My dash tire pressure light went on. I made sure all tires were properly inflated and took it to my tire guy after resetting the pressure button. Found out that 3 out of 4 pressure senders are bad. I can see why, they have little watch batteries in them and they ran out at the same time. About $550 to replace all 4 (more for 5!) of them with $80 dollar sensors, more for the spare too. Toyota sensors cost around $120 each. I’m thinking it’s cheaper just to check my tires every so often. They’re pretty new. Unfortunately, I should have had the sensors replaced when I got new tires.
Yes, it’s definitely cheaper, but the TPMS was never intended to be a substitute for manual checking of your tire pressure. After the numerous Ford Explorer/Firestone tire incidents that resulted from sudden, catastrophic pressure loss, this system was initiated in order to alert drivers to sudden pressure loss while driving. Even if you manually check your tires just before a long drive, sudden pressure loss while you are driving could turn into a real problem on the highway.
+1
When I replace my tires, I also replace the TPMS sensors… unless they are fairly new. Generally speaking, the batteries in these sensors are good for 7-8 years. How old were yours?
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Only 16 years old. Newbies 
Boy, those are lots less expensive than the dealer or tire place. Around $30. If I have them replaced, maybe I’ll buy them and ask them to use owner’s parts. No guarantee. Thanks, tester.
The last time that I bought tires–at Costco–I believe that they charged ~$40 for the TPMS sensors. With prices like that, I try to be proactive with TPMS sensors, and I also try to be proactive when it comes to the car’s battery.
I generally replace the car battery at ~ the 4 year point. IMHO, trying to wring every last bit of value from a car battery is actually a very poor value when you consider how easy it is to get stranded when a battery suddenly goes bad.
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Or, have the battery tested each time the oil is changed.
Tester
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If you find it is sort of a pain to refill you tires at the gas station, I believe there are some fairly light-weight & inexpensive tire-refill gadgets which would allow you to do the job at home at your convenience, provided you have a place to plug them in. When I need to refill my tires and the local gas station attendant seems a little on the cranky-side, I refill them back home using a shop air compressor.
BTW, it is possible to refill a car’s tire with just a bicycle pump. Even possible for a big road grader type of tire. Ask me how I know? …lol .
We keep our cars for about ten years and never had to replace one, so we’ve been a bit luckier than you, I guess.
I use a cordless Ryobi inflator, which works fine. I had a corded inflator before that, but it’s nice not to have to drag the cord around the garage any more.
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Good point. A cordless inflator seems like a very good idea.
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Jump pack compressor combos can air your tires - hook up and walk away pumps until the pressure you set, recharge your phone in a power outage, provide a work light and jump your car. All from the pack’s battery About $100 give or take depending on features. My Li-ion battery model was a bit more than $100. The lead acid types a bit less.
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I think for two cars over the last ten years, I’ve replaced three of them. It is usually $80 out the door. It is not always convenient with frozen lines in the winter to use gas stations. Sure you can always carry your own. About 400:miles from home my alarm went off. I hit a three inch construction screw and was losing air fast. I was happy for the early warning and managed to find a place still open for the repair. Several times I have had a nail the day before heading out of state and was happy for the early warning
If you never go anywhere though and your knees still work, up to you.
Tire place I go to uses Denso sensors. Toyota uses Denso sensors. My tire places charges $59 a sensor. There is ZERO reason to use the sensors from Toyota. You can buy the Denso sensor for under $40.
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Wow, haven’t seen a gas station attendant for over 40 years!
I have a compressor at home, plus a jump pack that has a compressor included, plus USB ports. Haven’t tried the compressor, but did jump my neighbor’s car.
Jump pack was on sale at my warehouse club for around $80.
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Go get gas in New Jersey. It’s illegal for you to pump your own gas there.
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Isn’t there one other state that does that too?
But George lives in CA.
The closet thing I have ever had to a gas station attendant was telling my kids to pump the gas, it was a teaching moment, not my fault it took them a few years to get it right… 
Gas Station attendant and grease monkey was my first “real” job in 1966 at a flying horse (Mobil) station.
“Illegal” is a relative term to describe that regulation in NJ. While signs are posted at most/all NJ gas stations stating something along these lines…
… the bottom line is that nobody has ever been arrested/charged/fined/jailed for pumping his own gas.
I have been doing it for well over 50 years, and in addition to nobody stopping me from doing it, many attendants thank me for doing it. Many, perhaps most, NJ residents seem to think that there is some sort of mysterious police force that is going to suddenly appear to arrest them if they dare to touch a pump nozzle, but–trust me–there is no such police force.
If a regulation is not enforced, then–de facto–it isn’t actually a restriction.