[8735rod]

I have 2006 TDI jetta with about 4000 miles on the clock. I noticed that when driving to known destination miles are off on trip odometer. I checked my highway speed it too is about 7 miles per hour slow. Took it to local dealer and he said "oh don't worry about it they all do that." Have been back three times and still no fix it just sits outside til I pick it up. I don't think its right, contacted VW and have not gotton a reply. Tell me what do you think???
thanks

 

[GoFaster]

Speedometer is known to read higher than actual speed, and this is deliberate. It is a requirement of regulations that a speedometer never read lower than the actual speed, and this has to be true for the worst-case tire/wheel combination that is approved for that vehicle. The Mk5's speedometer error seems to be somewhat greater than most, but still, since it is a designed-in feature there is nothing that can be fixed. VW is correct in not doing anything about it. In fact, they issued a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) saying pretty much the same thing I just said, and ordering the dealers to not change any parts.
The odometer is accurate within a couple of percent - again, some allowance has to be made for tire sizes.
If you are driving to a "known destination", how are you establishing the distance to get to that destination with absolute certainty? Are you sure there is no error in your "reference distance"?

 

[DieselMike]

Re: (GoFaster)

To me, thats not right of VW. You pay well over $20K for a new car and would expect the speedometer and odometer to be accurate. Maybe I am missing something here... I myself depend on the odometer for work and speedometer for speed, and if it is off, thats not right. I have an 05 Jetta TDI wagon, andI would hope that it is working properly.

 

[GoFaster]

Read what I said again.
Your odometer is accurate within a couple of percent; there is some unavoidable uncertainty due to the range of tire sizes and an allowance for tread wear (which reduces the rolling diameter of the tire). You are not getting cheated out of "mileage money" at work; you are not overpaying your lease payment. The odometer on my Mk5 is well within 1% of the kilometers indicated on highway markers on trips of several hundred kilometers.
The speedometer reads high, and so do ALL vehicle speedometers. They are REQUIRED by regulations, both here and in Europe, to never read lower than the actual speed even with the worst-case tire/wheel combination under worst-case treadwear conditions.
EVERY vehicle speedometer reads high. EVERY SINGLE ONE. They are REQUIRED to. The only difference is the AMOUNT that they read high, and that depends on the range of tire sizes that the manufacturer approves.
On the Mk5, the speedometer reads around 5% higher than actual speed. If you KNOW this, and you know what the local police will put up with, you can take this into account ...
WHY IS IT LIKE THIS?
Think of what would happen if a manufacturer ever produced a vehicle in which the speedometer showed less than the actual speed. (Remember, there is no such thing as perfection, there is always some error. Yes, the rotation speed of the wheel is known with digital precision, but the circumference of that wheel is not.) The lawyers would have a field day in court as a result of all the people blaming their speed (or their accident) on the wrong speedometer.

 

[dieselfolk]

Re: (GoFaster)

yea my g/f 's mk4 is always reading 5 mph fast
ive verified this by those boxes on the side of the road that tell you your speed in the construction zones
most seem to read a little fast,unless you have switched to taller tires,even all the way back to the rabbits
actually my rabbit only reads 2 or 3mph faster than actual speed checked by these boxes
im runnin 195-60 -14 i think well whatever came stock on steel wheels from a 98 jetta thats my tire size


Modified by dieselfolk at 10:33 PM 8-21-2006

 

[DieselMike]

Re: (dieselfolk)

To me, that is still messed up. I use my odometer for work, and if it is off, I can either no make enough, or whatever. Also, the true mileage of a vehicle is off enough. I don't know what it would be for every 50K or so. Even if it is 5-7mph faster that seems to be too much. Maybe 1-2mph would be OK, but 5-7 seems excessive. Just my .02.

 

[GoFaster]

JEEZ how hard is it to make people understand.
YOUR ODOMETER IS CORRECT (within ~1%). You are not getting cheated out of mileage money for work and you are not getting cheated out of lease mileage.
Just because the speedometer shows high DOES NOT MEAN that the odometer is also wrong. It isn't.

 

[G60ING]

Re: (DieselMike)

all the VWs I've had have been 3mph too fast and this goes back to the madates in europe requiring manufactures speedos to not read below the actual speed.
I would not trust the use of another vehicle's speedo in checking the calibration of a speedo. Go to speedo calibration shop and have it checked. if its more then 3mph I would be surprised. The test costs all of $40. You could also find one of those speed boxes that state your speed. I drive through one everyday and check the speed in the vehicle I'm driving.


Modified by G60ING at 1:07 PM 8-22-2006

 

[TexasVWdriver]

Re: (GoFaster)

Go out onto the interstate. Stop at a mile marker. Reset your trip meter. Then drive down the road and see what your trip meter says compared to each mile marker. That way you'll know exactly how far off your odometer is. And with that info, you should be able to calculate if your speedo is reading fast, or slow, and by how much.

 

[G60ING]

Re: (TexasVWdriver)

Quote, originally posted by TexasVWdriver »

Go out onto the interstate. Stop at a mile marker. Reset your trip meter. Then drive down the road and see what your trip meter says compared to each mile marker. That way you'll know exactly how far off your odometer is. And with that info, you should be able to calculate if your speedo is reading fast, or slow, and by how much.

very true. For every second under or over 1 minute for a mile this roughly equals 1% off.

 

[GoFaster]

Even the mile markers are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. If the highway in question is very straight, they are probably quite good, but if the highway has been "straightened" or rerouted at some time in the past, the possibility exists that they adjusted the markers a little bit so as to not have to relocate every mile marker by 10 yards (or whatever) from here to the other end of the state ...

 

[KubotaPowered]

Re: (GoFaster)

Bottom line don't worry about it. I know for a fact that mine is 4MPH fast, do I care? Not at all!!

 

[8735rod]

Thanks for all the imput! Checking with federal regulations, Car that is 7 miles per hour off,slow, and odometer the same violates Federal rulings-just checked and thats what they told me-for what its worth-thanks again

 

[dieselfolk]

Re: (GoFaster)

Quote, originally posted by GoFaster »

Even the mile markers are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. If the highway in question is very straight, they are probably quite good, but if the highway has been "straightened" or rerouted at some time in the past, the possibility exists that they adjusted the markers a little bit so as to not have to relocate every mile marker by 10 yards (or whatever) from here to the other end of the state ...

thats what im sayin,, we dont need to use those "yardsticks" anymore...... (look out for the bear at the 226 yardstick,all you truckers! lol)on the side of the road,now we use those new "your speed is" displays,,,you havent seen these yet????

 

[Rabbit TDi]

Re: (DieselMike)

Quote, originally posted by DieselMike »

To me, thats not right of VW. You pay well over $20K for a new car and would expect the speedometer and odometer to be accurate.

Exactly. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
Now in my 79 Rabbit It says I am doing 20 but when I played around with one of those "on the side of the road lighted up speed telling" things it said I was doing 23...glad I know this because of those hefty school zone fines.
My 2002 Jetta speedo would say 60 and I was really doing something like 57.

 

[Godlike]

Re: (Rabbit TDi)

i love my GPSRD. it's not perfect but it's better than the speedometer, and the the road signs that get knocked over and may or may may not be put back correctly.
having the speedo off by a few MPH has been pretty common knowledge for years, guys.. get over it.. if you want to play with things, get tires that are off by the 'correct' % and that'll take care of a fare amount of your woes..

iirc, you can adjust this with a vag-com as well..

 

[RatRedux]

Re: 2006 Jetta is Dealer lieing-I think so, How about you (8735rod)

A speedometer reading 7 mph off is not "reasonable".