FMCA Tire Discount is a Joke

[CharlesinGA]

I bought tires for my Sprinter based Winnebago View in the summer of 2017. I got them from Atlanta Commercial Tire, the largest tire distributor in the state of Georgia. They have an onsite tire install shop at the main warehouse and I was told that they did one or two RV's a week thru the Michelin Advantage Program (which is what the FMCA program is), in addition to many semi trailers and trucks of all kinds. I actually pulled the wheels off the MH in my shop and brought them in on a trailer.

The program has you provide your credit card info to Michelin for 30 days and then you go to a location that handles the Advantage program. The shop installs the tires and then sends an invoice for the shops install/balance costs to Michelin. Michelin then BUYS THE TIRES BACK FROM THE DISTRIBUTOR and resells the tires to you. They then charge you for the tires and the dealer's costs in one bill. The man I dealt with at ACT told me he had one person in the office who handled all of the Michelin Advantage paperwork as someone who didn't know what they were doing could mess it up quick. He also told me that the price I was being sold the tires for was way CHEAPER than his cost from Michelin.

I know I saved a substantial amount of money on the tires.

Charles

[jmiller1066]

Yes I bought the tires through a dealer who was participating in the tire discount program. No I did not do any research. In fact when I had them installed, the tire dealer (Purcell) punched all my FMCA info into his computer and he said it had to match exactly what was on file with Michelin. (You have to sign up with the Michelin Advantage program first). I only found out about the costs later that day when I went on-line to see what my cc had be charged. Yes, I should have read the fine print and yes I should have researched the costs. And, yes, I'm very disappointed. I thought (or hoped) that maybe I would save $50 per tire or so, instead I paid more. Like my dad always taught me "if it sounds too good to be true, it's not". I posted just to give everyone I could a warning to check out the FMCA claims closely. Good day all. I'm driving off with my new tires to get my oil changed - I wonder if there is a FMCA discount on oil changes . . .?

[Ivylog]

Bought 2 315 Continentals from Atlanta Commercial Tire for less than the FMCA price...$600 couple years ago.

[Ray,IN]

The FMCA tire webpage used to display an advisory to ask about pricing without the Michelin tire program, as some dealers sold for less than the Michelin tire program. BTW, FMCA is only the messenger for this program, they have no control over any of the financial aspect.



When buying Michelin you are paying for all that advertising too, as prices reflect.

[Gary RVRoamer]

FMCA doesn't set the price - Michelin does through its Advantage program. No dark secrets here - there are some high volume tire dealers that buy tires by the truckload and get steeper discounts than the Michelin Advantage program gives to its other dealers. If you can find one of those, you can probably do better than FMCA/Michelin Advantage. If not, the Advantage pricing is as good as you are likely to do.

The rest of the story is the willingness of the coach owner to do some rigorous shopping. For a lot of owners, getting a good discount and installation via a well-defined procedure outweighs the possibility benefit of a bit more discount. Same reason you might buy from Costco or Amazon - you get a good price with low effort, even though you know it is possible to do a little better elsewhere if you worked harder at it.


My favorite commercial tire shop has the contract to supply Continental tires to a major supermarket chain fleet and they go through a truckload every 4-6 weeks. They use 11R22.5's, which are an acceptable alternate for the rear axle on my coach, so I used those and saved a bundle. A little over half what Michelins would have cost.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Originally Posted by jmiller1066

Yes I bought the tires through a dealer who was participating in the tire discount program.

Buying the tires through a participating dealer is not the same as buying the tires through the FMCA program. FMCA requires you to purchase the tires directly from Michelin by giving your credit card number to the program representative, and having the tires shipped to one of their participating dealers.

[jmiller1066]

I bought my tires directly through the Michelin Advantage program, you had to sign up with them. However, the tire shop had to be approved under that program and my FMCA membership was part of application.

[Gary RVRoamer]

It's also worthwhile noting that those FMCA-Michelin Advantage prices are the sames ones that independent truck owners pay. They guys who don't have access to private fleet buying power and have to shop for tires just like you and me. That's who the Michelin Advantage program was created for in the first place; us RVers are just climbing on their train.

[Dutch Star Don]

Just my opinion.....I've always found that deals like the FMCA tire program, employee pricing at a car dealership and other similar offers work best for those who hate to haggle or shop around. Many like to be able to say that they got the best deal, without shopping and dealing with salesman.

In almost every instance, I've been able to find a better deal. From what I'm reading here, I certainly don't want to provide my credit card without knowing the price in advance. If you end up taking it in the shorts, you have no recourse.

[2 Stroker]

Originally Posted by jmiller1066

I joined the FMCA about a year ago and one of the main reasons I joined was their tire discount program. They make it sound like you will get a decent discount so I registered withe Michelin Advantage program. Yesterday I bought two front 295/80 R 22.5 Michelin xza2 Energy tires and had them installed. Turns out Michelin charged me about $745 per tire, which, by the way, is the same price you can buy them on-line and had them shipped for free to the tire shop. Some discount. So if you are thinking about buying tires through the so-called discount program of the FMCA, don't waste your time.

This is right from FMCA web page and the same price I paid last year. Les Schwab wanted $800+pre tire.
2 stroker

Tire DescriptionTreadMSPNBase Price
Michelin 295/80R22.5 XZA2 ENERGY 152M LRH XZA2 Energy Base Price $765.92 FMCA price $671.67 Savings $94.25

[dons2346]

" I certainly don't want to provide my credit card without knowing the price in advance. If you end up taking it in the shorts, you have no recourse."

With the FMCA program you know exactly what the tire will cost you. Certain taxes will apply. Read what is said on the FMCA website as to pricing.What I paid was the same as the website said. But you have to add mounting and balance.

[TXiceman]

I found the same thing with the FMCA tire program. I did much better on tires locally from Discount.

It pays to shop around. Check internet prices first then go to Discount and they matched my lowest price.

Ken

[jackreno]

Why would anyone pay such a high price for Michelin tires when Firestone makes tires for motorhomes that work just the same as Michelin's at a much lower cost..

https://commercial.firestone.com/en/..._index=248545#

[mrboyer]

I had priced via FMCA and dealer priced Firestone, also. 6 Firestone tires a little more than $600 lower price. We have been using for two years.