[BereanBrain]

This is not a scam, it’s a reaction to lawsuits.

How to get around it?

Order your tires from for example tire rack, go to local service station (yes, there may be one in your area), and have them mount the tires. If needed, change out the old ones yourself, (or have the service station do it).

[algore]

This is not a scam, it’s a reaction to lawsuits.

I agree that it is a reaction to lawsuits, however it is still a scam because people who do not need 4 tires are told that they do. And as as pointed out you could get a tire shaved to a matching depth. And sure if you are not hundreds of miles from home you can mail order tires, but that is not always the case.

[GaltAdonis]

Years ago I used to have a 96 Ford Ranger xlt with the V6.
I bought it new and put 296,000 miles on it before I traded it in.
Pretty reliable - but the thing just ate headlights for some reason.
About every 6 months a headlight would bun out.
Followed about a month later by the other headlight.

Annoying. And the screw threads in the plastic grill (which
needed to be completely disassembled in the headlight
replacement process) were almost totally stripped - barely
enough left to hold the screws - and therefore the headlights - in.

But a decent truck otherwise.
I wish your kid good luck with it.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

All this is why I would never have a full-time AWD car nor let anybody I care about buy one. If 4WD is absolutely necessary, as it is where I live in snow country, I want a proper transfer case with the big-ass lever to clutch in the front axle when needed.