Posted by Chris Boylan on October 01, 1997 at 17:38:19:
In Reply to: MICHELIN MXV4 vs UNIROYAL TIGER PAW GTH posted by Jehan on September 29, 1997 at 18:03:55:
"However, the young Sales Person at the Tire Dealership urged me to consider the Uniroyal Tiger Paws, which he claimed had
the same PERFORMANCE and HANDLING characteristics as the MXVs and cost $40 less!, one of his Best Selling Tires!
Regardless to say I fell for it."
If anyone in retail sales ever steers you heavily toward a model you were not previously
considering when you walked in, then you should suspect that a 'SPIFF' may be
involved. A Spiff is a special (usually cash) incentive offered to a salesperson
in order to move an overstocked, or high margin product. Of course, it _DOES_
happen from time to time that someone is actually just trying to help make
you aware of a high performance product that does not get into the limelight for
whatever reason. But this is relatively rare. It doesn't hurt to ask the salesperson
(or the manager) if the salespeople are paid on commission or offered any incentive
to sell specific products - of course, nothing says they have to answer you honestly,
but if they do, then it can help put things in perspective.
Ideally, a salesperson is there to help educate you into buying the highest quality
product you can afford, given your specific needs, but in reality this does not always
happen. Believe me, I know - I (briefly) worked on a retail sales floor. It was
frustrating at best to see some of my fellow (hifi) salespeople ranting and raving about
mediocre gear, only to rant and rave about something else the following month. Caveat
Emptor, Buyer beware, Your Mileage May Vary, and all that.
As for the Michelin Energy MXV4s, to me they seem a bit too expensive for what they offer -
I prefer the Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce on my car, but as you said, the ride and
performance characteristics of a tire may vary considerably on different cars. They
certainly "don't suck." (-:
Later,
-Chris