I guess that's probably the best idea.

 

That's retarded (directed at the tire shop, not you ). Take a look at your insurance policy. I guarantee there is nothing in there that says anything about excluding coverage for driving without tire sensors.

They also can't deny coverage simply because you didn't inflate your tires to the proper pressure. There's nothing in the insurance policy that excludes coverage for that either.

The reality is, insurance policies tend to be fairly liberal and provides coverage more often than not.

Ask yourself this - would the insurance company prefer that you ran a set of winter rims/tires without TPMS during the snowy winter months or a set of high performance summer tires w/ TPMS?

 

That was my original reaction to their statement, but I am thrown off by the fact that a retailer of aftermarket wheels would instruct me not to buy wheels from them.

 

I would imagine most forged wheel manufacturers (if not all of them?) would drill it out for free. For sure DPE will do it if you tell them at the time of ordering.

But I would have done it myself with a hand drill . Aluminum is pretty easy.

However, I can see it being a problem on some cast wheels though depending on the barrel profile.

 

I just changed out wheels, and the new ones are OEM and have the sensors. However, the light still came on. When I called my dealer about it and asked them if they could pair of the sensors, they told me "you are the first person that I've ever seen change to wheels with sensors already, I am not sure if we can match them up". Even more, they told me that the sensors were different(2007 wheels vs 2006 wheels) and I couldn't swap them.

Is my dealer really just that clueless? I was ready to drive around with the light on, but it sounds like there is a fix in place that my dealer can do???

 

Interesting ... I thought it was my imagination that the 2007 TPMS from post #12 here looked different than the one posted in another thread.

I'd start by calling the parts department and seeing if the part numbers are the same. If it were me ... I'd have them try anyway!

 

It's also cheaper. It takes more time to remount/rebalance tires on a rim than to just swap mounted tires. If you take an average 80-100 twice a year to remount/rebalance, after a couple of years a cheaper set of rims begins to be very cost effective and potentiall time-effective.

Too large of a tire is not ideal in snow. You want as thin a tire as reasonable for the car. The stock 225/245 f/r combo for the sport 18" rims is not as good as 225 all the way around in heavier snow fall. Also, going with 225s on a 17" rim is going to be cheaper

Tirerack quotes something like 2-300 for a full set of TPMS sensors. Plus, you'll have to recalibrate the sensors each time the tires are mounted, which means a trip to the dealer and it's probably not free.

Realistically, most people who swap their tires out know enough about tires to know when and how to check inflation. People have been driving decades without a TPMS, and while TPMS is definitely nice technology and useful, going without for snow tires isn't likely to be a problem if you use your head.

 

I confirmed today that TPMS from 2006 is different than those of 2007. They changed part numbers for wheels created after June of 2007. That's at least what my dealer told me...then again...they also told me that I was the first person they have seen change wheels on an 07 G35. I think they are idiots personally.

 

Sorry about the delay, I was out of town.
Your insurance will cover you, no question about it. Obviously make sure you have collision coverage on your car (No brainer here)
We actually encourage you to have winter tires because most of our accidents in the winter is from people always sliding into each other.
Sounds like a cash grab form the tire shop.
The only you ones you should get advice on insurance from is someone that is in the industry, if I had a dime for every insurance myth that people came and said their neighbour told them , I would be a very rich man.
There are many things that cause an accident and tire pressure isn't something that gets red flagged by us.
Hope that helps

 

Thanks so much for the answer Matt. It's nice to get a straight answer.

 

Thanks Matt!

As for the money grabbing part, it seemed to me that he was talking me out of spending money in his shop because he only charges me $24 to swap my tires. I don't get it, I guess If I buy wheels I won't be visiting his shop every 6 months.