Just purchased a pre-owned certified 2005 camry with 41,000 miles. First thing I noticed was how quiet the car is. I didn't realize how fast I was going the first couple of days and had to back of the accelerator. One day with my wife in her Murano following me, she passed me and later asked why I was driving so slow. I began to suspect a problem with the speedometer. I compared readings with my Garmin GPS and later again with my wife following me in her Murano. Both indicate the Camry's speedometer reads 3mph high consistently throught the range (10mph - 70mph). Is there a fix for this? Does anyone else have this problem? Does it affect the odometer? I would assume the odometer will accumulate more miles than actual. This would cause the warranty to expire sooner, depreciate the car sooner,as well as make it difficult to calculate mpg and trip destinations.

 

At the tires a differant size then what came as standard equipment?

This error has come up before with other owners. Typically speedometers read high, 10% has come up in various post. Do not what the US standard but it would never read lower then the actual speed.

Yes it does effect the warranty period. Might state this to the dealer and try to get them to make a note in the cars file for future warranty issues but they may just state this is "Normal." Don't expect them to attempt to fix it.

Thought Honda was sued over this type issue and as a result extened its warranty mileage period.

 

If you can locate a certified odometer/speedometer test site that's worth driving to then you could get an "official" read-out of how far it's off, then take that to Toyo. Try googling for a test facility. I think there is one in VA. Maybe your local police can provide you with a test site.

 

There are a few conspiracy theories regarding the fact that many newer cars' speedometers are manufactured to read slightly higher than actual speed.

- your warranty will expire sooner
- your miles per gallon will seem higher
- you cannot sue the mfr when you get a speeding ticket by saying that you were utilizing a speedometer that reads low

 

Tires are standard size (205 65 R15). I would be curious if any other Camry owners experience this. If you have a GPS it is easy to compare. You can also test your speed accuracy if your highway has mile markers. Please let me know if I have a unique problem.

 

There are international and USA standards on accuracy but apparently they are not enforced at least in the US.

More then one car owner has had their warranty claim denied because the car was 1-2K miles outside of the warranty mileage coverage. Yet the error rate over a warranty period of 36K miles (a standard warranty mileage period) and 80K (federal and some state manadated period on some emissions equipment) could exceed this amount.

 

Well, took it to the dealer and they claim nothing is wrong. Has anyone ever compared their speed to a GPS or another car? I wonder if my Camry is unique or are all Camry's off.

 

Many Camry owners have found the speedo off in just the same way you have, this is a common find.

3 MPH is not that much, some owners have 10 MPH.

 

Hmm.. I think sestivers' conspiracy theories were quite true in a way. If you reached 1-2K miles outside of the warranty mileage coverage then you're done!
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Yes, I've used my TomTom ONE 3rd edition nav. system.

Speed reported on my 1998 Camry speedo was 1-2 MPH higher than GPS calculation.

Speed reported on my2001Sienna speedo was3-4 MPH higher than GPS calculation.

However, I'm not convinced of the absolute accuracy of the GPS calculation since it's based on satellites and notradar or laser.

I suppose one's best bet (barring the previous track suggestion) would be to get a cop with a known good (i.e. well-calibrated) radar gun to check your speed.