Preprogrammed TPMS sensors

I called or went by numerous shops and asked about programming the Denso TPMS and almost everyone I spoke to (with the exception of one shop) could only program one brand of sensor. The one shop that said they could program my Denso sensors were not able to. That is why I ended up having to go to the dealer and spend an extra $180 for the programming. After spending over $1000 on the tires and installation that was an unexpected expense. (this was on my wife's Avalon)
I called 3 dealerships and prices ranged from $180-$250 to program them in once they were installed.
I spent about $2000 on my tires for my Tacoma and another $200 for the Denso sensors last year. They were installed and the shop couldn't program them in because they said they wouldn't install the one in the spare because of the age of the spare tire, so I currently have non-working TPMS sensors on my truck.

I promise you next time I will have the shop put in their brand and not worry about the couple of extra years of battery life. For what I spent on the good Denso TPMS I could have installed basically any other brand for a fraction of what it ended up costing me and replaced them every new set of tires and come out much cheaper and without the headaches.

 

I ordered Densos from Rock Auto about 2 months ago. Discount Tire installed them at no charge when I bought new tires. I read a lot of posts here on TW for replacing TPMS, some mentioned problems with shops not being able to work with all brands of sensors but yours is the first that said several shops claimed they could only work with one brand, the brand they sold, of sensors. One of the major reasons I bought Densos was the reports of a variety shops being able to work with them.

 

I called several of the local shops in my town and the surrounding area and that was the result. A few of the shops were Express Oil and Tires, Firestone, National Tire Brokers, Walmart Tire Shop, and several others. Admittedly I don't live in a large City but the response was consistent from the shops I called. Their tire scan tool could only scan for a certain brand ...
Ended up having to drive 1 hour and 20 minutes to the dealer.

I'm glad your experience was better than mine.

 

I believe the problems are lack of training and knowledge. And maybe some greed.

Denso sensors are already programmed with a fixed ID. The truck's TPMS system just needs to be re-learned to the new sensor ID's.

I ran into this at a shop that did not know how to relearn my truck when I bought new tires. They didn't even know they needed to plug into the OBD2 port. After a couple trips there I asked for the sensor ID's so I could use Techstream to do the relearn process and they couldn't even provide that.
That's when I purchased a TPMS tool. That was several years ago, I think the tool was $150 delivered. Today they are about $100 more.

I think it was a good investment as I have used it many times. It has worked on any vehicle and sensor I have run across. Now if my cheap one can do it I don't understand why the 1 to 2000+ dollar ones can't.

 

I did the same, disxount tire had no issues programming them to the truck.
I suspect the other shops just don't want to mess with it since the sell their own sensors, it isn't hard.

 

Thanks for this info. I have at least one dead TPMS sensor and would like to get the Denso sensors since it's a known brand. I'll call my local Discount Tire and see if they can program them. From what I've read, there are some issues with the cheaper TPMS programming tools not always interacting with all brands of TPMS sensors. Some shops have a basic programming tool that only works with, say, Acme sensors, that they buy from NAPA, which is what they sell, so that's all they care about, and it won't work with other brands.

If I was smarter, I would've bought new sensors two years ago when I had new tires installed on a 2009 truck. Now I will pay again to install the TPMS sensors on tires that have probably 40k miles life remaining. Lesson learned.

 

Same here. 3 I called said they couldn’t program denso sensors.

 

Local dealer wanted $250 to change one sensor, or about $800 to do all 4. That’s why I bought the denso off rock auto. Even if I have to shell out $200 for dealer to program them, I’m still coming out cheaper than if they did the whole job.

 

Your not programming the sensors per-se, your essentially reading the sensors to get their ID numbers then connecting to the truck and programming the ID numbers the ECU.

They are probably using "universal" sensors where they can read the IDs from the old ones and program the new sensors with the same ID so they don't have to change the ID numbers in the ECU.

If your gona spend $200 just buy the TPMS tool and do it yourself.
Do note that the one linked below requires a PC to activate and update.

$219 Autel MaxiTPMS TS501 PRO TPMS Programming Tool, 2025 New TPMS Relearn Reset as TS508WF TS508, Up of TS501 TS408S, Activate All Sensors, Program MX-Sensors, Complete TPMS Diagnostic, Lifetime Updates

https://www.amazon.com/Autel-MaxiTPMS-Activate-MX-Sersors-Upgraded/dp/B096XFB7WY/

 

How about with a Macbook?

 

They show a Maxi PC Suite for MAC so I guess you can use it on a macbook.

 

Thanks

 

It gives you 5 uses without activating but after that it locks until it is registered and activated via USB cable.

 

I needed tires and the truck is 11 years old. Got my Michelins at Costco, so I had them instill a new set of sensors as a preemptive action

IIRC it was $180 for all 4, sensors and setup. A 'little' higher that some other options, but fine for me for a 10 year plan.

Costco uses Dill, a common TPMS

 

I have 3 second gen tacomas. That tool will save me money in the long run. I plan on keeping all 3 for a long time.

 

It's a hell of a lot cheaper to get an old laptop and fire up an image of TechStream. You can program the ID's off the sensors yourself.

Buy the MiniVCI adaptor on Amazon ($35) and search for a virtualbox image of techstream (google)

 

Still need a tool to read the sensors unless your gona de-mount the tires and get the IDs off the sensors.

 

Fair point, Debeading the tire, or reading before install would be required.

 

You can do this with Techstream without demounting the tire. Just lower the pressure of each tire one at a time and note the serial, ID# and location of the one that changed air pressure. Found my bad one within 10 mins.