Hi. I recently purchased a complete set of winters with alloys used from someone who had a 2016 RX. I was told from the tire shop, which the wheels were purchased from, that the TPMS sensor is universal and should work with the 2011. Went to said tire shop and then found out it is only good for that generation. Anyone have experience with reprogramming these sensors? Or am I going to have to invest in new sensors?

 

That may be true. I compared TPMS part numbers at RockAuto for the 2011 and 2016 RX350 and they are different for those model years when comparing them from the same manufacturers.

You will have to get new ones or just drive them all winter with the TPMS light on. Black electrical tape will cover it up. You could first try another Tire Shop for a second opinion.

Depends on how much you want to invest. To replace 4 TPMS will cost at least $240, that is how much I paid at Costco. I had quotes as high as $550.

 

Thanks for information. I did go to another shop for a second opinion and they couldnt even communicate with them. The first shop I went to was where they were originally purchased from with the sensors. Not sure as to why they couldnt get a signal but probably not worth exploring why that is. What frustrates me is I paid the shop to do the programming and told them that the wheels came off a 2016 RX and was told there would be no problem as they were universal. Only after I paid a technician said that these were meant for the 4th gen. And now since they plugged in to try and sync them my original summer tires arent synced and still throwing the TPMS light on when parked in the garage. Going to have to go back there again and speak with the manager that charged me in the first place.

Having the tpms sensors in the winters would be nice but one shop quoted me 240 CAD. Might be alright but still a chunk of change. Costco in my area is an absolute joke. Line ups are 10+ people and no one answers the phone. Thanks for your help

 

What brand were the sensors? For generic sensors, you'd have to have a TPMS programer such us Autel TS408 or TS508 to (1) read the current TPMS IDs from the car, if they are still working. If one of them is dead, then you'd need the TS508 to connect to the ODB2 and get the ID's from the car ECU. (2) Once you get the 4 ID's, you can then program the generic sensors to those ID's, which would be the same as whatever programmed in the ECU. So when you swap the wheels, the car automatically recognizes those sensors. This is probably work best in your case with multiple set of wheels. If you don't want to buy the programmer, you can try to tire shop to have them program it. I would question if those generic sensors are still good? If any of the battery is dead, the sensor would not be operable. You can test if the sensors are operable by using the TPMS programmer tool to read the ID for each sensor.
Once that's confirmed, then it's likely you're dealing with a compatibility issue.

Autel TS401 >
Autel TS508 >

If you need to buy a new sensors, I would try the Autel Brand. They are typically better than others.

Autel TPMS >