I've noticed people bringing up the question about insurance and tpms. Does insurance really care if the light is on or not? Wouldn't that mean they would want all pre 07 vehicles to have them retrofitted? My insurance provider did not even ask if I had a tpms system in my altima. Anybody have an answer?

 

This system is going to be a PITA, because it is federally mandated. There was never any mandate to retrofit safety features, like air bags or third brake lights, but once they are required on a car, then you have to keep them, and make sure they appear to be functional. If you try to get a car through a state inspection with the TPMS not working, it probably will fail inspection. On more expensive cars, the TPMS has more features, like identifying WHICH tire is low on air. But that may just be more things to go wrong.
Thank you, Ford and Firestone, for bringing us this much needed nuisance!!!

 

TPMS and Insurance

The way this was put to me by ICBC (BC's Provincial Insurance company) is that if you knowingly disable a car's safety system and they can show that this contirbuted to an accident, you would not be covered. So if low tire pressure was a contributing factor in an accident they would not provide coverage. I suspect this is very unlikely if you actually do the routine maintenance on your vehicle but in winter many people are less likely to make these checks due to cold, snowy weather. It all boils down to a personal choice and for me if the tire delaers here were not so adamant that they would not install without the TPMS I may have gone that route. I know I could have just purchased the tires and rims and had them installed later but that seemed like a pain. I can also say now that for me personally having that TPMS light on all winter would have bothered me. In any case if you live in winter conditions get snow tires, no matter how you choose to mount and monitor them!

 

I'm not entirely sure why people would want to disable a safety feature that is built into a new car? I can bet that there are a small percentage of vehicle owners that actually know how to check tire pressures, oil levels etc. and for this reason the governments have continually mandated safety measures to make our highways and streets safer. Why do new vehicles come with air bags? Can you disable air bags? Sure you could, but is it wise to do so? NO!!! Why? Because you knowingly have done so and you know that you would no longer have insurance to cover you in an accident.

I don't see the TPMS feature as being any different than air bags. It is a safety feature that has been mandated by the powers that be to help protect you, your family and friends.

 

Remember how long it took to get air bags that didn't accidentally kill or injure people? Just because something is mandated by the feds doesn't mean that it will immediately be implented perfectly. There are lots of reasons mentioned in this thread why the factory TPMS on the Altima might not be the easiest thing to live with. In general the feds do things because they think that people are too stupid to take care of themselves. I guess sometimes they are right, but not about all of us.