Nonda’s Smart Tire Safety Monitor Troubles Aren’t Going Away
I had sort of checked out of the troubles that Nonda was having with their Smart Tire Safety Monitor System where the external sensors were getting stuck due to galvanic corrosion. I’ve written several stories on this topic since I came across the issue, but now I’m adding one more to the mix thanks to a tip from a reader who directed me to one of the threads on the Nonda Community Forum that documents this issue where I saw this (click to enlarge):
I can only assume that there are two possibilities. Either this guy didn’t apply enough grease or use the right grease. Specifically dielectric grease. Or the dielectric grease doesn’t stop the galvanic corrosion from happening. The former is user error, but still problematic from a Nonda perspective because the blame will be directed at Nonda regardless of what the facts are. The latter is a huge problem for Nonda if that’s true. It’s not clear which side of the fence this falls under and I don’t believe that a definitive answer will ever come on that front. But it does merit observation to see if there are any other reports of this. And hopefully if there are, Nonda takes action to mitigate it for their entire customer base.
Another reader pointed me to Amazon where Nonda has an average of 3.6 stars for the Smart Tire Safety Monitor. But when you dig deeper, you’ll see this (click to enlarge):
So 37% of the reviews are 5 stars. And 18% are 4 stars. But they have about 37% 1 and 2 star reviews. If you look at that through the lens of customer sentiment using a “top box” methodology, and make the assumption that 4 and 5 star reviews are your “top box” which are people who are positive or very positive about your product, 3 stars are your “middle box” who are people who are neutral about your product (which means that they can swing towards the “top box” or “bottom box”), and 1 and 2 stars are your “bottom box” which are people who hate or really hate your product, you see that you have a significant camp of people who are not favorable about this product. And another camp who could go in either direction. That’s not good if you’re Nonda. Also of note, you’ll see that people on Amazon are reporting issues with the product beyond galvanic corrosion. That too is not good for Nonda.
This whole situation is really heading to a place that may not end well with Nonda. I suspect that even if they come up with something that remedies these issues, it may not be enough to save this product from going into the dustbin of history. I hope for their sake that I am wrong about this, but at the moment, this isn’t looking too good.
August 12, 2018 at 11:27 pm
It is now August and Nonda has not released a fixed product, and they continue to sell the faulty one, and the complaints are piling up.
August 12, 2018 at 11:48 pm
Count me as a recent and now former customer of Nonda. I did some research last week and then ordered their TPMS kit, only to start having concerns about how easy it really was to get going in practice (drive around for ten minutes to get an accurate reading every time I start the car, for example). Then I came across this massive amount of data on the sensors getting stuck and I am livid that they are still selling this product without warning! And their FAQ says to lube it ***every two weeks*** – absurd! I am returning the kit to Amazon. I also had ordered direct from Nonda their Qualcomm charger and the complete OBD monitoring kit, and I am going to return that unopened. And these people have the nerve to tell me I have to pay for shipping and take responsibility for the product getting back to them! I am going to contact their state attorney general.
Also, what is it with a company that is allegedly based out of California but has a Colombia domain and clearly does not have American English speakers writing their stuff?
This whole outfit smells bad now. Shame on them for continuing to sell a known bad product.
And here it is in August and still no release of a fix. Not to mention hiding this information from new customers. Shame, shame on Nonda.
August 13, 2018 at 7:50 am
You’re not the only one who feels this way as I have seen an influx of complaints about this product recently. I just reposted all of my stories on this on my Twitter feed @The_IT_Nerd to bring this to light.
August 13, 2018 at 7:59 am
Their FAQ just says to oil the sensor. It does not say what kind of oil to use. They really are in over their heads.
August 13, 2018 at 8:04 am
You have to use dielectric grease. From a science perspective, that SHOULD stop this from happening. Key word. SHOULD.
August 13, 2018 at 9:07 am
[…] Tire Monitoring System has back in January of this year. There were a few more articles that I wrote about it since. And I thought that things have quieted down on this front. But in the last two or […]