Most vehicles I am familiar with show the “butt symbol” only when a tire sensor actually reports a low pressure, and light a separate indicator (on my Honda, it’s a simple “TPMS” when a fault is detected within the system, such as not getting a signal from one or more sensors.
I much preferred the Hella TPMS systems I installed in older vehicles, as most (now required) systems in mid-range cars only have these idiot lights, instead of reporting which tire, and actual tire pressures.
There’s a lot of dash warning lights that are totally useless or hopelessly vague; “Check Engine” light, I’m looking at you.
All cars, by law, have on-board diagnostics. Almost all cars manufactured in the last decade or so have some sort of digital display. The car knows what’s wrong, but it won’t tell me. Most people know a “Check Engine” light is bad, but most of the time the car keeps running. Most people know a flashing “Check Engine” light is really bad, but most of the time the car keeps running. But that’s all the information we get. JUST TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG.
I know, I can plug in my laptop and check it. I can get a mechanic to plug in and check it, some will do that much for free, others, like the dealership, will charge you $75. The car already has all of the necessary equipment to tell me what’s wrong, on the spot, the moment the error occurs, but it just won’t. JUST TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG. Maybe I can fix it myself, maybe I can’t, but I’ll at least have some idea, and probably enough info to determine whether it’s safe to keep driving or if I should seek immediate help.
Our Nissan has a screen in the middle of the dash for all that stuff. The warning light goes on, and it’s a quick toggle through the menu until I hit the “Driver Warnings” menu. Then it tells me exactly what is wrong. It also tells me which tire is low, and by how much. You can get this stuff on just about any new car, for a few more bucks.
Thank you for the link Machine Elf.
I’ll keep the manual on my phone.
I had the oil changed last Oct and the tires were checked then.
Electronics notwithstanding, that’s a long time to go without checking pressures and fluid levels. My car has all these bells and whistles, but I still check once a month or so.