I have an '08 4Runner. A few weeks ago my tire light started flashing (it lights up solid when the pressure is low). So I assumed the battery was dead in one of the sensors and took it to the dealership. The battery *was* the problem and the dealership quoted me a price that seemed extremely high to replace all the sensors. I decided to wait before deciding. Then I drove to Discount Tire after that to see what they thought. Their price was so much lower than the dealership I couldn't believe it. So I had them replace all 5.
They did it but they couldn't get the light to stop flashing. They said I might need to drive it awhile because it's an older car, but the sensors were all correctly responding to their computer. So I drove it, and that didn't work. They said to bring it in again to try again and they would refund my money if they couldn't fix it. I did and they tried again unsuccessfully, then cheerfully refunded my money (this isn't a Discount Tire complaint!)

My question is...do I have to bite the bullet and do this at the dealership and pay their prices because of the age of my car (or some other similar reason), or is there a chance some other place can do it?

May have to go into the system and delete the old sensor registration numbers before you can add the new sensors.

Surprised Discount tire couldn't do that.

TexAg1987 said:

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May have to go into the system and delete the old sensor registration numbers before you can add the new sensors.

Surprised Discount tire couldn't do that.

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I assume they clone the serials of the current sensors into their generic sensors.

That's what my Autel TPMS tool does. No vehicle side coding/reprogramming necessary then.

Don't mean to sound dumb but check your spare. It will turn the light sensor on if it's pressure is low.

harge57 said:

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Just put some electrical tape over the light.

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That's what I planned on doing when I left the dealership!!

AustinCountyAg said:

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Don't mean to sound dumb but check your spare. It will turn the light sensor on if it's pressure is low.

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Not dumb at all, but they replaced the spare too.

aggiedata said:

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You need to go back to Discount Tire. There is at least one expert there that knows how to reprogram it.

Ask me how I know. Same thing happened to me. The kid said it would take a few minutes to stop flashing. I knew that was wrong but had to leave. Had to return the next day when I had more time. 10 mins later the guy who knew what to do fixed it.

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Damn. I wish I had gotten that guy the next day!

Ask for Hunter at the 249 and Louetta store

Isn't there a button under the dash to reset after you change something?

Yes but that does not work on new sensors.

aggiedata said:

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Yes but that does not work on new sensors.

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So discount sells universal sensors that have to be programmed to the application before actually programming them to talk to the vehicle. I'm curious if they missed a step here.

You can buy a tpms programmer on amazon. I'd do that before going to a stealership

maybe try another discount location? surely they are able to do this correctly

I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret - not everyone that works at discount knows what the hell they're taking about. Especially if it's a kid that backed out your car and handed you the keys.

Not saying it is malice, but many models the TPMS will reset on its own and someone probably just assumed that was the case instead of resetting them. I don't remember the process on Toyotas but don't think it was anything special on that year.