Tesla Model 3 Tire Pressure Sensors Messed Up With New Non-Tesla Tires

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I recently had the tires on my Tesla Model 3 changed. As I wrote, I had a third-party tire shop do the job this time instead of Tesla, who I used the first time I had to change my tires, since that was much cheaper (about $600 cheaper).

As far as I can tell, it was a good decision. The tires seem fine, the driving is good, and I hope they will last a long time.

As you can see from the title, however, it wasn’t 100% smooth and easy. There were issues with one thing — the tire pressure sensors. Right after I drove away, I noticed that the front right tire showed very low tire pressure. I headed back to the shop to have them check it out. They told me I needed to drive around on it more and it would reset and show correctly. I drove for about an hour and the problem persisted. That didn’t work, and then on my way back to the shop, the front right tire all of a sudden showed the correct pressure … but the back left tire pressure was then far too low.

When I got back to the shop, they said the tire pressure in all four tires was indeed correct and it was just a problem with the sensors. They had me do some resets on the touchscreen and drive around some more. It didn’t help. Then the mechanic said that the sensors just needed replaced and I’d have to have Tesla do that. I wasn’t satisfied with the assessment, or at least wanted a second opinion, so I had him take me over to the head guy. The manager said that he could solve the problem but needed to bring in another computer to do it. So, I needed to return on Friday.

I brought it back in with a bit more hope. The manager had indicated he had done this a week or two before with another Tesla. He reset the sensors and manually put them at the right pressure, it seems. All good? Well, seemingly all good, but I noticed that one thing had changed.

If you looked carefully there, or just have hawk eyes, you can see that what once said “Recommended Pressure” now says “Customized Pressure.” I assume that what the technician did was just manually override the tire pressure target. Is there any problem with this? I assume not, but it’s note exactly the same as resetting the sensors “correctly.” (And, yes, the “color” of my car changes somewhat frequently — my daughters love changing that.)

Do you readers have any more insight on this? Have you had similar experiences when having your tires changed from a non-Tesla tire place? Are you aware of any problems having the “Recommended Pressure” overridden and changed to a “Customized Pressure?”

See more articles from my long-term review of a Tesla Model 3 SR+.

See more articles about Tesla Model 3 tires.