I noticed the tire press warning light on after driving through a parking lot tonight. I stopped and got out to check them. I was not expecting to find anything noticable. I thought maybe one of the tires was just low with all the temp changes I have been through with the holiday weather and travels. But when I got out I could hear the hiss of a leaking tire. I was able to make a beeline for the house stopping to check the rate of deflation. It actually stopped leaking at about 22 psi. It was only about 6 miles of low 30s to get home so we pressed on for a warm garage with lights.

After getting home with my Son, who is 14 and needed his first tire changing lesson anyway, we pulled out the spare. Hidious! It is the slow speed donout type which is ugly enough by itself, but they painted the wheel mustard yellow. It looks horrible on the black Prius. Not that it would look any better on the other colors. I think I am going to spray paint it black when I get home from the tire shop tomorrow. Upon inspection of the flat I found a piece of glass in it. Sorry parking lot trash.

At least we know the tire press system works great! And I was doubting the real value of that feature. I've never had a flat on the road before. It's nice to know that my Wife or Son in the future will not need to wonder why the car is handling so funny on the freeway and where all those sparks are coming from. Instead they will pull off to check the tires after noticing the tire press warning light is on.

 

 

 

When I took the tire in to NTB, National Tire and Battery they said it was not repairable because the damage was to close to the edge of the tread at the area of compound curvature and that a patch will not hold there. They did not sell the OEM tire so I headed home with it. I was going to start calling around to find a replacement when I remebered I had a plug kit at home that I use on my 4X4 tires when I'm out on the trail and get a hole in the tire. I plugged the Prius tire and it's holding just fine. That saved me about $80.

 

Do you have a factory TPMS?

 

Yes, I have the factory installed tire press monitor system.

 

That's awesome. Wish my HAH came with it. I'm thinking of adding this to my car:
http://www.vulcantire.com/smartire_sys.htm
Check out the demo.

 

That's great. I wish it would of been an option for my HCH. I drove who knows how far on a very low tire once. I went into a store for 20 minutes and when I came out it was flat, I didn't even notice it flat as it was on the opposite side of the car - noticed it when I backed out of the spot. The one time when I didn't do a walkaround of the car before entering (old habit).

I think the mustard color is a good idea. Encourages people to get the full size tire back on the car quicker.