Group Buy for FOBO Tire Plus - $30 or $50 off, plus free express shipping ($20 value)

[gzerninplatz]

FYI, here is the latest info from Fobo on the dropout issue (it wasn't skipping, it was momentary dropouts). They have been communicating both with Tesla and Tesla with Apple:
We received an update from Tesla confirming the fact that upgrading to iOS 8.3 has reduce the music skipping substantially but they are still able to reproduce the issue with a rare occurrence. The next step that you can expect from Tesla is a firmware upgrade to their system and together with an upcoming iOS 8.4 update, they expect that the music skipping issue will be permanently fix.
FYI, since iOS 8.3, I have had no dropouts at all with Fobotire active.

 

[cynix]

I'm in, if they can ship to Australia.

 

[Madartist]

I'm also interested at the 25+ price point as well.

 

[Andyw2100]

I am interested in the FOBO, if they are ok with shipping to Canada for the group deal.
Their server is down right now, so I can't tell what they normally charge to send one here.

I'm in, if they can ship to Australia.

Checking their website for shipping information, it looks like Canada and Australia are both fine for $20. In fact, it looks like any country should be fine, as there are just a few countries listed that would have been $10 instead of $20 if people were paying.

 

[Electric1]

I'm in. Pm me as necessary. If we get to 24 or greater I'll go for 2. Thanks.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I'm interested in two units (maybe even 3)... but I have one question.. I've seen mentioned in a couple of places that you can still receive alerts on the phone when you're away from the car. How does that work? Does the in-car unit have a cellular or paging network connection? Or does it rely on someone having the mobile app running near the car which communicates to the cloud and all other "shared" users get alerts?

 

[Andyw2100]

FYI, here is the latest info from Fobo on the dropout issue (it wasn't skipping, it was momentary dropouts). They have been communicating both with Tesla and Tesla with Apple:
We received an update from Tesla confirming the fact that upgrading to iOS 8.3 has reduce the music skipping substantially but they are still able to reproduce the issue with a rare occurrence. The next step that you can expect from Tesla is a firmware upgrade to their system and together with an upcoming iOS 8.4 update, they expect that the music skipping issue will be permanently fix.
FYI, since iOS 8.3, I have had no dropouts at all with Fobotire active.

Thanks very much for this update.

For those who may not have been following it in the other thread, gzerninplatz was instrumental in working with FOBO to solve the momentary dropout issue. Below is an example of just one of many of gzerninplatz' posts on the subject:

OK, spent this evening installing and testing multiple versions of the app that they sent me through a beta app system that bypasses the Apple app store...their engineer says he now has a good idea where the issues are, but wants me to run a couple more tests, which I'll do tomorrow...they are working on it!
....and I get to sit in the car playing music in the garage a lot, with my phone and laptop...but I don't mind helping out...

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I'm interested in two units (maybe even 3)... but I have one question.. I've seen mentioned in a couple of places that you can still receive alerts on the phone when you're away from the car. How does that work? Does the in-car unit have a cellular or paging network connection? Or does it rely on someone having the mobile app running near the car which communicates to the cloud and all other "shared" users get alerts?

I don't have an answer to this, and don't have time right this moment to research it.

If someone who knows doesn't answer, I'm sure I can get an answer to this question from the person I'm dealing with at FOBO.

 

[EVenthusiast]

I'm interested in the 25+ price as well. Since I don't have a Model S yet, can I get away with using the Plus version on tires that don't require as much pressure (Nissan LEAF)? It looks like the Plus version only affects the upper range, and not the lower range. I'm wondering if they plan on adding support for Android Wear, would be pretty cool.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I don't have an answer to this, and don't have time right this moment to research it.

If someone who knows doesn't answer, I'm sure I can get an answer to this question from the person I'm dealing with at FOBO.

It's not critical, I'm just wanting to know if that works or not, and if so, how?

 

[Andyw2100]

I'm interested in the 25+ price as well. Since I don't have a Model S yet, can I get away with using the Plus version on tires that don't require as much pressure (Nissan LEAF)? It looks like the Plus version only affects the upper range, and not the lower range. I'm wondering if they plan on adding support for Android Wear, would be pretty cool.

Yes, from reading the information on the website it looks like the Plus version only impacts the maximum tire pressure the unit can be used with, so I expect you'll be fine. I'll ask my contact person about Android Wear plans when I ask other questions.

 

[LetsGoFast]

I'm in for one for sure, two if we hit the 25+

 

[hingisfan]

I'm in for a set if we get to 25 and Canada shipping works....I could do USA shipping if needed though too.

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Maybe a dumb question, but is changing these from one car to another (or from summer to winter set) as easy as unscrewing from valve tem and re-screwing on again?

 

[Odenator]

Please put me down for two

 

[HankLloydRight]

I don't have an answer to this, and don't have time right this moment to research it.
If someone who knows doesn't answer, I'm sure I can get an answer to this question from the person I'm dealing with at FOBO.

Andy, like I said above, it's not urgent at all.. but just for information, I was going by two things -- one was your comment above:

. So in my case, if my wife has the car, as she often does, I can still monitor the tire pressures and temperatures on my phone.

And the other was this video on Fobo website between 00:35 and 00:40: FOBO Tire - YouTube

"Fobo alerts you of a tire leak, even when you're away from your car".

I read through the entire manual and website looking for this "feature", and I can't find anything that indicates that the in-car unit somehow has a cellular,pager, or wireless connection to transmit the tire status to the cloud app. And I can't imagine that a device with 2 AA batteries can power a pager transmitter for two years.

In any case, put me down for 3 units.

 

[mnx]

Looks like the total is somewhere close to 20. I imagine we'll hit 25 no problem.

 

[Firewired]

My recommended pressures are well beneath 50 psi, both the plus and earlier version have Bluetooth 4.0. What other benefits would there be in getting the plus unit?

 

[gzerninplatz]

-Benefits of plus are when living where temps vary a lot from early morning to late afternoon and taking a longer drive - you will hit the 50 lb. high pressure alert if you are at 45lbs in the morning.

-Fobo does require you to be within bluetooth range of the car, so either you have an close, attached garage or you hear about it when you approach the car. The pressure shown when you open the app is the last pressure from when near the car. I use it to monitor my wife's car because it measures when I go out to the garage to get in my car...but it isn't real-time when she is driving.

-Another note for Fobo buyers worried about their valve stems and curbs/car washes (mainly you folks with 21s):
they offer a "T-valve" which both protects the Fobo monitor by putting it off at a right angle right next to the wheel, and provides a second straight valve for adjusting pressure without removing the fobo monitor. This does require tire shop install to replace standard valve with this one. I don't know how it might interface with TPMS - you would have to ask them. They pass these through from another vendor, $58 non-discountable for a set.
FOBO Tire - FOBO, scroll to bottom.

 

[bhuwan]

I am in!

 

[Andyw2100]

I'm in for a set if we get to 25 and Canada shipping works....I could do USA shipping if needed though too.

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Maybe a dumb question, but is changing these from one car to another (or from summer to winter set) as easy as unscrewing from valve tem and re-screwing on again?

Shipping to Canada is fine, and included.

When changing from car to car there may be something that has to be done through the app, in addition to just the unscrewing and re-screwing. I've never owned a set of these, so I'm not the best person to be answering these questions. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

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Looks like the total is somewhere close to 20. I imagine we'll hit 25 no problem.

Yes, I don't think we're going to have any problem reaching 25 units.

However there are a good number of people indicating in the thread that they want one (or more) that have not PM'd me their email address. At some point I'll go through and try to PM people who have said they want in who haven't PM'd me, but it would really make things easier for me if you PM me your email address so I don't have to go digging, and so that I have a more solid count of where we stand. By being proactive and PM-ing me, you also eliminate the risk that I somehow miss you. (I am responding to all PMs with a confirmation PM that you are on the list.)

Thanks!

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My recommended pressures are well beneath 50 psi, both the plus and earlier version have Bluetooth 4.0. What other benefits would there be in getting the plus unit?

Well, one major benefit is that the Plus unit at our 25+ pricing is going to cost you, with express shipping, what the regular unit would cost you on your own without the express shipping. So by getting in on this deal, you are getting the Plus benefits of the higher pressure unit (and the other benefits talked about by gzerninplatz) for the same price you'd pay for the regular unit, and you're getting the free express shipping. So unless you can get a deal of some sort on the regular unit, I think the Plus unit through this group buy is the way to go.

I purposely did not ask about trying to do a combination group buy for the Plus unit and the regular unit, even though I thought it was conceivable that some people might prefer the regular unit, for simplicity's sake. With Tesla now recommending 50 PSI for some tires on some models, it seemed the easier way to go.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I already emailed Andy with my info, but for those people keeping a separate count, I'm in for 2 now, not 3.