one of the dumbest car "problems" to exist

The other day I drove to a place about an hour away. The trip there was uneventful, save for some construction here and there where I had to slow for work zones. No big deal. The trip was uneventful other than it took an hour to get to the destination.

Side note: That stupid cable I bought for my navigation system worked perfectly. My Garmin DriveSmart 66 recognized it, and traffic data was received with no problems. That was good.

For the return trip, it was again uneventful, save for one thing. A warning light appeared in the gauge cluster, the TPMS, a.k.a. tire pressure monitoring system. I thought okay, no big deal, when I get back I'll add air to the tires and the light will go out.

I get back and add air to the tires. The light didn't go out.

Ugh... I know what this is, I said to myself. One or more of the stupid TPMS batteries in the wheels went dead. And when that happens, guess what? Money has to be spent to "fix" this.

If you look up TPMS sensors, most are not that expensive. However, you can't install them. Oh, no. Unless you have the ability to take the wheel off, take the tire off, install the new sensor and set your car's computer to recognize a new sensor is there so that stupid light goes out, then reinstall the tire to the car, yeah you're not installing one of these. A garage has to do it.

On my old cheap car, one sensor replacement has a bare minimum replacement cost of $135 when parts, labor and sales tax are all included at the time of this writing. And yes, that means $135 per wheel, which is close to what I just spent to replace one stupid TPMS sensor. Thankfully, it was just for one wheel, and that stupid TPMS light is now out.

There is no way to use a phone app connected to the OBD-II port to get rid of the light. Not possible. This is not one of those simple OBD-II reset things where purging a trouble code fixes this. If it were, I would have already done the reset myself.

On my car, the only true way to disable that stupid light is to literally unplug the gauge cluster, snip a wire to bypass the TPMS, reconnect that wire elsewhere so all gauges are properly recognized on car startup, and then it never comes back on ever again.

Will I do that? No, but I've seriously thought about it.

The reason that stupid TPMS light is such a dumb "problem" is because it isn't a problem. It's nothing more than a coin cell battery going dead that needs replacement. Yes, the same type of battery that goes into a Casio digital watch, usually a CR2025. When any one of those stupid coin cell batteries dies at any one of the four wheels, BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK... there's the TPMS warning light in the gauge cluster. And it won't go away until a new coin cell battery is installed, which requires the whole sensor to be replaced, which is a minimum $135 cost per wheel.

It's a good thing my spare tire wheel does not have a damned battery in it. Some cars do.

I am absolutely not surprised at all that some people take a piece of black construction paper, cut it to size and tape it over wherever the TPMS light is in the gauge cluster. That annoying amber glow will still be there when the light comes on, but at least it will be dimmed and not in your face.

Why do some do that? Easy answer. Cost elimination, since TPMS "solved" a problem that didn't even exist.

Of the statistical data that exists for TPMS, the biggest claim is that having it saves fuel. Even if it does (which I seriously doubt), all the cost savings from not using as much fuel means nothing because they're eaten up by the cost of replacing the stupid TPMS batteries.

The only thing TPMS did was add cost to the car before AND after buying it. Manufacturing cost went up that you pay for, and a garage periodically has to replace batteries that you also pay for, multiple times, for the entire time you own the car.

And keep in mind replacing those batteries is a 100% useless cost since it does not affect how the car drives at all.

Do you know how to check the air in the tires for your car?

Obviously, you just answered yes. Nobody ever needed TPMS.

Another thing I'm not surprised by are guys who purposely drive cars made prior to 2008 to specifically avoid TPMS.

Generally speaking, most cars and trucks made before 2008 don't have TPMS. However, the only way to know for sure is to get the manual for the car as a PDF, then search it for tire and look for any mention of TPMS. If it's mentioned in the manual, then the car has it.

TPMS for me is right up there with daytime running lights and exterior LED lamp arrays for Crap We Don't Need In Cars. DRL does nothing but burn your bulbs out quicker, and LED arrays for things like headlights, turn signals and taillights means when any of them have to be replaced, the entire assembly requiring hundreds spent on technician service at a garage needs to be done instead of just buying a bulb and installing it yourself in minutes.

My car has no DRL and no LED-anything for exterior lamps. But it does have TPMS. Couldn't escape that one.

I've owned the car I do for some years, and this is the third time I've had to do TPMS batteries. It was never cheap. A few years back it was $65-ish per wheel, and now it's $135.

When I eventually replace the car I have, I may specifically seek out one made from 2000-2007. Spending $135 for a $1.50 battery that doesn't even affect how the car drives... total waste of money to replace a TPMS battery, every time.

Last thing I'll say here is that I'm glad I don't drive something like a Kia Telluride. How much is TPMS sensor replacement service for one of those? About $260-$275 per wheel. Screw that.