this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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Today, I test drove a used car. I was happy with it. Good mileage. Good price for what it was. Decided to buy it. Got all the paperwork taken care of. Drove it home.
Half way home, the tire pressure gague turned on. The test drive, nothing was amiss. But now the tire pressure gauge is on.
They also told me they'd just replaced the tires. So either they didn't fill them enough or there's something wrong with the tires or sensors.
Bleh.
My parents Subaru has a constant tire pressure warning because the tire pressure sensors batteries die long before the tires wear out and the cost to get the sensors replaced isn’t worth it. It’s just a useless bullshit feature that makes cars cost more. Check your tires occasionally with pressure checker to make sure they match the psi listed on the label in the doorjam. and if it’s low get them pumped up. I use the free pump outside my local Costco. No membership needed.
It's not useless, and it doesn't increase the cost of a car by that much, either. Like, a couple hundred dollars, tops. Yes, you can very easily manually check the tire pressure, but that's not the point of these sensors. They're to give you a live notice when the tire pressure is dropping. If you're actively driving, you can't exactly check your tire pressure while you're cruising along at 65 MPH, but that's the time you're most likely to experience a drop in pressure. Having a real-time alert of a potential issue before your tire blows up on the freeway is crucial to road safety.
~50$ each, so 250$ for a set with your spare (you should put one on your spare).
They are expensive to get installed on their own, but if you're getting new tires/a mount and balance anyways; then it is free. Maybe a small charge for programming if you don't want to do it yourself.
Edit: spelling is hard
I was about to add that they usually have to replace the sensors when they replace the tires, and the replacement cost isn’t typically close to the list price
I tend to notice when tire preasure drops as it tends to pull the car to one side, cause a lean, and increase the road noise. The sensors often need to be replaced several times throughout the life of the vehicle so the cost is certainly more than a few hundred dollars in total. In my area cars must pass a safety when transfered between owners, these senors must be working to pass the safety if the vehicle is equiped with it regardless if you want the feature or not.
A few hundred bucks to pay someone to replace a sensor you may not need is certainly a significant sum of money to some people, especially those buying used cars as their finances are often already fairly tight.
When I bought my most recent car I tried to get as little electronics as possible to reduce maintaince cost on bells and whistles I don't need. I have manual windows, a manual transmission and very little bonus features like blindspot warnings and tire pressure sensors. My maintaince costs are less because I dont have to constantly replace sensors that detoriate from road salt, wide temperature ranges, and general wear.
it's doorjamb, the b is silent