With the repair process in mind, Autel designs, engineers and manufactures all its TPMS products. This comprehensive approach gives the company total control over the tools and sensors' continuity, quality control, and functionality.
Autel's universal programmable 1-Sensor has truly dominated the aftermarket TPMS industry. Autel considered the repair process and developed its sensors with technology that would make TPMS more efficient. Autel developed a dual-frequency universally programmable sensor with a press-and-release valve stem needing no tool for installation. The 1-Sensor can emulate 315 MHz and 433 MHz frequencies (314.95, 433.95, and 434 MHZ are also supported) and can be programmed to replace 99 percent of the TPMS sensors on today's vehicles. So that's one-part number to service nearly every TPMS-equipped vehicle that enters the bay. Batch programming is a feature Autel pioneered and is not offered elsewhere in the industry. Current Autel TPMS tools can program up to 20 sensors at once, with each sensor having its unique ID. Fleet managers love this feature as they can pre-program in batches and always have them ready on the shelf.
Autel's latest tool, the MaxiTPMS ITS600 underlines Autel's commitment to its customers with tools that offer expanding capabilities and increasing value. A sleek, lightweight touchscreen Android tablet, the ITS600 performs every aspect of TPMS service, including activation of all-known sensors, system diagnostics, 1-Sensor programming providing 99 percent vehicle coverage, and displays vehicle-specific position Relearn instructions. Autel's TPMS tools' interface has for years enabled technicians to perform these tasks easily and consistently. And the ITS600 gracefully improves upon these TPMS services' efficiency. Recent software updates give the ITS600 expanded tire service capability. The tablet's Tire Identification Number (TIN) scan function enables a real-time safety check for the customer's current vehicle tires. And the DOT tire registration feature (available with a separate CIMs tire registration subscription) and a method to ensure your shop complies with government regulations when selling new tires. The TIN is the string of six to 13 numbers or letters marked on the tire sidewall following the letters DOT (Department of Transportation) identifying, among other things, the tire's manufacture date (week and year). After scanning the TIN, the ITS600 will display a replacement recommendation if applicable.
TIN registration is another matter and one whose responsibility has shifted over the years between seller and consumer. The FAST Act of 2015 made it mandatory that the tire seller register just-purchased tires on behalf of the customers. The goal, of course, is to alert customers of a tire recall and get those tires off the road. Eighty-five percent of recalled tires are believed to be still out there. The ITS600 brings the capturing and registering of the TIN into the modern age, eliminating the hassle of mailing in postcards and reducing the possible transcribing errors (40 percent of registrations are invalid because the TIN was incorrectly written). The ITS600 makes compliance easy: Input the tire information and the customer's contact information, and tap submit.
Autel's comprehensive approach to TPMS—universal programmable sensors teamed with function-rich tools—makes servicing this vital vehicle safety system not just more efficient but also more lucrative.
