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Im now in the market to replace my tires and had to ask a question about TPMS. I know how they work, but wanted to know if I need to replace them every time I buy new tires. My vehicle is a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, an when I stop at a local tire shop to get an estimate on 4 new tire the salesman stated " you should get new TPMS when you buy new tires, the kit will cost 27.96 plus20.00 for install." I'm a suspecious person by nature and said "let me hold off and I'll call you before I decide to do anything." My next question would be, is this guy trying to charge me for something I really dont need? I have donr some snooping on the internet and have found that some tire places tend to break TPMS when installing new tires onto wheels. Maybe thats why this guy sugested that, even so if they break it, they should pay for it in my opinion. Need help on the topic please.  

if the shop does not know how to properly install a tire on a rim with tpms it is easy to break the sensor itself in which case they should replace the sensor for free since it was their fault. he was probably talking about the service packs for the sensors. the service packs should consist of a rubber grommet that goes around the stem (this is what actually holds the air inside the wheel), a metal nut which needs to be torqued to the manufacturer's specs, a nickle plated valve stem coar, and a plastic valve stem cap. when you bust the old tires off the wheels the rubber grommets can get cracks in them that you may or may not be able to see. if you leave the old ones on there and you develope a slow leak out of that valve stem chances are it might start to wear on the sidewall of the tire and can lead to a blow out. if you neglect to have the service packs replaced and this happens depending on the manufacturer of the tire it can void the warranty of the tires and you will be out of luck. that being said the pricing he gave you is a little steep.