I'm a new TCH owner. I checked the speedometer reading against the mph reading on my Garmin C330 gps system and noted a 3 mph difference at 60 mph. That's 5%. Anyone with the same problem? The most I have on my Avalon and Highlander is a 1 mph difference. Also, has anyone added aftermaket leather? If so, what was the cost and are you happy with the aftermarket leather? Thanks for your time.

 

I have a 3 week old TCH, about 1200 miles on the odo...I THINK! (maybe it realy only 1100) LOL Anyway, our town recently put one of those raodside radar machines that says you are going "XX"...

Well, when I go by the radar at an indicatded 35, the radar says 32-33, also about 3 mph. I am a little concered by this inaccuracy also, as the reported MPG will be higher than real as well. I always wonder if I am driving too slow now that I have fuel economy at the top of my mind,even when i am driving at what I THINK is the speed limit, and am being tailgated constantly. Perhaps If I increase my speeed by the apparent 10% inaccuracy than I won't get tail-gated as much?

I wonder if it is just off by 3mph at all speeds (or is it 10%) as the above poster indicated his was off by 3 at 60mph?

 

I too have the 3 mph difference compared to the reading on my Garmin C320. It seems to be a consistant 3mph at all speeds.


I had the leather installed after delivery, cost was toyota leather cost. Am happy with the install and the quality thus far. Has only been about 3 weeks since it was installed.

 

This doesn't seem to be a problem isolated to the Hamry. Here's a blog talking about the disparity between speedometer/odometer reading and reality.

http://blogs.kitsapsun.com/kitsap/ro..._accurate.html

 

It's one thing for the speedometer to read slightly higher than the actual speed (less likely to get a speeding ticket).

It's another for the odometer to be off. Has anyone checked the accuracy of their odometer? I don't know if the odometer readings correlate to the speedometer reading on the high side.

 

MY TCH is off a consistent 5% and not 3 MPH at all speeds. That is, it reads 60 when I am going 57, but reads 40 when I am going 38. And I did suspect that Toyota may have done this for two reasons: the warranty issues as described in your link; and the fact that the TCH will show better MPG than it is actually getting, thereby hyping the hybrid's gas savings. Sounds like grounds for a class action lawsuit if everyone is seeing the speedometer always reading a higher speed than reality. And I checked the speedometer reading 2 ways: by stopwatch over a measured mile; and by roadside radar detectors put out by the police. And the 5% error is consistent thru all measuring systems.

P.S. My traded-in 2000 Pontiac Bonneville SST was very accurate with speedometer readings. So I doubt all vendors are doing this across the board as your included link suggests.

 

The odometer is off by 5% as well. Not surprising, since the odometer and speedometer run off the same sensor.

 

My dealer recommended the aftermarket leather installer in my area (Cole Bros) to be sure it met Toyota standards.

They were running a special, $995 incl. tax.

We selected the colors, and it took less than a day.

Looks great, feels great -- recommended.

Note:
When special ordered, the TCH "leather package" includes heated seats and motorized passenger seat which the aftermarket leather does not.

 

It looks TCH meets following "ECE Regulation No. 39".
http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29...egs/39rv1e.pdf

On the last page, it says...
0 < or = display error < or = (real speed)*0.1 + 6km/h

The Japanese Prius displays about 3km/h higher than real speed when the vehicle speed is 40km/h or higher.

Ken@Japan

 

re: Leather

I added leather seats for $1200, and installed heaters for an additional $400. It's summer, so I haven't used the heaters, but the leather seats turned out great. We got a much broader choice of colors, so the wife picked out an Ivory that's significantly lighter than the standard Bisque, and I love it. I made sure that they also covered the center console with leather - it feels so much better resting your arm on leather than plastic, and it looks more integrated.

Well worth the investment - very comfortable on my first long trip.