clicked on more possible 
retailers. Finally I just started making phone calls about 6 I 
think. As luck would have it I called a place in Huntsville, AL. 
Called Peoples tire & service. I spoke with A very nice man named 
Bill. I told him that I was looking for a discontinued tire. I gave 
him the the info and waited while he checked with his supplier. He 
came back and said how many are you looking for? I said, how many do 
you have. He said ONE, I'll take it I replied. Thats all I need. 
Then I asked if he could ship it to me and then there was a moment 
of silence, Well, we don't ship tires he said. Then I explained the 
situation to him that I was in Minnesota and that I had been 
searching the web to find this tire. Thats how I got to there store. 
So he said he would check and see if the supplier could drop ship it 
to me and too make sure that the tire was actually in the warehouse. 
He called me back about 15 minutes later and said yes it's there 
they already pulled it and just needed the shipping info. So after A 
short conversation with BIll I thanked him and told him he made my 
day. So, thats the story of 3 needles in a hay stack. 

Just goes to show a little perserverence pays off.

Dennis

With A New set of Michelin pilots waiting to be driven on the D








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