Was I scammed? (Pontiac Vibe 2006)

[takearushfan]

Okay. Rather than going to the shop that replaced my sensors I went to a nearby tire place to see if they could activate them. The tire shop guy explained that an '06 Vibe doesn't use TPMS sensors. It's looking like the mechanic I went to installed them for no reason, since my make, model and year don't utilize them. It cost $520. Evidently it's the ABS sensors that needed to be addressed instead. I foolishly didn't get a summary of what they did and I no longer have a receipt. What would you do? I guess I could go to the mechanic, ask for a print out summary of what he did and once I see that it mentions 4 TPMS sensors, show him the summary the tire guy gave me, which describes the truth I now know. Then have him take them out and refund me. Is that the approach you'd take? The only way the mechanic can redeem himself and justify charging me is if he did indeed replace the ABS sensors too. I don't know. I'm clearly ignorant, naive and feel like an idiot.

[SSizler]

That is true, 03-08 vibes use the anti-lock sensors to activate the TPMS light.
There are no "in tire" sensors on these years.
Ask the mechanic for the old sensors.
He won't be able to produce them because they never existed.
Then ask for a refund.
Let us know how it goes.
I hate shady mechanics / liars.
Lucky I can do almost all of my own repairs.

[joatmon]

Don't feel naive, everybody gets taken at one point or another.

It would take a seriously dishonest or incredibly inept repairman to replace sensors that weren't there to begin with.

Did the second tire shop verify that there actually were TPMS sensors in the wheels? If there are none, then perhaps the original guy replaced ABS sensors and mistakenly referred to them as TPMS sensors.

If he did replace ABS sensors, then it didn't fix the problem.

Sorry I didn't ask what year your Vibe was. Makes sense given your original post said that the ABS and brake lights were also going off.

Don't know what to offer, other than to go back to the first shop and get them to explain themselves, either for charging for work they didn't do, for doing work that obviously was not going to fix the problem, or for just not fixing the problem. In today's world of internet and social media, they should care about trying to make it right for a justifiably angry customer. I understand that sometimes its hard to be the angry belligerent customer but that's a lot of money for no fix.

[takearushfan]

The shady place did refund me because they realized that they have no clue how to fix it and it is abs related. I have an appointment with a reputable place tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[takearushfan]

That is true, 03-08 vibes use the anti-lock sensors to activate the TPMS light.
There are no "in tire" sensors on these years.
Ask the mechanic for the old sensors.
He won't be able to produce them because they never existed.
Then ask for a refund.
Let us know how it goes.
I hate shady mechanics / liars.
Lucky I can do almost all of my own repairs.

Yeah, he didn't replace either. I pretty much called him out. They literally have no idea what to do other than refund, which they did, and tell me to essentially take it somewhere better

[SSizler]

Glad to hear they did the right thing.
If you want facts, invest in a factory service manual.
They are a little spendy, but most of the answers to most problems are buried in those pages.
Please continue to update this thread with your repair progress.

Did you perform the reset / initialization process yourself, as described in the owners manual?

To reset (initialize) the system:
1. Park the vehicle at a safe place and apply the
parking brake. Turn the engine off.
2. Turn the ignition to ON with the engine off.
3. If the low-tire pressure
warning light is on,
push the SET (reset)
button for a few
seconds. The low-tire
warning light should go
off. The reset button
is on the instrument
panel to the left of the
steering wheel.
4. Press and hold the SET (reset) button until the
low-tire warning light comes on and flashes
on/off three times. The tire pressure warning reset
button starts the reset (initialization) process.
If the low-tire pressure warning light does not flash
when you hold the reset button the system may
be malfunctioning and needs service. See your GM
dealer for service.
The system completes the reset (initialization) process
after driving at vehicle speeds of at least 19 mph
(30 km/h) to 62 mph (100 km/h) for more than one hour.
Do not push the SET (reset) button while driving, if
you do the initialization process will not be performed.
The initialization process can take up to approximately
one hour of driving under the following conditions:
• The vehicle speed is between 31 mph (50 km/h) and
62 mph (100 km/h).
• The roads are dry, smooth and straight.
• The number of passengers is one or two (including
the driver).

If not, you want to try it.
If so, you may want to try it again.
Mine required 2 resets to clear when it came on shortly after I purchaed my 2006 Lava Vibe.

[takearushfan]

Well, I got a refund. They flat out admitted trying to fix it and not knowing how. They think the problem has to do with something pertaining to the ABS that goes beyond just the sensors but don't know what. I got a place lined up to go to that the honest guys recommended. I did try to reset both manually and by driving around but it didn't help.

[joatmon]

I'm assuming that since the ABS and brake lights are on, there is more going on than just needing a TPMS reset.

Hopefully when you you get it looked at by a reputable shop, they'll have the tools/knowledge to do all the required initialization. The factory that built these cars didn't have to drive each for an hour to initialize the system, there has to be a way to do it with out the drive.

The owner's manual contradicts itself

The system completes the reset (initialization) process
after driving at vehicle speeds of at least 19 mph
(30 km/h) to 62 mph (100 km/h) for more than one hour.
Do not push the SET (reset) button while driving, if
you do the initialization process will not be performed.
The initialization process can take up to approximately
one hour of driving under the following conditions:
• The vehicle speed is between 31 mph (50 km/h) and
62 mph (100 km/h).
• The roads are dry, smooth and straight.
• The number of passengers is one or two (including
the driver).

first it says drive at speeds between 19 and 62 mph, then it says 31 and 62 mph.

Also, it says you need to drive on smooth straight roads for more than an hour. There's nowhere within several states of me where I can drive in a straight line for at least an hour. I think the one hour requirement is not one single drive but can be accumulated over multiple drives (say, 20 drives of 3 minutes each)

The 2007 owners manual has the same info, but the 2008 manual doesn't mention a driving requirement at all. I never had a Vibe with TPMS. My guess is that the manual press the button reset initializes the system and clears the light and long driving is not needed, but if you fix the tire pressure discrepancy that caused the light but don't manually reset the system, the system will clear itself after you drive around enough with correct tire pressures

[takearushfan]

I went to the honest guys today and yeah, I don't have TPMS sensors. They described the abs sensor and modulator (?) that need fixing. It'll be $350. That actually does save me $150.