Problems with TPMS on 2010 Kizashi SLS

[SamirD]

Why would you want to buy used sensors and then have to deal with installing them yourself? Just go to Discount Tire and they will do the whole thing in 45 minutes. Its worth the extra $90 dollars and if something goes wrong they will resolve the problem for you. Plus, I think those things have batteries, so used = shorter life span...

Well, three reasons.

One, from my experience of owning an aftermarket parts distribution company, genuine parts are always better than aftermarket, even with OEM setups like VDO and Suzuki have. Suzuki may have specified extra long-life batteries that VDO doesn't put in their sensors. Hnece the extra cost. No way to know this for sure, but it's rare to see a genuine part at 4x the cost of the aftermarket one without something significant being changed.

Two, used genuine sensors have a good shot of being in really good shape, especially since the oldest they could be is from 2010. Most probably come off a totalled car (like two unforunate owners that recently had their Kizashi totalled), which had perfectly working sensors with no problems. These cars get sold to salvage yards by the insurance companies where they are dismantled into parts that can be sold. A full set of 4 genuine Suzuki sensors can be had for as little as $65 in my experience. That's just 1.5x the price of a single aftermarket sensor.

Three is one of personal experience, but in almost anything that can be done to my cars, I find my own workmanship is superior to almost any technician that I'm paying somewhere else. Whether it's paying attention to torque specs (which are quite important on our tpms sensors and lug nuts), taking an extra second or two to make sure oil doesn't drip, being careful with the paint finish when leading on the hood, or a hundred other things that separate good work from excellent work, I've not found someone that I can rely on that will work with the level of precision that I do. And precision is important for most Japanese cars as their procedures and specs are quite detailed. To each their own in this area as our goals are all different for our cars. My goal is to drive it forever, so I want everything done right.

You are correct that you can't install the sensors yourself, but if you're going to have a second set of tires, you're just going to be mounting tires anyways, so the cost there is the same. $65 vs $190 is a big difference for most of us. Even if you take off $80 for mounting 4 tires, it's still $110 for the sensors. And you have no idea if what they use are the good VDO ones or the crappy Dill ones with the rubber valve stem.

I'm glad the $190 worked for you and got you back on the road. Personally, I might have taken a different route with what I know about tpms on our cars, but to each their own.

[Woodie]

Three is one of personal experience, but in almost anything that can be done to my cars, I find my own workmanship is superior to almost any technician that I'm paying somewhere else. Whether it's paying attention to torque specs (which are quite important on our tpms sensors and lug nuts), taking an extra second or two to make sure oil doesn't drip, being careful with the paint finish when leading on the hood, or a hundred other things that separate good work from excellent work, I've not found someone that I can rely on that will work with the level of precision that I do. And precision is important for most Japanese cars as their procedures and specs are quite detailed. To each their own in this area as our goals are all different for our cars. My goal is to drive it forever, so I want everything done right.

Here's the thing.

The majority of problems I've had with cars can be traced back to someone doing a half-assed job of something.

[SamirD]

Three is one of personal experience, but in almost anything that can be done to my cars, I find my own workmanship is superior to almost any technician that I'm paying somewhere else. Whether it's paying attention to torque specs (which are quite important on our tpms sensors and lug nuts), taking an extra second or two to make sure oil doesn't drip, being careful with the paint finish when leading on the hood, or a hundred other things that separate good work from excellent work, I've not found someone that I can rely on that will work with the level of precision that I do. And precision is important for most Japanese cars as their procedures and specs are quite detailed. To each their own in this area as our goals are all different for our cars. My goal is to drive it forever, so I want everything done right.

Here's the thing.

The majority of problems I've had with cars can be traced back to someone doing a half-assed job of something.

This is what inspired me to start wrenching on my own. Paying someone to do half-baked work, and then having to redo it myself correctly didn't make sense. I've been lucky enough to avoid any major problems due to someone's negligance, but I'm sure it could have easily happenned if I wasn't so meticulous.

These days, no one even drives my cars without me. I even told my wife how to shift the cvt and what to listen and feel for, for correct operation.

[redmed]

Three is one of personal experience, but in almost anything that can be done to my cars, I find my own workmanship is superior to almost any technician that I'm paying somewhere else. Whether it's paying attention to torque specs (which are quite important on our tpms sensors and lug nuts), taking an extra second or two to make sure oil doesn't drip, being careful with the paint finish when leading on the hood, or a hundred other things that separate good work from excellent work, I've not found someone that I can rely on that will work with the level of precision that I do. And precision is important for most Japanese cars as their procedures and specs are quite detailed. To each their own in this area as our goals are all different for our cars. My goal is to drive it forever, so I want everything done right.

Here's the thing.

The majority of problems I've had with cars can be traced back to someone doing a half-assed job of something.

This is what inspired me to start wrenching on my own. Paying someone to do half-baked work, and then having to redo it myself correctly didn't make sense. I've been lucky enough to avoid any major problems due to someone's negligance, but I'm sure it could have easily happenned if I wasn't so meticulous.

These days, no one even drives my cars without me. I even told my wife how to shift the cvt and what to listen and feel for, for correct operation.

You right I have had to redo hired work many times. That is why I do most my repair work myself. This lets me know how things are designed and inspect how other parts are wearing. This knowledge and a few tools in the trunk has paid off more times than I would like. But has made the difference between 10-20 minutes at the side of the road and dirty hands or 30+ minutes waiting for a tow truck and who knows how long waiting at a repair shop. The only work I have someone else do is tire related. Only because I don't have the equipment to remove, install and balance tires. My kids laugh at me when I'm in a tire shop getting new tires installed. I pace back and forth and watch thru the window and hope someone competent is doing the work. Most of the time I find the lug nuts are overtightened by the air wrenches they use. I first discovered the overtightened lug nuts when replacing a flat tire. The lug nuts where so tight I could not loosen them with the wrench provided by the manufacturer. I lucked out when a passing driver stopped and provided a large 4 way tire wrench. He also showed me how the overtightened lug nuts had bent the wheel. Ever since then I loosen and re tighten each lug nut when I get home. I find most over-tight, bent wheels and a few wheel studs cross threaded by workers in a hurry.

[SamirD]

Most of the time I find the lug nuts are overtightened by the air wrenches they use. I first discovered the overtightened lug nuts when replacing a flat tire. The lug nuts where so tight I could not loosen them with the wrench provided by the manufacturer. I lucked out when a passing driver stopped and provided a large 4 way tire wrench. He also showed me how the overtightened lug nuts had bent the wheel. Ever since then I loosen and re tighten each lug nut when I get home. I find most over-tight, bent wheels and a few wheel studs cross threaded by workers in a hurry.

I avoid this by taking off each tire and taking it there for them to simply dismount and mount the tire. Then I go home and do a tire change. At one Firestone that I know really well, I'll actually change the tires in their parking lot. One of the times I was there, they allowed me to drive in and put the car on the lift and I just worked along side their technicians removing the tires and putting them back on. They actually had torque wrenches that they have calibrated each week, but I never saw them using them except when I was working along side them.

Even for the TPMS on the Kizashi, I simply took my wheels and sensors to a very well respected shop and ordered the tires from them. Luckily, they noticed I was a high-end customer and treated me as such, mounting my tires perfectly, giving me ample documentation on the balance, and properly torqued the sensors to the wheel. Then I had the simple task of changing the tires and relearning the sensors to the car--well, at least it's simple now that I know how to do it. I've had zero issues with the setup for months now.