Inaccurate outside temperature display
 

I've become quite frustrated with this reading. I've noticed two things about the exterior temperature display:
-it takes forever to level out after being somewhere hot (like in a garage or parked in the sun)
-it never displays the correct temperature. It always reads 5-7 degrees too high.

Has anyone else had problems like this? I'm wondering if my temperature sensor needs to be recalibrated/replaced or is the sensor just located in a really crappy location where its readings are corrupted by artificial heat sources.

Any info on this would be appreciated. (I did a topic search but nothing came up).

From my experience this is pretty typical with all cars. I'm not sure where they mount the sensor but it seems to get very hot sitting.

I've had that featue in my last 4 or 5 cars and none of them have been very accurate. Consequently I don't pay that much attention to it.

I don't have an issue with it being way too hot from sitting. I do have an issue with it being 5-7 degrees off 30 minutes later (and staying that inaccurate). My last car's outside temperature sensor had no such problems.

i agree i also find the reading to be WAY off sometimes, like reading 30+C when it's only 15C and not correcting for long periods after.

my old car used to be very accurate even after it was sitting in the sun.

In the summer time I suppose it's just something "handy" to know, and in this day and age checking a more accurate temperature on your smartphone is just a click away.

However in the winter time it can be quite important to know what the local "on the ground" temperature is if you are concerned about freezing road conditions. By all accounts this car's temp sensor will fail at that miserably.

What difference does it make?

Do you keep your wardrobe in your trunk and it makes your testicles freeze off if the temp is not accurate with 5 degrees?

IMO it's a worthless "feature" to add to a list. Much like clicks on a cheap coilover...

What difference does it make? It's a feature on the car that doesn't work properly.

Thus I don't see the harm in posting on here to see if it's a common occurrence or not. You'll have to excuse me for wanting everything on my brand new car to function properly.

OMG LEMON LAW

When you say the temperature reading on your car is 5-7 degrees too high, what are you comparing with? IF you're comparing with your local weather report, you need to keep in mind that temperature at where you are and where the weather station is could be different. When comparing the car's thermometer reading with another device's temperature reading, there will always be anomalies. Cars also produce quite a bit of heat, so no matter where they install the thermometer on the car, it'll always be reading the temp differently from the air a distance away.

I'm not saying that our car thermometer reading is 100% accurate, but i find the accuracy is within an acceptable range. Just like how our wrist watch or clocks at home is not going to be the same preciseness as the atomic clock in Colorado. Or that your car's speedometer does not indicate the same speed reading as a laser gun's reading. So basically what my point is, this shouldn't be something of a concern, it'll do the job ;)

The sensor is mounted just in front of the radiator on the passenger side. I have found that mine is always very accurate once I get it some air flow at speed for a couple of minutes, and I have a big intercooler in the way. There is no way it is 5 to 7 degrees off in my car.

^that leads me to believe this is something wrong and should be looked at by the dealership. After a 30 minute drive of 75% highway driving my temp sensor is still off a lot (this being my daily commute to/from work). Thanks for your input.

I'm comparing it to my experiences with my last car, S2000. That car's temperature readings were always within 1-2 degrees of what temperature my phone's weather app stated (which references the closest weather station). Unless I was sitting in bumper to bumper stop and go traffic on the interstate in broad sunlight that car's temp sensor was always accurate.

as an example I just got home from driving around for 45 min, prob averaged around 35 mph. Temp gauge currently says 92. Meanwhile it's 84 outside. That's not even close.

There's a temperature gauge somewhere on our car..? :rolleyes: