Should I replace my 2yr old TPMS when changing tires?

My observation is to believe the TPMS, lol.

 

There can be glitches:

A year or two back the TPMS light came on, on our ‘10, tire pressures were fine, and I figured one or more of them had battery failure.

About a week later light went off, nothing untoward since.

similar happened just a few years after purchase (new): light came on when we were on vacation. Pulled into a gas station, all pressures fine, bumped the pressures 3~4 pounds, light went out. I set them all to usual pressures, cold, a few days later, light did not return.

 

As I understand it, TPMs is only mandatory in US and perhaps some other clone countries?

Anyhow, the general sensor concept is sound - if you don’t have to replace tyres every winter. Then it becomes an expense, since the G3 does not auto learn new IDs, as modern (2018 for Toyota..) models do.

You may clone any IDs easily and cheaply with i-venu/thinkcar app and S3 sensors. You may tape over the light. You may replace the batteries. You may cut the warning light via above mentioned loop.

 

Indeed, this TPMs concept is very much non-fool-proof. It’s an old-way communication tech.

The light tends to go on due to;

1. Battery saving / Sleeping TPMs that only wake above some unknown tire rotation threshold.

2. Temperature changes to below -2°C

3. General confusion in the ECU/system, ie delay in picking up IDs and assuming ID1-4 is the same within error threshold (20 mins) (validated for me via obd reading, two and some times three tires show identical pressure - with two decimal points. Unlikely correct…).

The plug-in G3 I purchased autumn 2025 had one sensor actually missing/broken off. The others were Toyota OE from the factory and still works on both sets of tires, thirteen years later.

G2 does not have TPMs, atleast not in Europe.

 

You do not HAVE to have the sensors, nor do you NEED to replace them.
It's not a safety issue, if they fail, nothing happens.
They are not required by law, at least not in America.

It's one of those things you can wait until they fail to replace them. You can do them one at a time
if you want. Likely when one fails, other will not be far behind. So when one fails, if you replace them
all, you likely won't have to worry about them for several years...

 

@ASRDogman Your statement seem not correct.

In the USA, the TREAD Act (Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act) mandated Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) for all new passenger vehicles (under 10,000 lbs GVWR) manufactured after September 1, 2007, requiring them to alert drivers to significant underinflation (25% or more below recommended pressure). This federal law, implemented via FMVSS No. 138 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 138), requires a warning for low pressure and system malfunctions, with state-level inspection requirements varying, though some states like RI, VT, and WV require a working TPMS for inspection

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2005/09/07/05-17661/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-tire-pressure-monitoring-systems

 

Those states requiring functional TPMS systems in their inspection routinely check to just see if the light on the dash is lit.

All the car owner needs to do is to turn off the light.

 

No European State will require this feature.

It was forced upon Toyota, based on the above mentioned ”law”… and they implemented this globally to avoid lawsuits..

It’s just so banal and SAD the G3 had the lamest possible implementation = No auto learn ID. Alpha version.

 

See "Ford Exploder"

 

The term "Ford Exploder" is a derogatory nickname for the Ford Explorer, stemming from high-profile rollovers and tire failures in early models (especially the 1990s), leading to safety concerns and lawsuits.

 

... and Google says "... the Ford Explorer-Firestone tire controversy was a direct and significant catalyst for the federal requirement for Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS). "

There were numerous responsible parties in this scandal: Ford, Firestone, Ford, vehicle owner/drivers, hot climates, Ford, ...

 

The tires in question were from Firestone whose radial tire problems started two decades earlier in the form of their first attempt to copy Michelin's radial tires, the Firestone 500.

People died in the seventies as well. TPMS systems were not a snap decision.