TPMS and Costco

Would Costco want to sell you new sensors, and would they be able to initialize them? Not sure myself. Just phone them, clear it up?

Funny, I just got a second email from Costco, saying my online purchased tires are now shipping. I know there's gonna be a $3.99 (CDN) charge per tire, just to "rebuild" each TPMS sensor. The rebuild is a new valve (just the little bit in the stem) and some O-ring replacement, I believe.

Considering I've got a 2010 with build date August 2009, I've got half-a-mind to have them just put in regular valves. The only thing is: even if the TPMS function fails, I believe they will continue to function as valves just fine, so I'll probably go through with the rebuild.

Up here there's still no laws saying TPMS is mandatory, as far as I know. Maybe @Tideland Prius knows the latest, can confirm?

I'm just going to bring in loose wheels too, have snow tires on the car now.

 

Costco I do not know...but snow permitting (already missed my 9AM appt) I am replacing my TPMS today at a tire place. I ordered the OEM TPMS from Amazon about $33 each. I may set the TPMS codes myself right now to save them time.. I am getting new front tires.

 

I got Costco to install new Michelin tires on my Gen 2 several years ago and they installed the rebuild kits on my TPMS sensors and the next morning I had a flat tire. To get it fixed for free at Costco not knowing how bad the leak was I would have to put the spare on the car. I decided I would put air in it and drive it 3 miles to my closest tire shop and pay to get it fixed which I did. One of the parts from the TPMS rebuild kit was installed wrong and cracked. The next time I went to Costco I told them about it and they said they were sorry.
This could happen at any tire shop and I still would buy tires from Costco because I know occasionally a mistake is made.
I have a bad history with tire shops.

 

I'm debating with my pending tire install, to waive the tpms refurb, tell them not to touch it. Ah well, in for a penny...

The wheels will just be sitting in my garage through winter, after the install, and I'll check pressures before install in spring.

 

My tire place just charged me an extra $30 per TPMS install for each tire, and I supplied the Denso TPMS unit and set the codes.
So I paid $33 for each Denso sensor and $30 per tire labor, added onto the regular tire install price for a total of $63 per tire. So it cost me:

$185 2xTires Conti Ture Contact
$80 Labor Install 2 tires and enviro. charge
$90 Install 3 TPMS
$99 3xDenso OEM TPMS off Amazon
$454 Total for 2 new Tires and 3 new TPMS

 

I carried my TPMS sensors into Tire Rack and they installed them on four new wheels no charge.
They were already programed.

 

You're just going to outright replace the sensors? I've only ever had to replace a sensor on one wheel out of three cars over the course of nine years so far. In my experience, they don't go bad very often.

 

My first TPMS died at 9.5-yrs and the second died approx. 12-yrs.
So I still got 2 old ones working, but I replaced all now.

 

Can they initialize them as well? That might go without saying, but you never know.

 

I don't go to Costco but the price is similar to what I had to pay at Walmart. I paid ~$45 for TPMS on my old Civic my son is driving now. I never had a good luck with TPMS on this car. I had TPMS fail one after another starting at about 7 years old. Being the first car I ever owned that came with internal TPMS, at that time, I thought I had to get the TPMS reprogram at dealer, so each visit costing me ~$200 for OEM TPMS and labor. Total of ~$800 over span of 3 years. Then the less than 3 years old TPMS was broken due to corrosion by road salt during winter tire change at Walmart. This was when I realized I could get TPMS replaced and reprogramed at any tire shop and can use aftermarket TPMS. The cost was ~$45 (parts and labor including reprogramming). I had it replaced. But with my luck, on this same car, TPMS fail again, I recently had to take the car for winter tire change-over, the local tire shop told me not one, but TWO TPMS are bad. I told them to change to regular valves and they did for free. The car has gone through now 7 TPMS in last 4 years (two unreplaced). I am not going to pay for internal TPMS again for this car. It now has aftermarket external TPMS monitor.

 

Unbelievable!

 

Yeah, that's for my 2008 Civic Hybrid. I spent more on TPMS for this car than anything else, including replacing hybrid battery, since it was free as you know why!

 

Costco charged me $45 per sensor for my 2007 Prius last year with no charge for labor since I was getting new tires at the time. You also don't pay the TPMS rebuild fee since you are getting everything new with the new sensors. If I had replaced the sensors without tires the labor would have been $15 per tire.

 

Harrisburg Costco. $40 +15 install. Programmed free