I've an old van whos speedo has stopped working.  Again.  I'm not going to replace the instrument cluster and bits of the wiring.  Again.

 

I've been using a sat nav to tell how fast I'm going - I'm hoping there is something out there that's less than £20 or so and will tell me my speed.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Should also add that I'd prefer not to use apps... my current tariff is data expensive.

Edited 1 December, 201510 yr by jme808

A bicycle speedo?

Shorts; speedos should be banned.

From 2012 no working speedometer is an MOT failure.

Speedometer

The car will fail if a speedometer is not fitted, is incomplete, inoperative, has a dial glass broken/missing or cannot be illuminated.

Plenty of kit cars have passed the SVA with bicycle style electronic speedos

I've an old van whos speedo has stopped working.  Again.  I'm not going to replace the instrument cluster and bits of the wiring.  Again.

 

I've been using a sat nav to tell how fast I'm going - I'm hoping there is something out there that's less than £20 or so and will tell me my speed.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Should also add that I'd prefer not to use apps... my current tariff is data expensive.

 

 

GPS is independent of data network. Torque or Torque Pro on a smart phone will show GPS speed even if run stand alone without any feeds from OBD2. It would be better to invest in a modern GPS unit rather than rely on the tiny AGPS/GPS/aerial in the average smartphone however. Dunno if you'll do it for £20, even these days.

Even freebies like Navi show the speed based on GPS signals - assuming your phone has a GPS sensor. The speed readings will be a lot more accurate as well, unless you habitually drive in very built up city centres with lots of tall buildings (you can lose the signal).

From 2012 no working speedometer is an MOT failure.

Speedometer

The car will fail if a speedometer is not fitted, is incomplete, inoperative, has a dial glass broken/missing or cannot be illuminated.

 

It's not a car though - the test criteria is different for commercial vehicles.  It's gone through the last 3 MOTs with no working speedo.

 

Plenty of kit cars have passed the SVA with bicycle style electronic speedos

 

I might have a look into that - I thought the higher speed might confuse things... Thanks.  I didn't know that about GPS either - always assumed it was data.  I've learned 2 things today... I'll have a day off tomorrow.

 

The service history is great though - it's only done 1000 miles in the last 4 years...

It's not a car though - the test criteria is different for commercial vehicles. It's gone through the last 3 MOTs with no working speedo.

That explains my Daily Dice With Death Commute on the M8!

"GPS test" on Android is free, has no ads as far as I can see on mine, and can show your speed, and doesn't need a data plan.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en_GB

GPS is not acceptable on the SVA test, so I doubt it will be on a Commercial MOT.