A car clock is often wrong after daylight saving time because many cars get the time from GPS, and GPS sends the time but not your local daylight saving rules. The usual fix is to find the clock menu, turn the daylight saving setting on or off, or turn off automatic sync and set the time by hand. Some cars also have a second clock in the instrument cluster that must be set separately.
U.S. clocks fall back on Sunday, November 1, 2026, and move forward again on Sunday, March 14, 2027, under the current rules. If your car is an hour off after the change, you’re in good company. Owners on Ford, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Acura, Subaru and Chevy forums describe the same problem, in some cases year after year. The details differ by car, so this guide is organized around what you see.
Why a Car Clock Misses Daylight Saving Time
Cars take the time from a few places: GPS, your paired phone, a cellular connection, or the clock you set by hand. A forum member on a Lexus thread explained that GPS handles time zones when you cross a boundary, but automatic daylight saving would need the car to know your region’s rules, and that without updates it can’t. That’s one owner’s explanation, not a statement from Lexus. It does fit the many reports below of clocks that were right until the clocks changed.
A second cause is that a car can have more than one clock. A Prius owner on PriusChat found one in the instrument cluster and another in the navigation system. The daylight saving setting moved the navigation clock, but not the cluster clock. On a 2011 Lexus, a poster said the navigation screen changed but the digital clock by the radio did not.
Find Your Problem
Start with what you see:
| What you see | Likely cause | Try this |
|---|---|---|
| Clock exactly one hour off | The daylight saving setting is wrong | Fix 1 |
| Clock reverts after you set it | Automatic sync (GPS, phone or cell) is overriding you | Fix 2 |
| The + / – buttons do nothing | Automatic sync locks the manual buttons | Fix 3 |
| Nav screen is right, dash clock is wrong | Two separate clocks | Fix 4 |
| Clock is right, but arrival times are off | The navigation’s own time setting | See the section on navigation below |
| Time jumps hours or resets to a past date | Cell-based time source | Fix 5 |
Screenshot this table so you have it next November.
Fix 1: Check the Daylight Saving Setting
Look in the same menu as the clock for a daylight saving or “summer time” option. A reply on a Ford Explorer forum gave the path Menu > Clock > Daylight Saving Time, and said turning it off put the clock on standard time. A Mazda owner on a Mazda forum said unchecking the daylight saving box fixed his new CX-5, which was an hour off. Another poster on the same thread said the box needs checking or unchecking by hand each season. These are menu paths from 2012 to 2024 posts, so yours may look different.
Fix 2: Turn GPS or Automatic Sync On, Then Off
Owners disagree on this one. On the Mazda thread, one owner with a 2016.5 CX-5 set the time zone, kept daylight saving on and turned GPS-driven changes off, and the clock didn’t change. When he turned GPS on, it corrected itself “a second or two later,” though he hadn’t yet seen whether it would repeat next season. Another owner with a CX-50 set the time by hand, turned GPS on again, and the clock went back to the wrong time. A Subaru Legacy owner on a CarTalk thread had the clock on “Auto” from a paired Bluetooth device: manual worked, but switching back to Auto reverted it. No one in that thread reported a fix.
Fix 3: Turn Off Auto Adjust and Set It by Hand
Sometimes the buttons won’t work until you turn the automatic feature off. A Subaru service bulletin hosted on the NHTSA site covers 2015 Legacy and Outback models with the Fujitsu Ten navigation system. It says the + and – buttons don’t work when GPS auto-adjustment is selected, and the fix is to turn off “Auto Adjust by GPS” under Settings > General > Clock. After the change, it reminds the technician to confirm the time zone and daylight saving selections. That is Subaru’s guidance for those models only.
Set the clock while the car is parked.
Fix 4: Find the Second Clock
On the Prius thread, owners said the cluster clock is set with steering wheel buttons, and one said the car had to be started for that method to work. Another had a service technician set it. A different Prius owner said that in their experience the clock on those generations was never updated by GPS or radio, and that the daylight saving setting only affects navigation arrival times. Check your owner’s manual for a section on setting the cluster or instrument panel clock.
Fix 5: If Your Car Takes the Time From a Cellular Link
Chevy Bolt owners on a Bolt forum described clocks that were wrong by hours or reset to old dates. Their reports varied: some said waiting a day fixed it, some toggled between manual and automatic and held the correct time, one said it corrected itself a few minutes into a drive after the fall change, and one said the dealer’s OnStar reprogramming fixed it after several visits. Another poster linked it to an OnStar trial, which was a theory and not confirmed. Cell-based clocks may depend on a working connection, so a dealer may be your best next stop.
Reports by Car Brand
These are forum reports, not our tests.
| Car | Reported behavior | Date of report |
|---|---|---|
| Ford Explorer | GPS sync gave the wrong time; daylight saving off or manual setting worked | Undated posts (2012 and 2016 models) |
| Toyota Prius | Two clocks; cluster clock set manually | Mar 2017 thread |
| Lexus LX | GPS doesn’t update daylight saving; manual change reported | Nov 2017 thread |
| Acura RDX | Clock and arrival times an hour off; only manual setting worked for the original poster | Mar 2020 thread |
| Mazda CX-5 / CX-50 | Mixed: some auto-corrected, some needed a box toggled | Nov 2024 thread |
| Subaru Legacy | Auto reverted after manual set; no fix found | Apr 2023 thread |
| Chevy Bolt | Cell-based; waiting, toggling or dealer reprogramming | Undated posts (2017 and 2019 models) |
When the Clock Is Right but Arrival Times Are Wrong
Several posters said the clock looked fine but the navigation’s estimated arrival time was an hour off. An Acura owner said his clock was correct and only the nav estimate was wrong, and he avoided it by using Google Maps through Apple CarPlay. If your car supports it, that’s one option. Otherwise treat arrival times with caution until the nav setting is corrected.
If Nothing Works
Manual setting is the answer most threads end up with. You change it twice a year, and it holds until the next change. A stick-on clock gives you a correct time at a glance without touching the infotainment screen. The same kind of time-sync trouble shows up in smart plugs, and our guide to a smart plug schedule after a power outage explains how lost clocks throw off timed devices. If you use schedules at home, see how vacation mode schedules depend on a correct clock and time zone.
👉 Browse Stick-On Car Dashboard Clocks | Browse Magnetic Car Phone Mounts
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my car clock an hour off after daylight saving time? Many cars get the time from GPS or a phone and don’t apply local daylight saving rules by themselves. Check the daylight saving setting in the clock menu, or turn off automatic sync and set the time by hand.
How do I change the clock in my car for daylight saving time? Open the clock or time settings in the infotainment menu and look for a daylight saving option. If the + and – buttons don’t work, turn off automatic GPS adjustment first, then set the time while parked.
Why does my car clock reset after I change it? Automatic sync from GPS, your phone or a cell connection can override your manual setting. Turn off the automatic option, then set the time again.
Why are my car’s arrival times wrong but the clock is right? Some cars use a separate time setting for navigation estimates. Owners report that the daylight saving setting affects arrival times only. Check the nav or clock menus, or use a phone map app.
Do all cars change the clock automatically? No. Reports on forums show some cars do and some don’t, even within the same model. Check your owner’s manual and expect to adjust it by hand twice a year if needed.
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Sources: NHTSA — Subaru Service Information 15-174-14, Clock Time Will Not Adjust or Displays Dashes (2014) | Ford Explorer Forums — Daylight savings and GPS sync | PriusChat — Clock didn’t adjust to Daylight Savings Time | Club Lexus — Daylight Saving time is not working | Mazdas247 — Daylight Savings Time, Too Tough for Mazda? | Acurazine — Force Time Update | CarTalk Community — Auto clock adjustment misses DST every year (2019 Subaru Legacy) | Chevy Bolt EV Forum — Clock wrong after time is set manually