TPMS Sensor Replacement Cost

[TheLawnRanger]

The sensor in one of the tires on my 2011 Impala would not relearn after the last tire rotation. As the car is approaching twelve years of service, it could be a dead battery or the sensor itself. About how much would it cost to replace all four sensors or just the batteries if that's the problem?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

You can't just replace the batteries, as they are soldered on to the sensor..

They usually cost around $40-50 each, but you can find them online for much less.

 

[CharBaby]

Have you tried this?

 

[TheLawnRanger]

^^^^Yes. I used to do this before I bought a relearn tool. Everything works until I get to the same tire each time I go through the relearn procedure. If that sensor is out it's only a matter of time before the others go out as well. The same thing happened with my Colorado. I didn't replace those because that system only tells you if your tire is low instead of the tire pressure.

 

[RAR]

Check RockAuto for a set. With the age of your car, the Economy versions will probably be the best bet.

eBay sensors are a gamble: I’ve gotten perfectly fine sensors, but others, no matter what, will never communicate with the car and you’re back at the start.

At least via RockAuto you can return them if they don’t work. Just don’t buy too cheap and waste your time.

 

[MParr]

I despise the blasted things. I can rotate the tires on my F-150 and don’t have any problems. When I rotate the tires on the VW, I always get a TPMS warning. It’s easy to reset, I just go to the vehicle settings in the infotainment center.

 

[skyactiv]

I despise the blasted things. I can rotate the tires on my F-150 and don’t have any problems. When I rotate the tires on the VW, I always get a TPMS warning. It’s easy to reset, I just go to the vehicle settings in the infotainment center.

With most VW and Audis, you gotta reset the TPMS after a tire rotation or when you air up a tire(s) .

VW uses the ABS wheel speed sensors on 2011 up models and Audi does on some 2011, but all 2012 up models.
So when you rotate tires or air them up, a reset is needed.

The good thing is that most VW and Audi owners won't have to incur future TPMS sensor cost unlike other makes.

 

[MParr]

“The good thing is that most VW and Audi owners won't have to incur future TPMS sensor cost unlike other makes”
That’s a good thing.

 

[Jmlo96]

Be weary of fake ACDelco TPMS sensors on Amazon. I bought a set of 4 for 60 dollars and I got 1 year out of them before 2 batteries went bad. When I looked back at my purchase history they no longer showed ACDelco. Rockauto is a great place to get them. Discount tire will usually replace them for free.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

I had one replaced at Discount Tire for $60 with a 6-year, 70k mile warranty. The sensor brand was VDO.

 

[DBMaster]

The BH Sens brand on Rock Auto seems pretty good. I may go for a set. Mine are nine years old and I'll be replacing the tires before the end of the year. Originally, I planned to just replace the whole set at that time, but upon further thought I think I will skip it until I actually get the sign that the batteries are wearing out (tire alarm with no low tires). I've seen YouTube videos on replacing them at home. I'm not necessarily going to try that since I don't have a compressor, but the videos do indicate that the sensors can be replaced without having to completely dismount the tires.

 

[Hall]

You can buy Continental/VDO for around $30-35/each. They are an OEM for many automobiles. Discount Tire will install/program them for $20/each. Walmart Tire Center charges a lot less to install ones you bring in ($5-10/each) but I can't leave my car there for 8 hours.... (they wanted me to drop the car off and leave it for them to do this).

Or, tire shops will charge about $60/each for the sensor, installation, and programming.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

With most VW and Audis, you gotta reset the TPMS after a tire rotation or when you air up a tire(s) .

VW uses the ABS wheel speed sensors on 2011 up models and Audi does on some 2011, but all 2012 up models.
So when you rotate tires or air them up, a reset is needed.

The good thing is that most VW and Audi owners won't have to incur future TPMS sensor cost unlike other makes.

Honda also uses indirect TPMS their newer cars, starting in 2013 and possibly before that. And Honda also doesn't have a lot of the other costs of owning a VW or Audi

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I've seen YouTube videos of people doing the job themselves that didn't look too bad but the actual job may be harder than it looks. Have any of you installed your own sensors? How did it go?

 

[Hall]

I'm 100% confident that I could "install" a sensor. I couldn't dismount, remount, or balance the wheel/tire or program the sensor though.

 

[Tundragod]

Just replaced TPMS in an Accord tires/wheels a few days ago. Used scissor jack under an MDX hitch to break the bead all around the wheel and put a used tpms sensors in. Take your time to break the bead, low profile tires are tougher to break the bead than say, RDX tires I did a few months ago.

 

[UG_Passat]

With most VW and Audis, you gotta reset the TPMS after a tire rotation or when you air up a tire(s) .

VW uses the ABS wheel speed sensors on 2011 up models and Audi does on some 2011, but all 2012 up models.
So when you rotate tires or air them up, a reset is needed.

The good thing is that most VW and Audi owners won't have to incur future TPMS sensor cost unlike other makes.

Unless you have a fancy VW or Audi that tells you the pressure of the tires on the screen, and the 433 Mhz sensors aren't cheap like the 315 Mhz ones

 

[avacado11]

I charge $250 at my shop 4 new sensors installed and programmed. The batteries are built in and requires programming to pick up each sensor and link it to the car. The sensors and programming isn’t too expensive by itself. Half the cost is just the sensors. The other half is having to mount and balance the tires again. Programming is negligible time I can probably get a car set within 5-10 minutes.

if you can I would wait til it’s time for new tires. No point in paying tire labor twice.