I stopped in to get my free rotation of tires where I bought them. Because I have one different tire after the blowout last spring, he said it could wreck my transmission on this all-wheel drive mini van. Is that true? It might be cheaper for me to get 4 new ones there than 3 of the newer tire (which they don’t carry). What do you think?
If the new tire is the same size as the other 3 then it should be fine.
Read your owner’s manual. Subaru is very specific about the maximum circumference difference amongst tires on their AWD vehicles. If you exceed it, then you run a high chance of powertrain repair. I don’t know what Chrysler says about their system. You should do whatever measurements Chrysler says to do, to ensure that you are OK, and make sure the tires are all in accordance with Chrysler’s guidance.
If your tires are out of tolerance, you might be able to get the newer one shaved down to the older size, and that should be cheaper than a full tire replacement.
The different can cause issues. The tire place should have done rolling circumference measurement(distance around tire) and seen if there was a significant difference between the average of three old and new.
Subaru only allows 1/2" - 1/4" difference. Chrysler may have a more lenient stance on it.
If you have all wheel drive, and the tires are not the same circumference, this can cause excessive wear on the drivetrain module, because one tire being a different size means it is constantly spinning faster or slower than the other three. This is true whether the odd tire is a different make and model or even if it is the same make and model but just newer and therefore less worn down. You can get your tires measured and have them shaved down to the same size.