The tires on your car are obviously some of the most important parts of it. You need to make sure that your tires are inflated properly at all times to prevent running into any problems with them. Your car’s TPMS sensors can help you with this. They monitor how much air is in each of your tires and let you know if one is under or overinflated at any point. For this reason, you need to keep your TPMS sensors in good working order and pay the TPMS sensor replacement cost if one of them goes bad. Discover more about what TPMS sensors are, how they work, and what you’ll need to do to replace them if they go bad on you below.
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
What Is a TPMS Sensor?
Each of the tires on your car has a tire pressure monitoring sensor, better known as a TPMS sensor, on it. They’re connected to your car’s tire pressure monitoring system control module, and they communicate with it constantly about how much air is in your tires. You could, of course, keep a close eye on the air pressure in your tires on your own. But since not everyone does this all the time, TPMS sensors are in place to do it for you automatically.
The TPMS sensors in your car are strategically positioned within the air stems for your tires. They’re always on and working when your car is turned on, and their entire purpose is to prevent you from driving around with enough air in your tires. They will go bad eventually, though, and need to be replaced. When that time comes, you’ll be forced to pay the TPMS sensor replacement cost to put new ones into place.
Why Is a TPMS Sensor So Important?
When you’re driving around in your car, it’s essential for you to have just the right amount of air in your tires. You don’t want to have too much air or not enough air and put a strain on your tires and on your car as a whole. If you have too much air, it could lead to your tires wearing down on you faster than they should and it could potentially even lead to a blowout. If you have not enough air in them, meanwhile, it could lead to you struggling to control your car and overheating your tires in the process. This can also result in a blowout if you’re not careful.
Your car’s TPMS sensors ensure that none of these things are able to happen. At the first sign of trouble with the air in your tires, your TPMS sensors will cause the TPMS warning light in your car to pop on. This will let you know that you should pull over right away to investigate the source of your problem. Adding air to your tires or taking air out of them should make the warning light go off and allow you to start driving around on your tires like normal again.
How Long Do TPMS Sensors Last?
Now that you know just how important it is to have fully-functioning TPMS sensors in your car, you might be wondering how long they’re going to last you. Figuring this out will help you know when it’s going to be time to put new TPMS sensors into place. But the truth is that it can be challenging calculating exactly how long TPMS sensors are going to cost you since there are so many factors that go into it.
If you make it a point to take good care of your car’s tires, you shouldn’t have to worry about paying the TPMS sensor replacement cost too often. TPMS sensors can last for a long time when a car’s tires are tended too early and often. But if you’re always running over potholes and putting your car’s tires through hell, it’s going to be a different story. You might have to replace your TPMS sensors all the time to keep them firing on all cylinders.
What Are the Signs of Bad TPMS Sensors?
It’s not always easy to diagnose problems with your TPMS sensors. This is because, more often than not, TPMS sensors that aren’t working simply won’t cause your TPMS warning light to pop on when your tires are under or overinflated. And you’re not going to notice that since you’ll just think that everything is A-OK with your tires.
You may, however, notice that your TPMS warning light will keep coming on in your car even though there isn’t anything wrong with your tires. This usually happens because your tire pressure monitoring system is trying to let you know that there is an issue with your TPMS sensors. You may also notice that some of your tires look like they’re low on air even though your TPMS sensors haven’t said anything about them. This is another way you can tell your TPMS sensors might not be doing their jobs.
Whatever the case, you should keep the well-being of your car’s TPMS sensors in the back of your mind all the time when you’re behind the wheel. Because if you don’t, you might miss the fact that one of your tires is dangerously low on air or filled up with too much air. Your best bet is going to be to inspect your tires from time to time to see whether or not they have enough air in them and to schedule TPMS sensor replacement if you suspect that your TPMS sensors may be experiencing problems.
Can You Keep Driving in a Car With Bad TPMS Sensors?
If you know for a fact that you have one or more bad TPMS sensors in your car, you should try not to continue driving around in it for too long. You can get away with driving it for a week or two without working TPMS sensors. But if you push TPMS sensor replacement off for too long, you’re going to have to worry about more than just paying the TPMS sensor replacement cost.
By driving in a car with bad TPMS sensors in it, you’re going to put your tires at risk each and every time you drive it. You could very well have serious issues with your tires that your TPMS sensors aren’t picking up on because they’ve gone bad. This could lead to damage being done to your tires, your rims, and many other parts of your car. It’s why you should shy away from riding around in a car with bad TPMS sensors.
The TPMS sensor replacement cost might scare you from having any work done on your car when you have bad TPMS sensors in it. But you’re going to be staring down more expensive repairs if you don’t get around to replacing TPMS sensors sooner rather than later.
Where Should You Take Your Car to Get New TPMS Sensors?
If the TPMS sensors in your car have gone bad, replacing them right away should really be your only option. You should take your car in for service as soon as you can so that you can have TPMS sensor replacement done and protect your tires. And you should try not to take your car to any old auto repair shop if you can avoid it.
You can have almost any ASE-certified mechanic look at your car and let you know if you need new TPMS sensors. But preferably, you should bring your car to a place that specializes in working on tires. They’re going to have all the necessary tools and equipment to inspect your tires and perform TPMS sensor replacement. They’re also usually going to have the lowest TPMS sensor replacement cost in your area since they’ll be able to replace your TPMS sensors fast.
You might be tempted to try and tackle TPMS sensor replacement on your own so that you can bring the total TPMS sensor replacement cost down. But unless you have experience working on tires and know how to remove bad TPMS sensors and replace them with new ones, you should leave this job up to the professionals. It’ll help you avoid running into more problems with your TPMS sensors in the future.
How Are TPMS Sensors Replaced?
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to replace an entire tire on your vehicle to install a new TPMS sensor in the place of one that has gone bad. As long as a tire is still in good shape, you can reuse it with a new TPMS sensor. But you do need to follow a series of specific steps to remove an old TPMS sensor to make room for a new one. This is how it’s done:
- Remove the wheel with a bad TPMS sensor on it from your car
- Take the tire from that wheel off
- Disconnect the hex nut on the exterior of the wheel to remove the bad TPMS sensor from it
- Install a new TPMS sensor in place of the bad one
- Reattach the tire to the wheel and put the wheel back on your car
- Adjust the tire pressure of all your tires
- Drive your car a short distance to reset the TPMS sensors on all your tires
This might sound like a simple enough task. But again, if you don’t have much experience taking tires off cars and tinkering with TPMS sensors, it’s best to leave it up to the pros. They’ll install new TPMS sensors for you correctly and make sure that the TPMS sensor replacement cost is the only cost you’ll have to be concerned about right now.
How Much Does TPMS Sensor Replacement Cost?
The TPMS sensors on your car’s tires are very small compared to a lot of the other parts found in your car. This might lead you to believe that it’s not going to cost too much at all to replace them. But unfortunately, the TPMS sensor replacement cost is often a lot higher than people might think. And the cost can vary quite a bit based on the type of car that you drive and your location.
Generally speaking, the TPMS sensor replacement cost is going to fall somewhere between $230 and $750 in most cases. And unlike some other auto repairs, it’s the parts, not the labor, that are going to get you. TPMS sensors can cost anywhere from $180 to $680 alone. The labor associated with replacing them costs less than $75 in many instances.
The good news is that you don’t have to replace all of the TPMS sensors in your car if just one of them goes bad. That can help to keep your costs lower than they would be if you did have to replace all four TPMS sensors at once. But even still, the TPMS sensor replacement cost is going to cost you a pretty penny. You should know that going in when you have bad TPMS sensors and need to get them replaced.
Is the TPMS Sensor Replacement Cost Worth It?
With the TPMS sensor replacement cost being as high as it is, some people are left to wonder, “Is it worth it?” Couldn’t you just continue driving around without working TPMS sensors and see what happens? As we touched on earlier, you’re welcome to do this—but it’s not usually going to work out well for you. It won’t be long before you start to have other issues pop up as a direct result of your bad TPMS sensors.
The only time when the TPMS sensor replacement cost might not be worth it is when your car isn’t worth much at all. If you have an older car that isn’t worth a whole lot of money, paying to have bad TPMS sensors replaced might not be in your best interests. You should consider getting rid of your car instead so that you don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to fix your TPMS sensors.
Can You Sell a Car With Bad TPMS Sensors?
If your car has bad TPMS sensors and you’ve decided not to replace them because of the high TPMS sensor replacement cost, you can try to sell it to a private buyer. But most private buyers aren’t going to be interested in buying something that needs a costly repair done to it. Junk car buyers will be very interested in taking your old car off your hands, though, bad TPMS sensors and all.
Cash Cars Buyer can make you an offer for your car today so that you don’t have to shoulder the TPMS sensor replacement cost. We pay cash for cars and can put money into your pocket within just a few days. Contact us today to get the process started.