My 13 sport w tech is really ticking me off.
My driver side rear tire has had a stubborn slow leak. First repair, a year ago or so, tech said I had a bad bead. He reseated the tire and it was okay for a few weeks, then a slow leak showed up again.
It never went below 25psi, so I just filled it every two weeks until the light came on.
Had an oil change recently and the tech checked the tire. He said the leak is coming from the valve stem. Apparently, Nissan uses two metals that shouldn't touch, which leads to corrosion in the stem, causing a leak. He said a rebuild kit should do the trick. Since I needed new tires, I put it off and ordered some from tire rack.
Brought the car in today and two stems have the problem, and no rebuild kit will do the job. I need two new tpms sensors with stems installed.
I leased this car through my business and I have 8 months left. Now I have to drop a few hundred bucks to fix tpms or I'll get nailed when I turn in.
This isn't making me feel like leasing a new Max when my lease is up. One reason I leased was to avoid spending big money on things that shouldn't break inside of 39 months.
So I'm asking this: is this a common problem with Maxima's or do I just have bad luck.
I can't believe a 2013 loaded Maxima with less than 45,000 miles should need new tpms for any reason, much less an engineering brain fart.

 

It would be annoying I fully agree, however virtually all brands have some issues with TPMS, either mechanical (leaks) of electronics.

FWIW, Nissan nor any OEMs don't make these devices, they buy them from Tier 1 or 2 suppliers.

 

My 09 SV sport with 50,000 miles doesn't have and TPMS problems so it is not a common problem and I doubt if the reasons about the two metals given is valid. Before I spend a couple hundred on something I might not need I would first have a through inspection made of your tires and valve stems for leaks, by a good reputable tire service center. As far as turning in your vehicle at lease end can't you just inflate the tires so no warning lights are showing?

 

I saw with my own eyes that two tires were leaking from the valve stems. He even showed me how a tiny part from inside the stem had come off when they took the cap off.
I anticipate 12000 miles in those 8 months. I don't want to risk a catastrophic failure and filling the tire once a week sucks in Chicago winters.
As for why do it now instead of letting it be the next guys problem (assuming I didn't have the aforementioned tire problem)? I'm not built that way. It's a problem. It needs fixing. How ticked off would you be if you bought a used car and a week later had the drop a few hundred fixing tpms? If there is a problem that I know about, especially a safety issue, I'm fixing it before someone else has a problem. I couldn't sleep at night if I found out a guy rolled the maxima he bought because he lost tire pressure rapidly at speed.

I once had a catalytic converter heat shield fall off of a car I was about to sell. Since it didn't change the driveability or cause any discernible issue, I didn't mention it. I still feel guilty about that.

 

Tpms sensors and rebuild kits can be bought online for way cheaper. Probably $40 each.

 

The sensors weren't too much. The labor and set up took a while though