The Costco advantage doesn't just extend to your favorite grocery items and low-priced Interstate batteries. The warehouse retail chain also offers wholesale prices for tires, and they're a fantastic deal if you're already a Costco member. The Installation Package is the crème de la crème when purchasing tires from the warehouse chain. It includes lifetime tire maintenance services covering flat repairs, tire balancing, tire rotations, and inflation pressure checks throughout the set's lifetime (though
some limits may apply).
This package also includes tire mounting, nitrogen air inflation, and the installation of brand-new rubber valve stems. If your car has a tire pressure monitoring system, or TPMS (which all new vehicles sold in the U.S. do, as mandated by the TREAD Act), Costco tire centers can replace TPMS sensors and valve stems at an additional cost. But how much are you likely to pay?
The price will ultimately depend on the make and model of your vehicle. According to Costco members on Reddit, replacing TPMS sensors there costs around $45 to $65 per wheel on average. Meanwhile, a Toyota owner paid $325 for five TPMS sensors, a solid deal considering a Toyota dealership could charge upwards of $374 each for the same TPMS valve stems.
Read more: These Are The Worst Tire Recalls In Recent History
How Long Do TPMS Sensors Last?
Tire pressure monitoring is a critical safety feature that alerts drivers to under-inflated tires. Maintaining the correct air pressure is one of the easiest ways to squeeze out extra miles from your set, and continuing to drive on under-inflated rubber can affect vehicle handling and stability — it may even cause a tire to fail or blow out due to overheating. Unfortunately, it's tricky to judge whether a tire has enough air just by looking at it (some truck drivers, for example, use a hammer or stick to whack the tires and determine the air pressure), so the TPMS takes the guesswork out of the equation.
Most TPMS sensors draw power from a 3-volt lithium ion or 1.250-volt nickel metal hydride battery. The TPMS light on your instrument cluster will illuminate if the ECU detects a malfunction or interference, and a sensor with a low battery is one of these. However, replacing a TPMS sensor battery means replacing the entire sensor since the battery is built in. The average lifespan of a TPMS sensor is about seven years, but some will need replacing as early as five years or, on some cars, after 12 years.
Ignoring an illuminated TPMS warning light won't destroy your car. But if you can't be bothered to check the inflation pressure of all four tires using a good old tire pressure gauge, replacing the TPMS sensors at Costco might be the deal you're looking for.
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