Winter Tires With No Tpms

[tazman250]

Hi all,

I drive a 09 is250 (AWD). I am looking into purchasing non-lexus rims with winter tires (i.e. no TPMS). Will this cause any problem?

Will any warning lights come on because the original TPMS signals will be missing? Do I have to go to lexus to have them reset? I plan on using these rims only in the winter and get back to the beloved performance tires in spring/summer/fall.

Thanks a bunch.

[Melnod]

I drive an '07 IS AWD. I bought steel rims without TPM's with winter tires. There was only one snow fall worth mentioning last year in TOronto. The car handled great.

But the tire warning light does come on almost right away. The light stays on until the spring when you put your summers back on. I was able to reset the warning light indicator myself after I filled my summer tires to the proper pressure.

I didn't care that the warning light was on for the four winter months but it drove my wife nuts. And anyone else sitting in the passenger seat would comment "hey you have a warning light on"! So...I bought a new set of rims and TPM's this summer. The Toyota dealer completed the initialization for these new wheels for about $50 (I think is $75 at the Lexus dealer). The TPM's were about $100 each. Like my wife says, "you paid $40k for the car. You certainly can pay another $400 to not have a warning light on 33% of the time).

Good luck.

[cduluk]

I went through the same thing. The warning indicator on the Rx400h was VERY annoying. Not only did i get a yellow light on, but it "dinged" every time it came on, and my gauge cluster LCD screen read that there was an issue with the system. Therefore, i couldn't get it to read the outside temp or my mileage.

So, i ended up buying a set of TPMS sensors on ebay for about $100 (for all 4) and had the dealer program them. Whenever i switch between sets, i just press the button under the dash to tell the cars computer which set to look for. The car can keep track of 2 sets (of 4) with a flick of a switch. So you don't need to see the dealer every time you want to switch sets.

Dealer didn't charge me anything to program them to car. Just MAKE sure to write down the numbers on each sensor to give to the dealer for programming, as they need the individual codes. <_<

Just bite the bullet, it will be worth it.