Odometer (Not Trip-meter) resets itself

UPDATED: Odometer (Not Trip-meter) resets itself

Yep, every 2.5 miles my odometer resets itself from 323 to 320. It clicks over to 321 in ~.1 miles, counts normally up to 323 and then resets back to 320 again.

The car is less than 2 weeks old and everything else is working fine. I noticed this after my first fill up when I reset the trip-meter for MPG monitoring. Since then I have driven about 60 miles with the stupid thing hiccuping again and again. (and again and again and.....)

I have turned the car off and on several times, but the cycle keeps repeating.

Any suggestions before I (shudder) call the dealer.

Any recommendations for warranty service on Long Island? I bought the car at Donaldsons, but I'm certainly not married to them.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Update 3: Problem fixed under warranty. Read post below.

Maybe the car is in 'Transport mode'. Take it to the dealer and have them fix it.

When they do the PDI, they are supposed to do this. (Pre Delivery Inspection?)

Bill

Oh, well. I was hoping there was a trick that someone here might have known, since a trip to the dealer isn't going to be possible for at least a week.

Thanks for the quick reply!

guess your warranty will last forever !

JASONP said:

guess your warranty will last forever !

Click to expand...

I have to admit that was my first thought, too

For all of us, you just gotta run for awhile to see if the system corrects itself.

Inquiring minds want to know!

I'd be interested to know if a VCDS scan will read the same mileage as the main odo or an actual distance that might be elsewhere in the ECU or Instrument Cluster

Mr. Timewise said:

For all of us, you just gotta run for awhile to see if the system corrects itself.

Inquiring minds want to know!

I'd be interested to know if a VCDS scan will read the same mileage as the main odo or an actual distance that might be elsewhere in the ECU or Instrument Cluster

Click to expand...

I'm going to be working every day through next Thursday so I'll be putting at least another 200-300 miles on the car before I get a chance to get it to the dealer, but so far it's been doing this every 2.5 miles for ~60 miles.

I'll be sure to post if it clears up magically on its' own or keeps going until the dealer looks at it.

I would be interested as well, because the trip-meter seems to be working fine. Anyone out there with a VCDS want to hook up before I take it in for repair?

I have to remind myself to look at the fuel consumption number, because (theoretically) I'm using fuel but not going anywhere (at least as far as the odometer is concerned). Any of the gurus here know how the car computes that number?

that's one I haven't heard before , interested to see what happens.

now this is an interesting one...wish I had something for ya

Update 1

I watched the fuel consumption number for a few miles and it seems basically unaffected, though it's a bit jumpy. Probably due to low total mileage and the fact that I'm trying to vary my driving speed for break-in purposes, right?

Also, looked at the service interval number and it is counting down as it should, dropping from 9600 to 9500 this morning.

So it would appear that something, somewhere in the computers is keeping an accurate tally of the true mileage on the car.


I notice that people are using the word "interesting" in regard to this issue and it reminds me of a quote I've heard that can be taken as either a blessing or a curse:

"May you live in interesting times."

So glad that I get to be the one to drive an 'interesting' car

One of my friends that has a A4 has told me that it keeps resetting to 170k . Every time he hits 179k it drops back down to 170,000 . I think it has done it like 6 or 7 times at this point . I wonder if the ECU is keeping track of the real miles ????????????? Is there anyway to tell on a A4 body car ???????

Update 2

Finally had a day off where I could get the car to the dealership. Overall, not a bad experience. Less than 2 hours from sign-in to drive out.

End result: They are ordering a new instrument cluster. It will be in sometime early next week and I'll have to take the car back in to have it replaced.

Update 3

Dealership ended up replacing the entire instrument cluster.

Gives me a pretty good feeling about the dealership but not-so-much about the car.

The odometer now tracks correctly, but has the wrong mileage on it. Odd considering the service interval counter reads 9,000 miles until service even though the broken odometer only indicated 323. Something in the car is counting correctly, but it didn't tell the odometer when they replaced it.

This is only an issue if I sell the car since I will have to check the box on the title that says the odometer is incorrect and I don't know the actual mileage. Yeah, it's only ~700 miles, but it's still a red flag for some people.

I guess I'll just have to keep it forever

What do they replace when they say instrument cluster, is it just an electronic board in the dash or are all the gauges replaced as well?

The entire instrument cluster...gauges and all...is replaced. The cluster has one electrical connector and two screws which hold it in place. The physical exchange of a cluster takes two minutes. The computerized automatic reprogramming of the electronics which "adapts" the immobilizer to the ECU and the mating of the car keys to the immobilizer takes about 7 minutes.

Yep, the whole shebang according to the service writer. He also said that the techs in the shop didn't do anything but the physical swap. They had to connect the car to their network so that someone in Germany could do the computer reprogramming.

Supposedly this dealership (Donaldson's VW in Sayville, NY) has the only "Grand Poobah level certified technician" on Long Island. Comforting that even he couldn't do this minor job...

Where was that thread about doing your own maintenance again?

Agontyr said:

Dealership ended up replacing the entire instrument cluster.

Gives me a pretty good feeling about the dealership but not-so-much about the car.

The odometer now tracks correctly, but has the wrong mileage on it. Odd considering the service interval counter reads 9,000 miles until service even though the broken odometer only indicated 323. Something in the car is counting correctly, but it didn't tell the odometer when they replaced it.

This is only an issue if I sell the car since I will have to check the box on the title that says the odometer is incorrect and I don't know the actual mileage. Yeah, it's only ~700 miles, but it's still a red flag for some people.

I guess I'll just have to keep it forever

Click to expand...

I wouldn't let something like that slide. If you did have to resell, an "unknown" mileage pre-owned vehicle will be worth considerably less than a clean title counterpart.

You should have full documentation from the dealership saying the cluster was replaced immediately when the issue was identified. Nevertheless, used car buyers will question it but at least you have proof.

In some states, a label with the date of odo swap and pertaining info will have to be pasted in the drivers doorjamb.

About 7 years back, I bought 1995 Honda Accord that had only about 3600 miles on the odo. The car had a label on the doorjamb with the mileage at the time of replacement and the signature of the authorized person at that shop that replaced and all that good stuff.

I am going through the same exact issue with my 2011 sportwagen. Odometer read 13737, 38, 39, 40, 37, 38..........

So there replacing insterment cluster. I also had a problem with the imobileizer, where the car wouldnt start. And my odometer stopped working shortly after they fixed it.

dealership says this wont affect value, and being a lease i will not have any problem trading it in. I call BS. I intended on buying the car, but why should I pay full price let alone want a car thats value is reduced due to mileage unknown?

Since VW wont stand behind there product, does anyone know if there is a class action lawsuit about the issues?