‘Look at This. Tell Me What’s Wrong:’ Man’s Wife Has A Volkswagen Atlas. He Can’t Tell if the Speedometer Works

'German to English translation.'

Photo by: Unsplash.com

By: Nina Hernandez

Jul 1, 2025 at 5:00am ET

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A man hops into his wife’s beloved Volkswagen Atlas and is immediately confused by how the speedometer is labeled. Luckily, the internet was around to offer an easy explanation.

TikTok user Nick (@younglawyer) posed the question in a video posted on Saturday. “Listen, maybe I’m an idiot, but can someone explain this to me, please?” he says to start the video. “My wife has a Volkswagen Atlas. Look at the speedometer. Look at this. Tell me what’s wrong.”

He then turns his camera around to show the speedometer in question. “You guys see those little lines? And the little lines, each one is the same distance apart?” he asks. “Tell me why it goes space, line, 5, space, 10, space, 20—OK, whoa, that was a huge jump—and then, small space between 20 and 25.”

He points out the inconsistent spacing and numbering. “The math’s not mathing. Maybe it’s girl math. I don’t know. Let me know,” he says.

Viewers Suggest It’s Because Volkswagen Is German

In the comments section, viewers jumped in to help. Several pointed out that because Volkswagen is a German automaker, its speedometers are designed to accommodate both kilometers per hour (kph) and miles per hour (mph). Of course, that design would lead to uneven spacing when the gauge is marked in mph.

One person speculated, “It would be evenly spaced for kilometers. They just put mph digits wherever they lined up appropriately, maybe? Weird no matter what.”

A second person said, “It’s not because it’s kph, it’s because they want to use the same gauge for kph and mph and the font would be too small if you used 10 unit major increments all the way through the range. It is weird they have two different range increments. It’s probably they just wanted highway speeds for both kph and mph to be near the top.”

A third user joked, “German to English translation.”

How Does the Global Auto Market Play into This?

Some users in the comments section implied that not designing a speedometer especially for the US market reflected poorly on Volkswagen’s commitment to design. But it’s important to note that automakers frequently share parts and source parts from other countries to keep prices down. That’s why the industry balked at US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariff hike.

It makes sense that certain parts of the vehicle you bought from a German company would be designed with the idea that it would eventually be sold in countries around the world.

How to Change the Units of Measure in Your Volkswagen

What do you think?

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Depending on the model, it’s fairly easy to change the units of measurement in your Volkswagen from imperial to metric and back. Drivers can do this by going into their vehicle’s settings menu. Myers Hunt Club Volkswagen offers this helpful tutorial on YouTube.

Motor1 reached out to Nick via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.