I used to believe that a TPSM was a useless feature. Today, I would spend the money to replace the sensors.
My first experience with a TPSM was in a Ford Windstar that was from the fleet at the university where I was employed. My wife, another faculty member, and I had driven the Windstar from eastern Indiana to Minneapolis, MN to give a paper. We left Minneapolis about 3:00 p.m. and planned to drive straight through because I had an 8:00 a m. class the next morning. I had agreed to drive the night shift. At about 2:00 a.m. we were on I-74 in Illinois. The highway was down to one lane and the pavement of the lane we were on had been milled. The low tire pressure light went on and there was no shoulder to get off. I drove about 20 miles until I could reach an exit. Just before the exit, the road construction ended. I pulled off the exit into an all night truck stop. I used my #14 tire gauge to check the tires (I kicked each tire with my size 14 feet). No tire seemed low. We had coffee and my wife read the manual she found in the glove compartment. The manual gave instructions as to how to reset the TPSM light. We did that and the light remained off for the rest of the trip. Apparently, the vibration from the milled pavement caused the low tire pressure light to turn on.
One of my musician friends had a Ford Escape Hybrid. We were coming back from a band rehearsal in cold weather and I noticed his low tire pressure light was on. When I pointed it out, he said that it always would go on in cold temperature below 20° F. He said he always checked the tire pressure weekly with a gauge and the tire pressure was always on spec. At the time, we didn’t have a car with TPSM, and decided if I ever bought a car with this feature, I would ignore the light.
I changed my mind about two weeks ago. One band where I am the principal in the horn section had a recording session scheduled on a Sunday afternoon. I was halfway through our Sunday dinner and received a frantic call from another band member who had a solo passage on several of the selections we were video recording. She lived 25 miles in the opposite direction of our recording site. She had a flat tire and didn’t know what to do. I threw my horn in the van, drove to her place, and then sped to the recording venue. We slid in with 5 minutes to spare. At any rate, she said she had just purchased new tires the week before. She said on her previous car the light would come on in cold weather and the tire pressures would be o.k. The light had gone on with her present car, but she assumed with new tires, she didn’t have a problem.
Well, there was a problem. She had picked up a nail in one of the tires. I now believe the TPSM light is a safety feature that shouldn’t be ignored. It does warn of a potential tire problem. When I buy tires in the next month, I will spend the extra money to have the sensors replaced. I did buy my friend a Christmas present–a can of Fix-A-Flat. I instructed her to only use it in an emergency, but if the TPSM light goes on to take it seriously and have her mechanic check the tires.
IIRC, Costco charged me $30-35 each. When I bought new tires there, I changed all 4 TPMS units, as they were already 7 years old, and I believe that the 4 TPMS units added something like $120-140 to the bill.
I requested that the TPMS units be replaced, and the Costco tire manager was relieved that he didn’t have to deal with someone who called him a thief when he suggested it.
If you have a picture of a tire with an exclamation point in it that lights up, you have batteries. If you have a car looking picture that tells which tire is low, you probably don’t have batteries.
I won’t have a battery changed at the car dealer again. It cost over $100 and took forever. I just aired my tires up and the light went out! If my tire dealer ever wants to hire me to let air out of tires I am qualified. I was trying to put air in and finally got it right.
I used to be handy but now I can’t remove the capped from anything.
What does that have to do with the tire pressure monitor?
Aha! TPMS in tires! Missed that one. Mine are in the valve stems.
There are two kinds with the valve stem, the rubber stem and the metal stem but I believe the both are connected to the battery and sensor inside the tire. I guess you can replace the guts, and there are after-market, but at any rate I like the system and has been reliable for me. I check tire pressure most times I drive and don’t have to kneel on the ground to do it.
One time we were heading from Ohio to Springfield before returning to Minnesota the next day. About 50 miles from Springfield, the tire warning message came up. I found a station with air and made it into the Walmart tire shop before everything closed. Somewhere I had picked up a two inch construction screw and was losing air fast. I would not have known until on the side of the road without the warning bell. Yeah I know, Walmart Auto but try to find a tire shop at 5:00 in a strange town and expect to get service.
The first car I had with TPMS was the 2007 Chevy Impala. It displayed the pressure of each tire to the half pound, such as 31.5 lbs., as well as a warning if any tire was low, indicating which one. All seven years and two sets of tires the readings were quite accurate.
The 2014 Toyota Camry merely has an idiot icon light that comes on if any tire has significantly lower pressure than the others. But no indication which tire or what the pressure numbers are.
Although I never stopped manually checking tire pressure all around periodically on the Impala, I came to trust the TPMS and did my own check only every month or two.
With the Camry I reverted to lifetime habit of manually checking once a week and any time there is a dramatic temperature change. Higher trim levels of Camrys may have the better system like the Impala. I do miss that.
One of the best things I ever bought about ten or twelve years ago is the small Kobalt 12V / 120V dual tire inflator. No more struggling with air hoses at gas stations in all kinds of weather. Easy to use in the comfort and safety of my garage at home. Its only downside is that it’s noisy.
yeah, my rav 4 (2015) just shows the light for low pressure. don’t know which one or what they are at. The KIA 2016 optima shows all 4 tires in a quad screen and the pressure of each one. Mine is an XLE and hers is an EX. I have been driving for almost 44 years and before the Rav 4, never had TPMS on the car. I checked the tires regularly and no issues ever in driving. My dad had a firestone 500 blow out on him on his regal but I never had issues. Now if one tire is low, I’d feel it. My wife would drive on 4 flats for 100 miles before someone told her they were flat.
Not always . modern radial tires can be low and not be that noticeable that is why TPMS is a good thing . Besides the cost of the units are much less than a new tire damaged by driving on it with too low air pressure.
We keep our cars for close to ten years and we’ve yet to have a battery die on us.
that quote came from the internet. I’ve only had my rav 4 from 2015 and optima from 2016. All other cars (camry 2005 and accord 2004) didn’t have TPMS on them.