ok then what computer and/or sensor are you talking about?

I'm not certain what exactly was reset in the pressure sensor system; the sensor(s) in the tire(s) and/or the computer.

I've had bad luck with the pencil style tire pressure gauges. The dial kind seem a lot better to me.

I'm guessing there is some onboard computer that tells you when your tires are low. Is that it?

@ glatt - yeh me too, but for ease of recognition I posted the other. I think they are more common.

Yeah. There's a dashboard indicator light, so it's a good assumption there's software for it in the computer.

gotcha. Thats where the confusion was.

Oh, right. The indicator goes on, but it doesn't tell me much, so I then check each tire with a gauge.

I hate to be greedy when most cars don't have a dashboard light at all, but it would be very nice if the indicator could show which tire(s) were low. The computer must know; it probably even knows the PSI, but all it shows is the flat tire symbol.

Yeh all that seems a bit much to me. What kind of car is it anyway?

Civic Hybrid.

Civic Hybrid with the beta pressure gauge?

I have no idea.

O hai Brian. :blush:

I always thought you were just supposed to do the penny test on the tread...? Or is the mechanic the one telling you it's a hypothetical slow leak that's causing the need for replacement, not the tread?

I suspect the style of driving, mostly urban, with a high ratio of turning to miles driven, is taking it's toll. 20K is a lot of miles under those conditions. Stick to tire pressure posted on the door jamb sticker. If it's a range, use the high end.
It's easy enough to tell if the tires are worn out, as the wear bar will show across the tread.

They reccommended replacement due to the tread. I haven't checked it myself, but if 20000 is a reasonable replacement time for urban driving, I expect they're right.

The slow leak issue was a different garage; a tire was low less than two weeks after I had filled them, so I asked them to look at it. Their verdict was replacing the pressure sensor due to a slow leak around it.