I have noticed that my Aveo speedometer is off about 10% and have found that many other people have had the same problem. There is even a Technical Service Bulletin about it. The thing is, there are conflicts about whether or not there is a fix for this problem.
Has anyone else noticed this problem and had it fixed? What did it take to get it fixed?
I am one to drive strictly to the speed limit and never had any problems with speedometers before. My odometer is working perfectly.
Just about every car I’ve owned has had a speedometer that reads high. My present Passat reads a fairly constant 3-4 mph high.
As long as you know the error, you can correct for it.
5-10% is not an error it is intentional. The manufacturer wants to make sure you don’t come back on them if you are speeding and have an accident or ticket.
They are adjustable. How depends on the car. I don’t know about yours. It will not be covered under the warranty.
BTW how did you measure the error?
For me, I know it is off so I just mentally adjust.
Fed safety regulations require the speedometer to meet certain specs. Essentially they can’t read slower than the car is travelling. I am not sure, but I think they are set for the larger tires you might choose to buy.
Thanks for everybody’s response. From what I know, the average errors on U.S. cars are around 3 or 4%, but I’ve never had a car be inaccurate unless I messed with the size of the tires, etc. I had one car that was about 1% lower than actual speed.
If there is a TSB, it is probably a covered repair. I have a warranty on electrical items, anyway. I guess the problem is in the dash and it might just be a poor design.
In my neighborhood, we have speed sensing signs and they’ve always been accurate, but it’s entirely possible that something happened to them, lately, too. I just think it’s weird that the day I drive my old car to the dealer, it’s reading fine against this sign and when I drive the new car back (the same day or next), it reads high.
I can also check it against mile markers and other known measured miles, too.
Mostly, I’m not overly concerned, but I really like to drive the speed limit and with photo radar and everything in some cities, I want to be extra careful. At the same time, I don’t want to infuriate my neighbors with driving too slow as most people drive more than 10 MPH over the speed limit on this street.
Yeah, but I really hate not knowing for sure. I drive slow, anyway, but I sometimes drive through areas where the local police or highway patrol officers are really strict on speeding, even if you are going slower than everyone else.
Thanks for answering. Aveos have little clearance for anything larger than what I have on right now, though I have heard people putting rims 3 inches bigger on these things. But, I think something is wrong with the initial calibration of the speedometer.