Escapees Goodyear tire discount is no good.

[TXiceman]

I went on line to see about Goodyear G614, load range G, 235-85R16 tires for our 5er.  On the Goodyear.com site, the heaviest tire is the Endurance load range E.  To get the G614, you have to go to the https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/ site and the 15% discount does not apply.  It applies ONLY to the goodyear.com site.

I notified the Escapees office of this issue and that they need to state this on their member discounts site.  All the discount will apply to is the auto and light truck tires.

Not a happy camper at this point.  I guess, I will get the Hankook F19 trailer tires again.

Ken

 

[Ray,IN]

Ken check out Sailun S637 ST trailer tires.  I had them on our last 5er and they performed great.

[Fhkw9DPJ8V1g]

The Escapees tire discount leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn't cover motorhome tires, medium duty truck tires or even most sizes of pickup tires. It is good for trailers and autos. That's about it. I've asked repeatedly about when they may include medium duty truck tires but Escapees just says "they're working on it".

FMCA and Coach-Net have very good tire discount programs. FMCA's discount will more than cover the cost of a one year membership. FMCA's program is also very user friendly so you can see exactly what you pay. They send you to a dealer in your area after you get a price using their online tool.

[TXiceman]

The FMCA program does not cover the G load range tires I need.

Ken

[Fhkw9DPJ8V1g]

2 hours ago, TXiceman said:

The FMCA program does not cover the G load range tires I need.

 

Good to know. Thanks

[Kirk W]

On 12/16/2018 at 8:25 PM, DonCoyote said:

The Escapees tire discount leaves a lot to be desired.

While I do agree that it could be better, are you saying that they did something wrong by introducing it? I have spoken with someone in marketing and was told that it was the best they could do at this time. It and other discount programs continue to be worked on. Such efforts have to begin somewhere. 

[Fhkw9DPJ8V1g]

On 12/18/2018 at 6:59 AM, Kirk W said:

are you saying that they did something wrong by introducing it?

Not at all, Kirk. Thanks for letting me clarify. I simply mean what I stated and no more. The program, as it stands today as a club benefit, "leaves a lot to be desired". I think the OPs choice of words were a little strong.

People who have motorhomes desire a program that covers motorhome tires. People who who have trailers desire a program that covers truck tires. People who have medium duty and class 8 trucks desire those tires. People with larger 5th wheels desire a program that covers higher rated tires. Thus my opinion that the program leaves a lot to be desired.

There are other programs out there offered by other clubs which provide exactly what most people desire. 

Now where it gets interesting, and what we're not able to quantify. A lot of the clubs today offer overlapping benefits and a lot of people get their needs met perfectly well by belonging to more than one club. I personally have no problem belonging to multiple clubs to maximize the benefits that I can receive as long as the cost of membership provides a greater reward.

The club that gathers the most of these benefits into one package is the most viable going forward. The club that brings the most benefit to the manufacturer will also garner the greater benefit that they are able to offer their members. Since I use some of the stickier services within Escapees it is my hope that they will be able to convince Goodyear or Michelin that they can bring the same weight as the other clubs which appear to currently have a more favored status.

I hope that Escapees/Xscapers is spending as much or more time on industry relations as they are on social media outreach. I feel there is far greater long term benefit in industry relations given the niche market that it is.

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, DonCoyote said:

I feel there is far greater long term benefit in industry relations given the niche market that it is.

Have you expressed that to them? The forums are not a good means since no member of management monitors the forums on frequent bases. I have noticed some activity by them on Facebook. 

[TXiceman]

So far, two supposed discount programs, Escapees and FMCA and the tire programs miss a lot of RVs.  Both work great if I needed truck tires for the F350.  

Ken

[jblo]

Ken, 

You anywhere near Livingston?  If so, give Premier Tire and see what the Escapees discount might be on your tires.

Joe

[TXiceman]

Joe, headed to Port O'Connor and may be back through Livingston the end of March.  I'll check with them.

Thanks and have a Merry Christmas.

Ken

[jblo]

Man, haven't been around POC since around the 70s--hope the fishing is still good.

I have found most of the national discounts do not live up to the hype if you take time to research suppliers and local pricing.  For 22.5s on MHs, might be best, but have found it very easy to beat discounts off LIST PRICE by shopping local tire shops for truck/fiver tires.

Also, the discount at Premier Tire in Livingston is their discount to Escapees members, not an Escapees discount--I worded it wrong.

Have you checked with    www.trailertiresandwheels.com     ?

Joe

[Kirk W]

58 minutes ago, jblo said:

but have found it very easy to beat discounts off LIST PRICE by shopping local tire shops for truck/fiver tires.

I think that is very often the case with most discounts offered by a product manufacturer on something that has a lot of local market competition. Any nationally known tire brand will have multiple dealers handling them in cities of moderate size or larger. When I bought 6, Goodyear G670 tires for our class A about 10 years ago, the out the door price of 6 tires installed on the motorhome ranged by more than $400 over perhaps as many as 10 different sellers. Discounts like that from Escapees or FMCA are nearly always against the manufacturer's suggested retail price. While I haven't yet tried it, I will test this with the present Escapee discount for the Endurance tires from Goodyear in about another month. 

[KodiakJack]

Check out simpletire.com.  Some of the best prices I have found and free shipping.

Later,
J

[jblo]

Did a deal with Sailuns from SimpleTire and it worked just as they advertise. Ordered them on a Monday, were in my drive on Wed.  However, I have been charged from $15/tire to $35/tire to mount tires not bought from the tire shop doing the work.  Also, you are tasked with finding some place that can handle 19.5s/17.5s, not to mention MH tires.

These deals can work, but occasionally have found myself wishing I had just gotten an 'out the door' price on tires from the shop doing the work.

[KodiakJack]

On 12/23/2018 at 9:24 PM, jblo said:

These deals can work, but occasionally have found myself wishing I had just gotten an 'out the door' price on tires from the shop doing the work.

Agree.  Perhaps that is why simpletire.com provides this link (https://simpletire.com/myinstallers) to professional tire installers by zip code.  That way people can compare costs.  I am currently in Yuma so entered that zip and the shop that came up showed fees for mounting and balancing, disposal, etc.  

Later,

J

PS Merry Christmas!

[jblo]

J

Have tried to use the ST directory, lots of things to go wrong with that when considering I have to work with 19.5s on the truck and 17.5s on the trailer--the Yuma shop is a Pep Boys?  and several I have tried don't mess with the high pressure tires. Passenger and light trucks would work fine--any 16/17/18/20s--but they don't like 100-125psi stuff.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[bobsallyh]

A heads-up on the Yuma, AZ. Pep Boys tire mounting. Last snowbird season, a friend of mine and fellow Escapee bought six tires for his F-350 Ford PU at Pep Boys and they mounted the tires. They darned near ruined the Ford factory aluminum wheels when mounting. There was a fairly deep circle "etched' on the surface of the four aluminum wheels. Pep Boys had him take them to a wheel polishing outfit at their (Pep Boys) cost on S. Frontage RD. Most of the "etching" came out but if you look at the correct area, you can still see the remnants of the damage. 

[jblo]

Kind of what I am talking about--if they don't consistently work with truck/alloy wheels, very easy to get marks on the finish. But his 350 would have had 17" wheels--surprised they had a problem. Good that they got the polishing done.

Very difficult to get tire shops to take real care with these polished alloy finishes.

[Carlos]

Most discount programs are a complete joke.  You can do just as well or better shopping yourself.  Discount tire/America's Tire will price match tirerack.com, which is often very cheap.  Sam's Club has some exceptional tire deals, particularly if you factor in any special deals, the premium member kickback, and credit card kickbacks.  I'm thinking about doing a set while my Discover card has 8% back on warehouse club purchases, plus the member kickback, plus an $80 off a set deal.

 

[bobsallyh]

Carlos, don't know if you are having tires mounted on a dually, but Sam's charges $25.00 extra per wheel.

[Carlos]

Thanks, but no, singles.

[FL-JOE]

9 hours ago, Carlos said:

Most discount programs are a complete joke.  You can do just as well or better shopping yourself.  Discount tire/America's Tire will price match tirerack.com, which is often very cheap.  Sam's Club has some exceptional tire deals, particularly if you factor in any special deals, the premium member kickback, and credit card kickbacks.  I'm thinking about doing a set while my Discover card has 8% back on warehouse club purchases, plus the member kickback, plus an $80 off a set deal.

 

You are probably correct.  There was a recent post on the FMCA forum where a member was able to find a much better deal on replacement tires for his DP rather than use the FMCA program.  

[Ray Speer]

My tire man, who is in the ranch country and deals with tires for all kinds of trailers and trucks, advised me to forget trailer tires and go for the appropriately sized truck tires.  We ditched the Chinese STs and went with Hankook Truck tires, with good success.

[Carlos]

Just now, Ray Speer said:

My tire man, who is in the ranch country and deals with tires for all kinds of trailers and trucks, advised me to forget trailer tires and go for the appropriately sized truck tires.  We ditched the Chinese STs and went with Hankook Truck tires, with good success.

My brother swears by the same.  He's a mechanic and has a number of trailers.  I can say that right or not, trailer tires are just garbage.  If car tires failed as often, there would be corpses all over our roads.