Dashboard and key glitches. Car wont turn off

odd that it worked for a week with a new key. could be a bad dash meter, or loose connexion back at the 12v.

 

Search for "Combination Meter Problems" your symptoms sound familiar!

 

Sadly combo meter is covered 9 years only, and most Gen2 have that issue...maybe I better not replace my 12v battery

what model year?....you got 9 years to fix free

 

Yep, classic combination meter (CM) symptoms. Usually worse in cold. By the way, the car will still drive and you need to hold the button more than 3 sec to turn it off. No odometer, and something funny about the rear hatch not working too.

Since you're out of warranty, I think the easiest thing to do is get one of eBay vendors to repair it for you. If you're handy with basic tools, you can do the tear down yourself in a few hours.

 

There was a thread about this about a week ago. It happened to me too.

 

I replaced my 12v battery a few weeks ago and having been experiencing problem with combination meter not lighting up too. For me tho, it seems like not only the combination meter, but part of the car's system just doesn't seem to be on. No instantaneous MPG reading on the energy monitor, no cruise control, no warning beep sound, etc. Unplugging and re-plugging the 12v battery does make everything normal again but the next time I start the car cold it often just happens again. I did have this issue before replacing the battery but not as frequent. Is it the combination meter problem or is it my new batter is still bad?

 

disconnect the negative battery cable from the body.
leave the drivers door open
watch the dash for the red warning light that the door is open as you touch the ground cable to the body..(it will spark)
if you see the red light keep the wire in place and put the bolt back in and tighten it.. (dash should work)
if you don't see the red light the dash will not work when you put the cable back ..keep touching the ground to the body until you see the door warning light.
I have no idea why these cars do this but I had a problem when I changed the 12 volt and this fixed it..
has worked ever since..
good luck

 

It's the CM. Anything that needs vehicle speed input won't work when the CM is down.