this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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By "aren't hard to remove" you actually mean requires dismounting the tire from the rim, remounting it, and then balacing it. This is far beyond the capabilities not to mention equipment of the typical layperson. Plus, your state is likely to conveniently fail your car on its next inspection for a nonfunctioning TPMS system, same as your check engine light.
If you're going to go the distance anyway, get your tire shop to mount aftermarket Autel sensors in your rims. Using the readily available diagnostic tool, you can occasionally reprogram those (wirelessly!) with a set of random IDs and then also program your car to use them. You'll be a lot tougher to track if your signature is different every week.
I'm not about to do this just yet, but I do have the tool for more mundane purposes and I only paid around $200 for it several years ago.
It seems most states with mandatory vehicle inspections don't fail for TPMS problems.
https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/what-are-state-tpms-regulations
That only lists 18 states...
My own state requires it despite that list implying they don't. Thus I really don't think that chart is completely accurate. If you have ANY warning lights on your dash at inspection you will be failed here.
I did say most, not all. Some of the info on that page may be outdated, but obviously it would just be limited to those that require regular comprehensive inspections in the first place.
I was able to easily look up the inspection guidelines from my states DMV page and confirm for myself that TPMS light is not a fail here so YMMV, but my point was essentially that it's more likely than not that bad sensors won't fail someone, not that nobody will get failed.
18 out of 50 is not ‘most’.
Well crap, that's not a cheap solution but I'm glad you commented because I didn't know these Autel sensors existed and that you could reprogram them. I mean, this threat is semi hypothetical right now (not like it's been used in the wild by authorities or anything) but one day it might be. Continual reprogramming would be a valid solution.
It certainly doesn't require removing the tire from the rim. I removed each wheel, broke the bead on the side that has the valve stem, pried the tire back away from the rim, remove the sensor (mine had a convenient little part you can push to release them) then air the tire back up and put the wheel back on the car. Didn't even have to re-balance them.
If we want to take steps to protect ourselves from such tracking, we cannot afford to simply say "It's ToO hArD!!!!1!" with a multi-paragraph reply that took more time to type out than it took for me to remove one sensor. Can't do it? Learn how. Defeatist replies belong on Reddit with all the other propaganda.
Do you drive around with no license plate on your car, too?
you can in Ontario, police stopped giving a fuck. Most plates are illegible and some people tape then up to avoid video tolls.
Hope y threw ur phone away and got rid of ur head unit while u were at it. Tpms tracking is just about the last fucking thing I'd ever worry about especially with the lack of range those transponders have. Nobody is tracking you via tpms 😂
You know that you can leave your phone at home, right?
EDIT: Also, another Defeatist reply.
State inspection of your vehicle? Wtf? I've heard of California with catalytic converters because the smog, that's it. I
I don't understand the confusion.
What shitholy states force you to get them inspected, obviously.
How is making sure everyone's >2 ton 100mph missile is safe to use shitholy?
If they are checking that your spyware is installed still, it gives lie to their motivation.
Both over and under inflated tyres present a significant reduction in handling and breaking abilities of cars. Having the correct air pressure in your tyres is fairly important when push comes to shove.
Sure, but what about when shove comes to push.
This spyware is a byproduct of how the wireless tpms sensors work. If someone installed a wired version it would still pass.
Your who is going to do what now?
(Posted from a state that doesn't check anything except emissions, and even then only for some cars in some urban areas.)
Fuck that sounds like a place full of dangerously badly maintained vehicles...
Surprisingly, most people aren't actually suicidally negligent in the absence of government regulation.
You would be extremely surprised. Car maintenance is expensive, and lack of inspection very often leads to people driving vehicles that should have been off the road years ago simply because a lot of states that axe it, axe inspections because they're expensive for the driver (a lot of these states are in the former Steel Belt). In better-off areas or places where people have more time/money/equipment/space to wrench on cars, then yes, but here in my city, I definitely have seen cars where the entire frame is basically being held together by Bondo and prayer, cars where they're running on 4 spares, cars where enormous sections of the body paneling are just gone. I've nearly been hit by people who clearly relied on yearly inspections to tell them "hey your brakes are failing" because they drive on autopilot and just adjust how they drive to accommodate failing/failed brakes.
In fact, I suspect maintenance costs are HIGHER in areas without inspection, because shops could rely on that regular-ish influx of cash even if it was only like $50-$100 a vehicle, AND you have the customer in the shop, so it's easier to go "hey you really need brakes, it'll cost you an extra $200 and take an extra hour or two".
Survivorship bias
I worked at a car repair shop when I was younger. I agree that it's not most (as in > 50%) but the number of people who knowingly drive very unsafe vehicles is bigger than you'd think.
Eh. I've seen enough 300+ HP cars with 10+ year old bald tires and paper thin brake discs to believe otherwise. I personally know two people whose cars have broken wipers that simply don't work. They don't care. I know one guy whose car's passenger door can only be opened by sticking the designated door opening pliers, which are stored under the seat, into the door panel through the hole of that door lock indicator peg thing and then fishing for some lever or whatever. You're simply not gonna be opening that door in an emergency. One dude at my office has an old manual BMW with a shifter knob that just loosely sits on its lever, and can easily come off if you are not careful. Gotta blindly maneuver the knob back onto its spot underneath the leather cover when that happens. He drives it like that daily. No shortage of hideously dirty diesel engines. No shortage of badly misaligned headlights, nonfunctional brake lights, overly loud engines etc.
In short I not only think state inspections are a good idea, I even think they should be even stricter.
That is actually surprising, given people.