Yes, its more than tires that are different, many items that you can get
elsewhere are of different cheaper specs at walmart. Lawn mowers would
be one thing that comes to mind. In fact, there was an article posted
about some maker of high quality lawn mowers, I think snapper, that was
being sold at walmart but where of much cheaper quality. Eventually
snapper(or whoever) pulled out of walmart because it was hurting their
reputation.
Steve MacSween wrote:
My my, counsellor, would this be a good time to suggest you switch to decaf
;-)?
If you want to find out about something in the auto trade, then I'd suggest
you sit around and chew the fat with people who work there. That would be a
good start. Or have close friends in it who share information. Or all of the
preceeding, including having worked in it, as I did.
Tire Rack and Discount Tire Online are volume sellers who operate via the
Net with low overheads, but they are TIRE DEALERS.
DISCOUNT OUTLETS would include WallyMart, K-mart, Costco. They sell tires. I
would not define them as tire dealers, any more than a supermarket with a
big aisle of vitamins and toothpaste qualifies as a pharmacy.
What I have said about tires applies to many items sold through discount
outlets. That is why you MAY find you have trouble if you comparison-shop
SOME things (e.g., small appliances) between, say, JC Penney and, say
WallyMart, when you try to match up actual model numbers on products.
Some manufacturers produce model variations solely for sale through
WallyMart or other discounters. In the case of WM I would not suggest that
this has any quality implications, as WM is tough on suppliers.
As to whether Michelin has a different warranty, I have no idea, however one
point to check would be if Michelins bought at (for example) Costco are
covered at all Michelin dealers, or just through Costco outlets.
Mac
--
Kaleb C. Striplin/Claremore, OK
91 300D 2.5 Turbo, 90 420SEL, 89 560SEL, 87 420SEL, 87 300SDL,
85 380SE, 85 300D, 84 190D 2.2, 83 300TD, 81 300TD, 81 240D,
76 240D, 76 300D, 74 240D, 73 280SEL 4.5, 72 250C, 69 250
http://www.striplin.net
