[Spoolmak]

Bought car new in March 2012. We are very happy with it, but have always wondered why we had to 'speed' to keep up with traffic. It turns out the speedo reads 7% high. Checked this with our other vehicle driving in tandem, and then with external gps which can display speed. When speedo reads 107 kph, actual speed is 100kph. I immediately thought tires are the culprit, but both sets are 94H spec tires. The service department at the dealership tells me they cannot flash the cpu to adjust the speed algorithm.

Initially it was not a big deal to me. Then I started thinking about warranty tied to kilometers on the odometer, and realized that when my odometer turns 100,000 km, the car will only have travelled 93,000 km. The extended turbo warranty is good to 193,000 km, but the car will only have travelled 179,490 km when that warranty expires. That bothers me!

The other thought I just had on this is that the fuel consumption rate is 7% higher than the advertised claims. Our car is not getting 60 mpg on the highway, but only 55.8 mpg.

Is this problem common to all North American Passats 2012 and newer? Is it only a particular year or years? Your comments will be much appreciated.

 

[Spoolmak]

That thought crossed my mind. Unfortunately we only have one dealership in this area. The others are 100 and 150 miles away. I am going to contact VW Customer Service to see what they say and go.from there.

Tor

 

[Spoolmak]

So here's the official VW Canada explanation (probably applies to US as well.) VW as well as other auto companies manufacturing vehicles in the U.S. have deliberately set up their vehicle speedometer displays to read high. The degree to which the speedo reads high varies by manufacturer. In the 2012 to 2014 Passat models the reading is 7.6% high. That has been changed to 4% high in the 2015 year. However, the control module for the odometer is calibrated differently and gives a very accurate reading of distance travelled. VW understood the concern about potential earlier expiration of warranty due to higher readings. This also means that mpg or liters per hundred km travelled readings are accurate. The reason for the higher speedo readings is simply to make people think they are going faster than they really are with a net effect of slower, hence safer traffic. Interesting! And NO, there is no way to adjust the speedo reading.
I can live with that. Still love the care!!
Tor

 

[Spoolmak]

1998redwagon,
I actually tried that feature, but it does not address the speedo concern. It is under the winter tire option in setup. What it will do is flash a warning at you in the dash display when you exceed the speed you select in the setup to remind you that it is winter and you are going too darn fast..... Quite useful for novice drivers, and those of us not novices, but born with lead feet. Actually also quite useful for those of us who have snow and ice on roads for months each year. We do, and I think all of us know the feeling of speed creeping up on longer road trips, despite icy roads. This feature instantly alerts you when you exceed the threshold you set. Definitely a good feature.