Here’s a long, winding story that eventually pays off with a simple money saving tip.
It’s a tale of how something I never thought was a thing is actually a thing.
And if you know about it, you could save yourself a bit of money.
Let’s get the story started…
Freezing Weather
It all starts with very cold weather here in Colorado Springs.
We had just gotten back from Grand Cayman when we were hit with a cold streak.
By “cold” I mean our highs were about 10 degrees or so.
By “streak” I mean it was for 3-4 days, which is a long time for us to be that cold.
Early in that streak I drove my car and the low tire pressure light came on.
This is fairly common when the temps drop big-time. The cold makes the tire pressure decrease which in-turn trips the low pressure sensor. I have had this happen many times over the course of my life with this car (2011 Highlander).
Air and More Air
I noticed on the way home that there was a line at the air hose at a local gas station, so others were having the same issue.
I could have simply waited it out (for warmer temps to come back) but just in case I pulled in, waited my turn, and filled up the tires. And the light remained on.
A couple things worth mentioning here are 1) I have mis-placed my tire gauge so I had no idea which tire was the issue (so I put air in them all) and 2) the indicator does not tell you which tire has the issue.
The next day I saw the same line and put more air into my tires as well. The light remained on. This was my last trip though as I was afraid I was putting too much air in the tires. I figured the light would go off once it warmed up and the pressure adjusted.
The third day I left my car in the garage since the light was bothering me (though there was no noticeable low tire by looking at them) and instead took my $10 car.
Sure enough, its low tire pressure light went off a few miles from home. And there were still lines at the gas station when I went by. I did not stop this time.
One Light Goes Off
By the fourth day, it was beginning to warm up (40 degrees or so) and when I drove the $10 car the low tire pressure light turned off. The warmer temps helped the pressure get to the point where it was no longer below the minimum.
I moved my Highlander out into the driveway (the garage was still cold) hoping the same would happen to it.
No dice. The light remained on.
I tried it again the next day when it was even warmer. Nothing happened. I drove it around hoping to heat up the tires and turn the light off. But there it was, shining as bright as ever.
Off to Costco
Obviously we needed to escalate the issue to get it resolved. So I planned to stop by Costco (where we got the tires — BTW, they are only 15k miles old or so) to see what they could do.
After a movie one day my son and I stopped in to the nearby Costco. We told one of the garage guys our issue and he told us to pull up.
He had this handy hose to check tires. He set the machine to the correct tire pressure, then hooked the hose to each tire. It then automatically added or took out air to get each tire to the right pressure.
No surprise, each tire had too much air in it. Oops.
I didn’t mention that I had made two stops to put air in, but the guy probably knew.
He reset the car using a button under the dash. He said sometimes when tires are rotated/aired this button is not reset and maybe that was the issue. If it was, the light should go off within a mile or so.
If it didn’t go off, his best guess was that there was something wrong with the pressure sensor and I would need to take it to the dealer.
Now as we all know, you can’t go into a dealer service area without dropping a ton of money. It costs at least $70 just to drive into their garage!
So I was dismayed when we were a mile down the road and the light remained on. Ugh.
A Dealer Appointment and My Wife’s Determination
When I got home I asked my wife to make an appointment at our dealer that was convenient for her schedule (she works part-time and has some outside meetings so she’s way busier than I am).
She set an appointment for the next week when we had time and they had an opening.
A couple days before that appointment my wife said she was going to take my car to Tire World (where we get our oil changes) and see if they could do anything.
I told her that was fine, but if the experts at Costco couldn’t find it, my guess was that Tire World wouldn’t either.
Well, as is often the case, I was wrong. She came home and the light was off.
What was the issue? The tire pressure in the SPARE TIRE was low.
Yes, the spare tire that’s stored in the back of our car under the trunk area.
I didn’t even know that the sensors worked for the spare tire (though I’m impressed someone thought of that). My wife said the guy at Tire World said most people don’t know that.
I’m even more surprised that Costco doesn’t train their people a bit better on this. Seems like a very easy fix that anyone in the tire business should know.
Anyway, there was no cost at Tire World and we saved whatever the dealership would have charged us.
So the cost saving tip here is to be sure to check your spare tire with other tires if your low tire pressure light is on. It just might save you a costly trip to the dealer.
Lily | The Frugal Gene says
Oh that’s odd! Why does a sensor work detect that level of detail from a spare?! Glad it all worked out. Maintenance is really expensive and it’s hard to get reputable help. We only have to deal with rental cars for now thank goodness.
The Physician Philosopher says
I’ve had this happen before. Fortunately, my dad is basically a mechanic. He can tear a car apart and build the whole thing back up again. In fact, that’s exactly what we did with my first car, a 1989 mustang GT. Converted it from a 4-cylinder to a 5.0 V-8.
Hence, where my love of cars comes from and why the only bump in lifestyle I took when I finished my medical training was to finance a Chevy SS, which I absolutely love (::Cue the ridicule::).
I, unfortunately, am not as mechanically inclined as my dad. So, I just call him with questions like this.
It really does make sense why the spare tire would have one. It would really bite to hit a nail, get a flat, and go to replace your tire with your spare just to find that it was flat, too. That’s a great way to get stuck on the side of the road.
Glad you got it figured out, and good on you for trusting your bride! I cannot count the number of times my wife had a different perspective than me on something and was 100% absolutely right when I was wrong.
Takes some “Swallowing of your pride” to admit that and to write a post on it π You’re a good man, ESI Money.
TPP
Jim Wang says
I’ve heard of this situation happening before to other people too, I probably personally wouldn’t have thought of it myself either.
That said, you can get an air pump for like $30 on Amazon and skip the lines at the gas station. It has a gauge on it so you know to only pump it to 32psi (or whatever your tires require). It’s small enough to keep in the car and works off the lighter plug.
Michael says
Jim,
That’s a good tip. AMAZ0N also has an automatic jack that pugs into the power socket. Just position the jack, plug it in, and press start. Presto, the car rises up and you can pull off the tire with ease.
ESI says
I have a small one like that which I used to use for my bike tires. I tried it on the car and it didn’t look like it was making a dent in the air (and the gauge was way off).
It could be that the pump was too old — I’ve had it for 10 years or so. π
Mike H says
Good story. As I was reading it I started thinking, βI wonder if it is the spare tire?β
We always kept an inexpensive pressure gage in the glove box, as properly inflated tires maintain a good grip on the road while maximizing fuel economy.
-Mike
ESI says
I used to keep one as well. Must have lost it or the kids took it…
Diana says
I wonder if a quick check of the owner’s manual (under troubleshooting low tire pressure light) would have answered this.
You can get tire pressure gauges usually for free at your tire store. The same one that also solved the problem for free. They are very small and fit in your glove compartment.
Excellent suggestion too about a cheap portable air pump that can be used for your car, lawn mower, bike, football, etc around the house. Even a manual one is super easy to use. I’ve always kept one with a foot pump in the trunk.
ESI says
I didn’t think to look there because who knew I was troubleshooting — I just thought I had a tire that was low.
And the gauge would not have helped in this case — other than to tell me all four tires were ok…
Patsy says
Hilarious! The SPARE tire has a sensor too?! Pretty remarkable, Toyota!
To your point about dealerships always charging, though: I had a very different experience yesterday that made me glad I always have my vehicle serviced and fixed at the dealership. My Honda Odyssey’s battery had been acting out for the past week or so. Twice it was dead when I went to start the car (turned on with a jump) and even dying while I was driving to work in freeway traffic (thankfully, I was able to safely cross two lanes and pull over on the shoulder, and it started right back up). So– yesterday it died on me again after lunch at a restaurant with friends, and a jump didn’t help. So I called AAA. Someone came, tried unsuccessfully to jump it, measured the battery performance and pronounced it dead (duh). Of course they offered to replace the battery then and there, but after getting their price, I called the dealership and asked them how much they would charge. A couple of dollars more and a longer warranty honored by any Honda dealership anywhere, not to mention the Honda name behind the service. I decided to go with the dealership. And I am SO glad I did…. Turns out there was NOTHING wrong at all with the battery itself, just loose terminals! The dealership didn’t charge me a penny to tighten them, washed my minivan as they always do, and the service advisor and I laughed at the fact that the AAA mechanic who came to my rescue told me about the loose terminals but didn’t tighten them! I saved $150 yesterday by going to the dealership. π
It paid off to have built a relationship with them!
ESI says
It depends on the dealership. I’ve had good ones too, like you describe. But the one here is NOT that way.
When the battery in my car died, we called the dealership and they gave us a quote. Now we would have had to get the car to them somehow, wait for the work, then pay $50 more than what the AAA guy charged us when he came to us and replaced it.
Lisa says
Is it odd that I somehow wish it were that chilly right now as I sit here in 90-degree weather reading this? π
We had a stretch of cold like that as well last winter but, fortunately, we didn’t have to deal with low air in our spares. Who knew. Thankfully, you didn’t blow up your tire! hehe
ESI says
Me too. I have started to hate hot weather — unless there’s a beach nearby. π
Shaun says
I’ve had the same situation. Also, my wife and I have the same make and model car, so often I would reset the tire sensor in my car while in the garage, but since I was parked next to her car, the sensor would pick up readings from her tires. And a third thing to watch out for – I replaced some lights in my cars with LEDs. After driving a while with the lights on, my tire pressure sensor would come on. After months and several trips to the dealer, we tracked it down to the LEDs I had used to replace the license plate lights. They were causing radio interference, which messed up the communication between the tire pressure monitors in the tires and the sensor receiver in the car. Changed to a different type of LED and everything was fine. The sensors are just wireless transmitters, which is why the spare or nearby tires get picked up.
ESI says
Great to know! Thanks!
Mr. Rational Buck says
Great to know, thanks for the tip!
I donβt know how you could survive that kind of cold! As a born and raised Floridian, βcoldβ to me is anything below 75 degrees haha.
Good article!
ESI says
It’s called living in Michigan for 14 years.
Colorado winters are a breeze compared to those. π
Coopersmith says
I have a similar issue in a 10 year old car in that the little battery in the transponder goes bad and when it got down to zero here in Michigan the sensor would go off. You would check the air and it was fine. Above a certain temp and it would go off. My wife would ignore it as it was a $100+ to replace the unit. Well the one time she had a low tire and it turned out to be a nail. Older cars are worth holding on to but you need to put up with the quirks that are nuisances or spend the money to fix them.
My guess is also the higher altitude in Colorado offers some different challenges as I know Denver is a mile high above sea level. The variations from location to location could also impact some of these variables.
Crispy Doc says
My take home is different and had nothing to do with tires: always listen to your wife.
Crystal says
I had no idea the spare tire sensor is monitored by the cars in any way. Nice to know, thanks!
Amanda says
Ha! I would never have even thought about the spare! Good to know.
We had a couple of nails in our tires last summer (when we were renovating our flip – I’m guessing we picked them up at the landfill). We found out our local tire shop will fix the tires for free!
Money Beagle says
I have a little battery powered gauge reader in each of our cars. It has a digital backlit display so you can get a good reading and then pull it off the valve stem and not have to worry about not being able to see the readout. I also have a pump that I keep in the back of my car that works off the lighter or also has a plug-in for when I’m at home.
Never would have thought of the spare tire throwing up an error, but I guess it makes sense that nobody would want to have to be in a situation where they have to change one tire that can’t be safely driven on for another.