It's a million times more likely that one of your sensors went bad. That happened to us. Those things aren't cheap, either!
Someone hacking into your car this way is unlikely, but if it does happen, it could be a disaster.
Oh, brother. Today's fear porn. They're going to take your car to top speed and slam you into a bridge abutment?
A lot more likely is Automotive Ransomware: "You want your car back? Send us $2,000 by 6 pm or we brick your car."
Oh, brother. Today’s fear porn.
Yes. I admit, I rather like having the system, but if it were an option I would have to choose to voluntarily pay for...I wouldn’t.
My 2019 Subaru has it, and I had a tire with a slow leak they couldn’t seem to fix without replacing the sensor in the tire. So they did that, but the slow leak persisted.
Worse, I kept getting the “Master Caution Light” and the TPMS indicator. They reset the system and upgraded the software, it worked for two days, then stopped working at all.
Bah.
There is only one newfangled option on these new cars I would pay for-the Adaptive Cruise Control, which is great.
All the other stuff is annoying and worthless, and I hate being obliged to pay for it because some politicians thought I should, and car manufacturers think it is even more awesome to make us pay more for useless crap.
It’s a million times more likely that one of your sensors went bad. That happened to us. Those things aren’t cheap, either!
If you have a domestic or most import brands, they are a pain in the rear, but if you are a do-it-yourselfer, with some relatively cheap diagnostic equipment... they are not expensive, not difficult to figure out which one has a low battery, and not really that difficult to replace. If you have a Tesla, certain BMWs, Ferraris, Mercedes, Porches etc... with proprietary systems then you are screwed, but there are typically work-arounds anyway.
Looking back at my Amazon purchase history, I bought eight of them for $22.99 on August 9 when they went on sale for half price. I changed out all 4 on my Ford F350.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8F1WPZ1
At the same time, for $8.99 I purchased a TPMS Sensor Training Program Tool which is not really necessary but makes the job of getting them all working easier.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J4GXNRM
It gets slightly more complicated if you get universal sensors like the “XTOOL TS100 TPMS Sensor 315/433MHz for All Vehicles”; they claim 98% compatibility ans still cost less than $20 for 4. “Replace for OEM Sensors, Cover 98% GLOBAL Vehicles: Designed for almost all 98% vehicles in the market, covers for GMC/for Buick/for Ford/for Mazda/for Toyota/for Lexus/for Nissan/for BMW/for Jeep/for Chrysler/for Acura/for Subaru/for Chevy/for Honda, etc. 315 MHz/433 MHz dual frequency, 2-in-1 TPMS tire sensor, whatever your OEM sensor is 315 MHz or 433 MHz, TS100 can fit for your car”
https://www.amazon.com/XTOOL-Programmable-Replacement-Pressure-Monitoring/dp/B0CKYW1QK4
The hardest part of the job taking your wheels off the vehicle and pushing the tire off the rim on one side and then holding the bead down while you are swapping them out with a couple pieces of scrap wood. This job is made much easier if you have a Harbor Freight Manual Tire Changer which costs $59 regularly but goes on sale fairly frequently. Or you can get a nearly identical one for about the same price delivered from Amazon.
https://www.harborfreight.com/manual-tire-changer-58731.html
The other thing that I have that is extremely handy om Fords is a ForScan compatible Bi-directional OBD2 communication tool, so you can change the settings when using ForScan. ForScan is used on your laptop and is designed for Fords, but the tool works with other software for other makes and models as well. It cost me $28.99 from Amazon with free overnight shipping which is what it costs pretty much all of the time.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ92SLDY
Of course, my favorite Bi-Directional OBD2 communications tool is more expensive but works on other vehicles as well, is the Kingbolen Ediag Elite which is pretty much always onsale at Walmart.com for $85 to $90.
Here is the video that Scotty Kilmore put up on YouTube promoting it that caused me to buy one...
I also like my Bluedriver Pro which costs about the same but is not as capable. I have a little collection of OBD2 scanners. The little Bluetooth Elm based ones don’t have as many features and can only read and reset your codes, but for under $10 every day of the week from Amazon and others... everyone should have at least one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F62RX7YV
I have had one of these scanners for years which costs around $12 but is a little more capable.
https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Scanner-Diagnostic-Vehicle-Compatible/dp/B07CP5ZJVQ
Got a little sidetracked... The reason that TPMS sensors have a reputation for being expensive is that tire shops make a killing on them... They are not expensive, not hard to diagnose and replace and have a wide range of vehicles that each variety is compatible with.