don't be stupid like me...

[jandree22]

...Check your tire pressure on a regular basis! No blowout or anything dramatic for me, but I checked my pressure for the first time since I bought the car tonight and it was like 25psi! (@ 44*F) I was penny pinching and lazy to find a gas station w/free air, and finally found one. But now that I checked the pressure, I wish I would've been more proactive about it. Idiot.

Now they're up to 35psi, the ride is nice and firm, and I topped off to see what kind of gas mileage I get now... (shady)

 

[TheMAN]

why don't you just buy a tire pump at walmart and do it anywhere you want?

 

[jandree22]

...not a bad idea

 

[Kansei]

They may not have been low all along, tires do lose pressure at low temps.

 

[melicha8]

They only charge the people at the gas station who don't know that the gas station is required by the NHTSA to provide free air and water. This is all gas stations.

 

[Kansei]

They only charge the people at the gas station who don't know that the gas station is required by the NHTSA to provide free air and water. This is all gas stations.

Oh I didn't realize it was a nationwide thing! wow

 

[the_saint]

I would think the TPMS would have picked up on the low pressure. I've been lazy too...damn technology.
I'll have to check mine tomorrow.

 

[Heat]

They only charge the people at the gas station who don't know that the gas station is required by the NHTSA to provide free air and water. This is all gas stations.

I tried a google search and looked at www.nhtsa.gov but didn't see anything about this.

Do you have a reference? I can only think of one station around me that doesn't charge for air. Personally, I just go to that station or to Wal-Mart to get air for free.

 

[WhiteStar III]

...Check your tire pressure on a regular basis! No blowout or anything dramatic for me, but I checked my pressure for the first time since I bought the car tonight and it was like 25psi! (@ 44*F) I was penny pinching and lazy to find a gas station w/free air, and finally found one. But now that I checked the pressure, I wish I would've been more proactive about it. Idiot.

Now they're up to 35psi, the ride is nice and firm, and I topped off to see what kind of gas mileage I get now... (shady)

One easy way for me to tell, without pulling out the tire pressure gauge, is if the tires feel like they are flatspotted on morning start-up. I try to keep the pressure around 36-38 psi which seems to reduce the "flatspotting", if & when I feel it I know it's time to add air.

 

[terbow]

only thing i could find was they made it a law in cali, not federal. and even then its not enforced.

I tried a google search and looked at www.nhtsa.gov but didn't see anything about this.

Do you have a reference? I can only think of one station around me that doesn't charge for air. Personally, I just go to that station or to Wal-Mart to get air for free.

 

[X10James]

I've had my low tire light come on twice now. And it wasn't at very low levels either... The first time it came on I checked all my tires and they were all around 32 with one at 30 (i think i'm remembering that correctly) so I topped them all off and it went away. Came on again a week later. This was in the fall it wasn't too cold out. They were both nights I had parked my car outside the garage though. So it was definitely colder than it was used to.

I was actually thinking that someone had come buy and let the air out of my tires or something! But they just weren't that low and none were visibly low at all either time.

That was maybe 4 months ago and it hasn't come on since and I haven't checked them since. Perhaps I should do that...

You might want to let some air out of yours just as a test, see how low you have to go before your light comes on. If it wasn't on by the time you reached those levels I'd think something was wrong with your system!

 

[zoomzoom mazda5]

I had the same problem, when i got my mazda5 for the dealer, i check my tires for air and they was so low (20psi) thats the same week i got my ride new, now i check once a week so far no problems.

 

[meackerman]

IIRC TPMS only comes with the Nav.

Our TPMS has come on twice. Once we had a screw in a tire, and the other time the tires were just low. Seems to come on when the pressure gets below 25 psi.

 

[Koa]

You should always check Tyre pressures before moving the car first thing to get a truly accurate result. I have actually tested mine before moving first thing in the morning and after moving just half a mile and got 2 to 4 PSi variations on it.

 

[Kooldino]

Hot tires = more PSI.

 

[dommo_g]

You can get a decent Craftsman air compressor from Sears for around $150. But I guess if someone is too cheap to spend a quarter for air, then a compressor would be out of the question.

 

[jandree22]

You can get a decent Craftsman air compressor from Sears for around $150. But I guess if someone is too cheap to spend a quarter for air, then a compressor would be out of the question.

Actually for about $25 you can get one to get the job done. If you actually read this topic you'd see I'm already considering one. Unless it's $25 for the actual equipment, sorry, I feel it's ludicrous to "purchase air" from a gas station.

 

[doctorz]

You can get a decent Craftsman air compressor from Sears for around $150. But I guess if someone is too cheap to spend a quarter for air, then a compressor would be out of the question.

A quarter for air? Gas stations around here charge 75 cents! I finally did find one gas station that has free air, but truthfully, my bicycle tire air pump worked just fine as well.

 

[jersey_emt]

A quarter for air? Gas stations around here charge 75 cents! I finally did find one gas station that has free air, but truthfully, my bicycle tire air pump worked just fine as well.

(mswerd) It's 75 cents to 1 dollar around here!