The Police Department of Greensboro, North Carolina may have just given out an unethical idea that could impact rental cars everywhere.
On Thursday (February 12), the department's X account shared a message, hoping to deter people from taking tires off rental cars and putting them on their own.
After telling people to "please be aware," the account wrote: "Don’t get a rental car of the same make and model as your own and then change the tires 'because you needed new tires.'"
In the post’s replies, X users informed the department that they have probably just inspired a lot of people to do just that — considering the post has now gone viral.
This isn’t the first time this idea has been shared online. In 2018, on the UnethicalLifeProTips Reddit community, someone posted: "Need to replace your tires? Just rent the same car you drive from a car rental place and switch out your tires with the tires on the rental car."
In the comments section of that post, people made it clear that they’ve been doing this for decades.
Whether you decide to try the hack or not, it’s worth noting that rental car companies conduct detailed inspections of each car, so it’s likely they will find out immediately if a tire switch has happened. If they discover this has taken place, it could lead to severe consequences such as criminal charges and being banned from getting a car from the rental company.
