Where do you adjust your tire pressures?!

The only way to be sure it is done the way you want it done is to do it yourself. Get a good pressure gauge, lots of gas stations have air pumps you can use but their gauges are notoriously inaccurate.

 

Spend a bit of money for a good pressure gauge. Stick gauges are crap. I use a digital gauge from Radio Shack. Measure the tp when the tires are cold which means after the car has been sitting. The sunny side may be 1-2psi higher than the shady side. This is normal.

Buy a pump that will run from the car's 12v socket & keep it under the deck. The pump at home or at the gas station isn't going to do you any good if your tire is low or flat in the parking lot.

 

A common floor-style bicycle pump works just as well, and is cheaper. I rarely use my 12V electric pump anymore.

 

^ Concur! with the exception that I prefer a dial-type gauge with a button on it that will bleed off excess pressure until you get to the desired level.

The digital ones are fine too, but if you over fill the tire, then you have to look for something to stick into the Schrader valve to bleed off the excess. Don't let all of this intimidate you!!! It's really not that bad...and it's important!
Spend about 10-20 bucks on a tire gauge of your choice. A portable pump that runs from your 12-v outlet will set you back about another $25....and you ought to have these aboard anyway!!
Sometimes, the automotive places will sell a kit that has these items along with a really cheap set of jumper cables, a flashlight, some warning triangles, and a little plastic card that gives pointers and such.
If you buy one of these...throw away the included stick-type tire gauge and get one of the types that we talked about earlier.

A few other things.
Check your tire pressures with cool tires...like before you drive the car.
There's a plackard on the inside driver's door (usually) that will tell the recommended tire pressures. They'll be different for front and back. Usually....hypermilers like to slightly over inflate their tires. It's not really dangerous if you keep below the maximum sidewall pressure for your tire, which by federal law is printed (molded) into the sidewall of your tire. Your government is looking out for you!
You'll sacrifice ride quality a little, and the net fuel economy gain is very small (pause....for scathing comments from the hypermiler community.....) but your tires may also last a little longer if you don't go crazy with the pressures.

I'd start at factory recommended pressures + 2-4psi if you want to try this.

Also.....your car has a TPMS....or a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Sorry, but it's not unique to Toyotas. All car and like trucks manufactured after 2009(?) are required to have this system aboard cars and trucks in an effort to thwart natural selection.
Here's what this means to you. If you see a little (probably yellow) light on your dash with a tire looking thingy with an explanation point (!) in it, this usually means that the affected tire has lost something like 10-psi of pressure. I know you read your manual...everybody does, but just in case.....



TPMS low pressure warning icon


TPMS system failure icon


If you do not see this icon, and you're one of the 99.something percenters that don't regularly check their tire pressures, then you're probably (maybe!) not driving on dangerously underinflated tires....well....if your TPMS is up to scratch, that is!
If you see one of these lights, then a tire repair might be in your near future.
DO NOT put slime or fix-a-flat in your tires! There is usually one of these in the $30 kit that I was telling you about.
It will probably wreck your TPMS sensor. They're not horribly expensive...unless you buy them from the dealer...
Good Luck!!!

 

I can't get too excited about the difference between cheap stick gauges and dial gauges. I've got several of each, and they all read about the same. The dial gauges are easier to read, but the stick gauges I've seen are adequate.

Having your own pump is unnecessary. Again, I've got several, and find it much easier to just use the free air hose at the Costco gas station where I usually go. Some gas stations charge for use of their air, but they also charge more money for their gas which settles it for me. The pressure gauges at gas stations vary from missing to useless. You definitely need to have your own gauge.

Most tire sales stores would be happy to provide free air, as it gives them a chance to check your tires and maybe make a sale. It's also a good opportunity to check the accuracy of your gauge.

I usually check the pressure in my tires every few months. Plus whenever I get the car back from any service. I run 42 psi front, 40 back. One shop (a Toyota dealer!) delivered my car back with 32 left side, 36 right side! They don't use master mechanics to adjust tire pressure...

One place that really impressed me was a tire shop that fixed a flat for me. I never mentioned anything about tire pressures, yet it came back exactly 42 front, 40 back. Considering that I had the spare on the car, he had to of checked the pressure in the alternate side tire to determine what I wanted.

 

Yep. I have my own tire gauge and an air pump, but the pump's too slow, so I usually use one at a gas station.

I've had dealers and tire resellers more than once tell me they set the pressure to x (usually to door placard values) and they didn't! I didn't want them to change it either... I wanted them at higher pressures than door placard values. In some cases, they only set the pressures of the tires they changed and left the others alone.

Since the tire pressure will have gone up to due driving to a gas station, I check my tire pressures cold after the car's sat overnight/many hours before going to the gas station. I check again once there and can work backwards to figure out roughly how many psi I should go up to.

 

Since they frequently can't get the oil level right, you are expecting too much if you expect them to get something as technical as setting tire pressure correct

 

This is all moot, just put helium in and forgetaboutit

Check your pressure every two weeks, a stem tool is nice, tightening valve stems is always something to do to a new car or tire, a leaky valve stem can often be fixed by removing, cleaning oiling and re-installing.

A good pressure gauge and a fee air source are all you need, having your own air source would be decadent. Carrying your own air source would be avant-garde