Took the LC to big bend over Thxgiving week. Such a great spot for light family style wheeling. Half way thru the trip tpms light comes on and will not clear. Went to dealer this morning, $280 to replace one sensor plus tax. Almost did it due to busy wknd schedule, but reconsidered and walked out. Drove couple blocks to Discount Tire, charged me $120 to replace both rear sensors, as one was dead and one was nearly dead. Anyway, sometimes dealer pricing is just so unethical.
TPMS Replacement - Avoid Dealer!
- Thread starter skyak
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Scale of economy really...
The dealer chargers more per hour because their overhead is more. The maintenance, parts, and financing is typically how they dealerships stay in business. Also, keep in mind that they typically pay their technicians more than your local tire and lube place.
I fully understand your frustration, hence I do as much of my own maintenance as possible. Anything I inept at or just don't have the tooling I'll take it in. The $120 for your fix though sounds very reasonable though, with the sensors being about ~$20 a piece, tear down, install, build up, reprogramming, tax...
My suggestion to you would be to grab a version of Techstream Lite ($20-60 thru eBay) and you can tackle a rather large amount of simple programming on your own. There are several threads here on how to add TPMS sensors yourself.
The dealer chargers more per hour because their overhead is more. The maintenance, parts, and financing is typically how they dealerships stay in business. Also, keep in mind that they typically pay their technicians more than your local tire and lube place.
I fully understand your frustration, hence I do as much of my own maintenance as possible. Anything I inept at or just don't have the tooling I'll take it in. The $120 for your fix though sounds very reasonable though, with the sensors being about ~$20 a piece, tear down, install, build up, reprogramming, tax...
My suggestion to you would be to grab a version of Techstream Lite ($20-60 thru eBay) and you can tackle a rather large amount of simple programming on your own. There are several threads here on how to add TPMS sensors yourself.
Well, if you're going to throw numbers around without any explanation...
What was the cost of the parts and labour ((labour cost x hour(s)) they quoted you?
Looks like this to me:
- $75 for sensor
- $120 for programming
- $85 for tire breakdown/removal/install +misc parts/buildup
Again, I don't agree with paying that premium just to have it recorded in my vehicles history. I was quoted something similar just to have the dealership reprogram my system for our winter wheels. I declined and can live with the light for now.
It sounds like they wanted to charge the actual MSRP of the OEM sensor (Denso) and take care of the rest. The Denso sensor is roughly $60 a piece through the grey market. Most likely the tire tear down and build up would be someone other than the person programming the vehicle with TechStream. That means more time added that they're trying to include in the overall cost. Its not hard for me to see how a dealership
At Discount Tire...if all you need is a re-packing of the sensor...the re-pack kit was less than $10...and if you buy your tires from them...they don't even charge labor later on. By the way... Discount Tire was cheaper than Costco for KO2's...and sometimes MUCH cheaper. Good on them!
Very true, if your lucky to have a discount tire around
We're stuck with small regional tire places in my neck of the woods.
My dealer wanted nearly $500 to install one sensor and program it. I told them to pound sand and grounded out the system to eliminate the flashing light.
- Thread starter
- #8
Now that is the ideal solution.
Skyak - Did you get a cost breakdown as to why they wanted to charge that much?
I paid ~$725 for my set of KO2s at discount tire last week. They did charge me $45 x 4= $180 for TPMS sensors.
- Thread starter
- #11
Wow $725 is amazing. What size were you buying? $45 per sensor makes sense as you were also buying tires, whereas I had bought my tires from the dealer.
So I guess the updated math is $280/$45 = 622%.
I find it amusing that we're complaining about the price of what a dealer wants to charge for an OE Denso tire sensor plus labor (probably full retail and without any negotiating) versus an aftermarket brand sensor from a tire shop on an $85k vehicle.
Yes, what size on the KO2s for $725? If it's stock or 275/70/18, I'll light the street on fire getting there.
Who has cloned sensors and how?
That's what I am working on. Trying to find an inexpensive tool is the challenge. I now have some newer sensors from a 2017 Tundra in the TRD Pro wheels and all the shops I have gone to cannot read them. So they are either inop or not in the scanning tool configuration files yet. I put a call into the Toyota dealer to setup a scan and relearn appointment.
Next I will ask that they provide to me the actual sensor ID's. Then take my programmables to a discount tire and have them program the new sensors with those ID's and install them on my second set of wheels. Then every subsequent set I use will get the same ID's also.
Need:
Programmable sensors - I sourced mine from Advanced Auto, Schrader 33000
Read/program tool - Schrader or Bartech ($$$) Optional, only needed if you want to do the reading/activation/programming yourself
Written record of your sensor IDs
Perhaps if you had a Techstream tool this would be a non issue and you could get by with just a TPMS reader tool ($).
- Thread starter
- #17
Based on a few comments that $280 is acceptable/reasonable/understandable...I checked the sensor prices:
$80 list price from Toyota, selling at $60
$45 list price from Denso, selling at $35
My truck was in the bay at Discount Tire for less than 15 minutes.
I would add that I routinely pay inflated dealer prices without complaint, I have a 4runner in addition to a Landcruiser, and I have had all maintenance for both vehicles completed exclusively at Toyota dealers. This one just did not pass the gut test.
$80 list price from Toyota, selling at $60
$45 list price from Denso, selling at $35
My truck was in the bay at Discount Tire for less than 15 minutes.
I would add that I routinely pay inflated dealer prices without complaint, I have a 4runner in addition to a Landcruiser, and I have had all maintenance for both vehicles completed exclusively at Toyota dealers. This one just did not pass the gut test.
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Some aftermarket sensors will not work really well with the TPMS system. For example, with a aftermarket sensor, the computer may read the aftermarket sensors and will shut off the TPMS error light. However the gauge cluster info display may not understand the aftermarket TPMS sensor. Meaning that in the tech stream live TPMS data you will see that the computer is reading the pressures from the aftermarket sensors and that's why the light is off. But when you scroll through the gauge cluster display to the tire pressure reading, it will not show any pressure readings. It will be blank. One thing I am curious about is if the TPMS sensor battery can be replaced. Ive never tried, but I've seen TPMS sensors where the housing was cracked, and a round large lithium battery is staring back at me. Surely another battery could be purchased for a few bucks, it looks like a standard coin battery.
@teambell - Actually, if you have the serial numbers of your sensors you're pretty much set. You just reprogram your truck in the matter of minutes with the TechStream toolkit. This would alleviate you needing to clone. Cloning has its own issues with tire proximity if you store your set near your vehicle.
@luke27617 started a thread that several members included information relating to TPMS: TIS Techstream - Customization Options for LC200
So you were adding NEW sensors? Or just moving them from another wheel set?