I keep seeing advertisements for this for x cost. My question is it worth it or what?
There are probably 10 discussions on here about that. There’s a Search box on the right hand side of the page. Search away and you’ll find plenty to read.
Here’s a summary of what you’ll find: it’s bogus.
Pros - Nothing
Cons - whatever you pay for it.
Air is 78% Nitrogen, While the claimed benefits are technically true, the amount of the benefits is too small to measure.
It is just a way to get your money. If someone is going to do it for free, then go ahead if you like.
Pros Don’t Do This, Even To Their Own Cars.
Cons Will Exchange Your Money For Nitrogen.
CSA
Pros: you get those pretty green valve stem caps.
Cons: people who charge others to fill their tires with nitrogen.
It’s a rip off. Unless you’re racing. Nitrogen won’t feed a fire in a crash or in the pits, should there be one. The oxygen in air will. Nitrogen has absolutely zero benefit for road use.
Use the money you would have spent on nitrogen in to purchase a good quality pressure gage. Now THAT will help…assuming of course that you use it periodically.
I had no clue it was such a rip off, reviewed some other postings here…looks to me like it belongs in teh same category as those items you can pour into your take an increase your gas milage by X amount…
There is no “con” if you are getting the nitrogen fill for free. If there is a charge; that is the con. If you have to pay extra for nitrogen then reject it and just fill up with good old free compressed air. The “pros” of nitrogen are not worth any extra money over free “air”.
Pro: Your tires will be inflated so you can drive your car, but air does that also.
Con: You pay for it and you will not recoup your money. Air is free.
Pros:
- Supposedly nitrogen doesn’t expand/contract as much as regular air, so your tire pressure doesn’t change as much.
- Nitrogen is very stable and will inhibit corrosion.
- They give you pretty green caps for your valve stems.
Cons:
- It costs extra to fill your tires.
- You probably don’t have nitrogen at home to top off a tire if you need it.
Of course I’ve actually seen an air pump at a gas station charging .75 just for a few minutes of use, so maybe nitrogen would actually be cheaper in this case!
Since most of the Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen anyway (about 78%), it’s hard to believe that enriching the amount you’re putting in your tires by 22% or so actually accomplishes anything.
BTW if you want the most benefit, you would need to vacuum out all the air from your tyres (not easy with out damaging your tyres) before filling with NO² Just removing the valve stem does not remove all the air from the tyre.
Oblivion - Actually, nitrogen expands exactly the same as air, both because air is 78% nitrogen and because nitrogen and oxygen both expand exactly the same. So that’s not a ‘pro’, even though nitrogen salesmen claim it is.
I refused paying for installation of this and found out they simply it in anyway and reused my old valve stem caps(not green). The tech said he does not bother to walk over to get the air only hose 
Raj, I guess that’s an indicator that the amount they charge for nitrogen is probably almost pure profit.
We don’t need no stinkin’ ‘search’ box!
This reminds me of what happened yesterday. My girlfriend called to say she was getting an oil change, and the guy told her she needed the “fuel induction” service. I told her it was a total rip-off, and to refuse the service. I called back five minutes later to see if she got to them before they started working on her car, and she said the guy lowered the price to $20, so she agreed to let them do it.
I told her she should take a 20 dollar bill out of her purse, and light it on fire instead.
If you are in a shop, and someone tries to talk you into an additional service, and your refusal leads to them dropping their asking price, this should be a red flag.
The best suggestion I can make to people who are subject to these sales tactics is to take out their owner’s manual and see if the recommended service is in the recommended maintenance schedule. If it is, and according to the manual the vehicle is due, it’s probably legit. If not, politely refuse. Or, if you enjoy a good time, do like I do and make them try to justify it…then politely refuse it.
Its a total waste of money in my book. I mean how long have we all used plain ole Air in our tires now…Over 100 years or so? Why on earth is this even being offered these days? I really dont get it at all… My girls new Infinity G37X has Nitrogen in the tires… Oooh…Fancy Pantsy… LOL
It’s all about money. It’s just a modern version of snake oil.
The reason that they get away with so much of this stuff is that people want to appear smart. They don’t want to appear as if they don;t know what the “service manager” is saying. So they nod their head in agreement and tell the shop to go ahead. They’d rather spend the money than appear ignorant.
I read that a Massachusetts highschool is adding “community service” to their graduation requiremenrts. Perhaps it’s time they put science back instead. Perhaps if all HS graduates were required to have a good foundation in the sciences, and the thinking skills that come with that, we wouldn’t have so many people wasting money on these things.
How about putting acetylene in tires? Now that would make driving more exciting!
You must have been on the Hindenburg design team…