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TPMS scam or legit

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Old Dec 8, 2009 | 04:12 PM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by jtc858
I hate TPMS sensors and I think they are pretty useless. Whats the point on having them on anyways when you have to check all four tires once the light comes on.
The "consumer safety groups" and some of the car makers combined to get this one past the Feds. Based on a study done in the 1970’s the Feds began to beat the drum for TPMS as both a life saver and a fuel saver. It took 20 years for everyone to agree on the need. 50% of the public polled agreed but without having any good idea of the cost. Here is what the Feds said about cost-- “$30.54 in vehicle costs minus $16.40 in fuel savings and $5.51 in tread wear savings. These estimates did not include maintenance costs. The agency has estimated maintenance costs for this final rule.”

One of the reasons for not reporting the actual tire pressure per wheel was the alleged inability of “older” drivers to comprehend it. Also for what it might be worth Toyota was among the companies wanting simple reporting. What we ended up with was a standard that was acceptable to all TMPS component makers, the car makers and some of the “consumer” groups.

Obviously because of the low cost there was no point in requiring a universal interchange standard to keep replacement cost (and retail dealer profit) down.

I guess it could be worse; we could still have the 55 mph limit.
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Old Dec 8, 2009 | 11:31 PM
  #17  
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Well I found a sensor on ebay for $50 delivered but I got to thinking maybe I should just disable this function.
Anybody know how??
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Old Dec 9, 2009 | 12:17 AM
  #18  
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the tpms sensor cannot be disabled.
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Old Dec 9, 2009 | 04:30 PM
  #19  
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Well I picked up the car and didn't let them continue rape me
I'll take the suggestion and buy a TPMS from eBay then bring it to a Toyota dealership to have this done.... as it seems I can't disable this !@#$%^& TPMS
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Old Dec 9, 2009 | 06:02 PM
  #20  
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From here.

TPMS Toyota Fault Diagnosis

TPMS replacement is called for when the TPMS fails due to mechanical or electrical failure, broken accelerometer, low TPMS battery power or blocked pressure port. One of the most common causes of failure is inappropriate handling during wheel or tire removal or servicing. The TPMS is an electronic component fitted as part of a heavyweight mechanical process.
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Old Dec 9, 2009 | 11:05 PM
  #21  
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Great info thanks for digging this up. In retrospect i should have asked for the tech to provide the final audit as this would have confirmed that they were not at fault.
Acutally don't think this would be the case as it takes a couple hundreds clicks to spit out an error code.

Tough one
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 05:31 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by fbarbarosa
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]One of the reasons for not reporting the actual tire pressure per wheel was the alleged inability of “older” drivers to comprehend it.

And yet if you buy a caddy, which stereotypically has older drivers, it reports the exact pressure in each wheel.

Even sadder, buy a cheap chevy and it does the same thing...making the Toyota/Lexus method of "Hey, something is low, good luck figuring out what and how much!" look even worse.
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 08:49 AM
  #23  
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TPMS has worked great for me...

It has notified me of several low tires (due to nails) before I leave for work in the morning and go do 75mph on 25psi

I have no issue checking all 4 tires to find the one thats LOW..

It gives me a piece of mind knowing the rest are good as well.
Plus, I do it once a month already..

Any NEW sensor ID can be inputed into the system out of a tire.
It just won't initialize or remove the TPMS warning light, until the sensor is correctly pressurized..
Thats mainly why the dealers won't input the numbers with out properly installing the sensors in wheels & tires.

- Joe Z
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 08:56 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Kurtz
And yet if you buy a caddy, which stereotypically has older drivers, it reports the exact pressure in each wheel.

Even sadder, buy a cheap chevy and it does the same thing...making the Toyota/Lexus method of "Hey, something is low, good luck figuring out what and how much!" look even worse.
The newer Lexus vehicles do report the individual pressure in each wheel. I was in a loaner HS250 a few weeks ago and noticed that improvement.
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Old Dec 10, 2009 | 01:06 PM
  #25  
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The temperature and pressure information is available, just not displayed unless you have a scantool connected to the OBDII port. The scantool will decode the packets from the TPMS ECU and tell you the real numbers. Lexus just didn't see fit to put this software into our combination meters. If anything cries out for a reflash benefiting all owners, this is it.

Joe - I don't disagree it works. It's just not as good as the competition, and it's pathetic it doesn't tell you which tire is low. Sure it's great to be prudent and check them all, but I shouldn't have to do this when the data is there but Lexus chooses not to display it.
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Old Nov 30, 2010 | 09:11 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by jtc858
Heck no! He was just trying to find a way to get more money. I just got off the phone with a very helpful Advisor from another dealership and actually told me some good useful information on what to do so I'll be taking it to Lexus of Carlsbad once I get the sensor installed by Discount Tires and just provide them the number thats on the sensor.

The other Advisor did not mention that to me, so it seemed like I was pretty much screwed.

I hate TPMS sensors and I think they are pretty useless. Whats the point on having them on anyways when you have to check all four tires once the light comes on. You would think it would at least tell you fronts or backs are low so you atleast have a 50/50 chance of guessing which one is low rather then a 25% chance.
Yeah good point! I would like for it to tell me which tire as well.

I am purchasing a new set of tires, but the site is trying to get me to purchase a TPMS Rebuild Kit. I am assuming that I only need to replace the tpms kit if i am changing rims, but dont replace them if i am just changing tires...correct? According to the site "I must replace the wearable components of your TPMS sensors each time a tire is replaced or serviced"
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Old Nov 30, 2010 | 10:01 AM
  #27  
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I to really wish they would put the readouts for each tire in the IS... the HS has it maybe in the future? I seem to have this thing about running over nails and my low tire warning is on a day later.
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Old Nov 30, 2010 | 02:32 PM
  #28  
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I got my TPMS sensors from e-bay for $52...and discount tire programed them for free!....they said they do all programming for free with all TPMS,lexus wanted $180 to do all 4!
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Old Nov 30, 2010 | 11:30 PM
  #29  
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I was able to get my tpms programmed at America's Tire in Pasadena for free... FYI.
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Old May 26, 2016 | 07:01 PM
  #30  
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Sorry for bringing this back from the dead but I feel the complexity and cost of these tmps systems is completely unnecessarily high. They have managed to turn a safety system into a huge money maker. If the point was to actually increase safety you would make the system much easier to program and repair. For example each car could have the ability to program it's own sensors. Make the valve stems removable threaded on from the out side so anyone could go to wall-mart and replace them. This is how the 1% make billions. Personally I will never fix it. I can handle the little light on.
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