14 x 6 Tasmans on an EK

[Stygian]

Trev, you're just plain lazy

Andrew

Yeh, but I couldn't be bothered doing something about it .

...and here's me thinking that garbologists were fit, active and energetic types, rather than surly and languid...

[parisian62]

going well. cylinder head was cracked plus a previous repair. have dropped off another head so fingers crossed this ones OK.

[Stygian]

Got some disappointing news RE the whitewall tyres, which may interest others.
The guy who was getting mine rang today. Well, my tyres are not enroute from the US. Coker Tire Co is no longer willing to sell to any company from Australia, unless it happens to be their Australian distributor. Needless to say my contact was pretty peeved off as he has been buying jeep and bike tyres from Coker for years.
I rang the Aussie distributor this morning, Antique Tyres (also http://www.whitewalltyres.com.au), and for the 195/75/14 with 2 & 1/4 inch whitewall, the price is AUD$330 EACH, including GST but not freight That's about a 60% mark up on the US retail price Of course Antique Tyres must be buying them at wholesale price. With our dollar almost equal to the US dollar, I think 330 dollars a tyre is a bit of a take.
But I might have found an alternative. I'll let folks here know how that goes.
Andrew

[FBeing]

I found out the same Andrew as I'm trying go find prices from US sources. I may have an alternative too. One company said they would ship to Sydney airport. Not sure how tax would work though

[newman]

Andrew,

Any leads to cheaper whitewalls would be appreciated I also tried Antique Tyres and also John Cain and its an absolute joke the mark up on these tyres, I had my own business for a while and the basic principal of lower profit margin per unit equals greater turnover doesn't seem to apply to whitewall tyres

[Cal]

Somewhat surprised that Coker won't sell to anyone else apart from their one distributor. It could be a case of the distributor jumping up and down and demanding he has sole rights.

Which of course if you're the sole distributor of a particular item, you can name your own price.

[FBeing]

Not Cokers, but American Classics (sorry I had contacted that many places about that many different tyres I got confoozed.

http://www.lucasclassictires.com/
This mob said they would ship to Syd Airport for $266 (USD)
Also the tyres I am looking at are about $180 dollars cheaper a piece.

Here's the prices:
http://www.lucasclassictires.com/radials100110.htm

Maybe we can do a bulk order?

[Devilrod]

Somewhat surprised that Coker won't sell to anyone else apart from their one distributor. It could be a case of the distributor jumping up and down and demanding he has sole rights.

Which of course if you're the sole distributor of a particular item, you can name your own price.

Sometimes being sole distributor comes at a cost too as I've seen with other products. Must pay ex amount of dollars to maintain exclusivity, order a minimum quantity each time... etc. etc..
Not always as simple as us price v oz price. At least buying local makes returns for sub standard products easier. Especially with Coker their quality control sometimes lacks on those old style tyres. I've seen an overall height difference of around nearly an inch on between two tyres that were meant to be the same

[Stygian]

Stu,

This the guy I have found - he has this store on eBay http://stores.ebay.com/CollectorsAutoSupplycom. I've sent him an email about exact costs to Sydney Airport. He says on his website that for 4 tyres it will cost anywhere between USD$200 - 300. I'll let you know what what he says when he replies. I also asked if he is able to do a deal on a bulk order.

Just spoke to my brother Justin who works in freight forwarding / customs brokerage / shipping. The duties / taxes on brand new tyres is either 5% or 10%. One thing you have to do is ask the seller to shrink wrap the tyres. Brand new shrink wrapped tyres will go through customs with a minimum amount of hassle. Shrink wrapping the tyres will prevent water getting into them. If customs see water in the tyres, even if it just rain from being left outside at Sydney Airport, they will have to go through quarantine (customs are highly concerned with mosquito borne diseases).

Justin also reckons the shipping charge of USD$200 - 300 per set of 4 tyres is quite reasonable. He says his company is paying USD$195 for a cubic metre, so they are not making much money, if any, on the shipping (he probably has to pay additional costs to get the tyres from his business to the US port anyway). A bulk order should reduce per unit shipping costs too.

Mick, yeah the Aussie distributor I feel is too pricey, particularly since he is getting them at wholesale prices and the Aussie dollar is so strong now.

Peter, that's exactly what I thought. My contact is none too happy about it. He goes over to the US each year as he is a concourse judge for military vehicles. He usually brings a container back from the US full of stuff for his own restoration business here, including jeep and bike tyres from Coker.

DR, thanks for the heads up RE quality of Coker brand tyres. Am now looking at a set of BF Goodrich ones. Hamish has had 15" BF Goodrich whitewalls on his convertible Vauxhall for 10 years with zero hassles.

Andrew

[Cal]

Somewhat surprised that Coker won't sell to anyone else apart from their one distributor. It could be a case of the distributor jumping up and down and demanding he has sole rights.

Which of course if you're the sole distributor of a particular item, you can name your own price.

Sometimes being sole distributor comes at a cost too as I've seen with other products. Must pay ex amount of dollars to maintain exclusivity, order a minimum quantity each time... etc. etc..
Not always as simple as us price v oz price. At least buying local makes returns for sub standard products easier. Especially with Coker their quality control sometimes lacks on those old style tyres. I've seen an overall height difference of around nearly an inch on between two tyres that were meant to be the same

Oh yeah, I agree. These are low volume, slow selling items, so the profit margain would be quite different to a high volume, quick selling item. Plus he's got the added costs of freight, warehousing, etc.

Though being a sole distributor does have it's perks, and 60% mark up (on US retail price) is a bit steep.

Rightly or wrongly, a lot of local retailers need to realise that something called the "internet" exists nowadays, and people can find and buy stuff a lot easier than 20 years ago.

Andrew, you'd want to be careful shrink wrapping tyres. They use heat (a naked flame) to shrink the plastic over whatever you are wrapping. They won't look like tyres when they get here

[thropzed]

In the long run- What are you saving? $100-$150 bucks.
Remember the sole importer will take returns for sub-standard goods(Bit hard with US).
You'll be keeping an Australian company running!
As for the Military Judge, He is doing whats called Parallel importing.
Basically, fill your container and put it on a boat. No garrentees, No returns. Paid up front.
Some of these tyres aren't even Australian Standard, So I'd check with your insurance company as well.
The sole importer pays to have all these checks and balances put in place. Thats where the margin is.
Cheers Theo Z..................

[mudgroup]

good luck to you guys with sourcing and landing...... i hope it works out...
but i can't recommend antique tyres enough...
purchased a couple of sets of tyres through ben...
from my experience... great products, great service...

[Cal]

Yeah, good point Theo.

They are pretty strict here when it comes to tyres complying with Australian Standards. A mate works for a mob that imports Jap cars, and they can't comply these cars until they put aussie spec tyres on them

[Stygian]

In the long run- What are you saving? $100-$150 bucks...
Some of these tyres aren't even Australian Standard, So I'd check with your insurance company as well.
The sole importer pays to have all these checks and balances put in place. Thats where the margin is.
Cheers Theo Z..................

Hey Theo, try over $400.

You make a good point RE Australian Standards. So say I'll go with the BF Goodrich P185/70R14 tyre with a 2 1/4" whitewall, which is sold by Antique Tyres and so obviously meets Australian Standards. It also has a total rolling diameter of 24", which is exactly the diameter of the Olympic Airrides on the orginial 13" rims.

I just rang Antique Tyres and they gave me a price of AUD$369.00 each including GST. Freight is $15 per tyre from Melbourne to Sydney and you have to have someone at home between 9am and 5pm to have them delivered. I was advised to have them delivered to a tyre depot or something and pick them up from there, so there's that hassle. Total cost including freight is AUD$1,536.

The eBay guy sells exactly the same tyre at AUD$189.06. Say that FBeing's freight quote for 4 tyres to Sydney Airport (15 minutes from my place) is accurate, which is AUD$269.65. Add 10% duties, which is of the total tyre cost, which is AUD$75.60. Total cost then is AUD$1,101.49.

Antique Tyres - eBay guy = AUD$434.51.

That's quite a bit. Antique Tyres is charging almost double the US retail price for these particular tyres, and we know he aint buying them at that.

Andrew

[Devilrod]

but i can't recommend antique tyres enough...
purchased a couple of sets of tyres through ben...
from my experience... great products, great service...

Same, I bought my Firestones when the Aussie dollar was worth 63 cents!!! I looked into bringing them in myself and the savings weren't worth the headaches of trying to get them in. All it took me was one phone call, a month later a call from Ben saying they were in (not a commonly stocked size) and a Saturday morning getting them fitted with correct size tubes (crossplies need imperial not metric tubes ). Job done. No stress and no hidden surpises.