How often does everybody check their tire air pressure? I check mine about 3 times per year! I read where you should do it monthly. I know!! Laggert I am.
I set the TPMS alert threshold much higher than normal. The way it's set (in my generation, gen 3, anyway) is by pushing a button under the dash, and then it looks at whatever pressures the tires have now, and sets the alert threshold for a substantial percentage below that. Like, if I pushed the button when my tires at at their normal pressures, I would never get alerts unless they dropped into the mid-20s psi. So instead, I pumped my tires up just once to the max sidewall pressures, and I pushed the button then, and after that I let them back down to the pressures I normally run. That means I get the yellow TPMS light when they're just a few psi below my preferred pressures, and I air them up right then. It can be a bit of a nuisance in the spring and fall when temperatures change a lot, because every sharp temperature drop lowers the pressure enough to put the light on again. But then, I wanted to know about that, so I guess that's what I signed up for.
My Gen 2 doesn't have that. All I have is an unadjustable alert that a tire pressure is low and located on the far right of the display, near the passenger so it's easy to miss, plus the sound alert isn't strong as well. To make it worse, when switching wheel (like from summer to winter), you need a software to swap the TPMS IDs stored in memory. It's either Techstream through a mech/dealer ($$$) shop or the Carista app with a monthly subscription ($). I subscribe twice a year, April and November. But to answer the question, I check the pressure when I change the wheels and when the TPMS says one is low.
Your gen 2 doesn't? That's odd. This drawing from a US 2008 owners' manual shows both the light and the button, described pretty much the same as in my gen 3. I think some of the earlier gen 2 years in the US didn't have TPMS at all: no light, no button. I hadn't heard of any with light but no button. Maybe Canada was different?
For those of us who don't game the TPMS thresholds the way Chap does, waiting for the TPMS warning light really means letting the tire get too low. I didn't want to run on a near-threshold tire for an extended period, so checked my Priii with a gauge more frequently. Now that I have a newer RAV4 Prime, all that is fixed, as one of the rotating selectable displays shows the pressure of each tire. One can see the tires warm up on the road, and even distinguish between the sunny and shady sides of the car.
Me? Every quarter. Monthly? Very good maintenance habit '17 V only has TPMS low pressure, not a readout of actual pressures. Yes TMPS readout could make me lazier
