I took my car in for new tires and a new battery. When I got it back, I discovered that neither the odometer nor speedometer were working. I raised this with the shop and they claim that nothing that they did could possibly have impacted the speedometer function.

I find it rather too coincidental that everything worked just fine right before I dropped it off and failed to work at all since I picked it up. Can anyone give me any advice on this? I'm going back to talk to a manager to try to get a result.

Merely changing a tire or a battery can not cause the speedometer to stop working.

There will be a cable that runs down from the speedometer that controls these funtions. ( now of course they could have broken the cable or disconnected it, but I can not see any way it could have been an accident and would have had to be done almost on purpose)

I would take it to a second service center and let them look at why it is not working. If it is disconnected, you know someone did it, if the cable merely broke, then it just happened..

I had my truck at a service station to be fixed once, and as the mechanic was taking it in for one problem, the brake line broke, we knew it did, since the mechanic ran right into the back of his shop and could not stop.

They have to be unhooked from the back of the transmission.
If it is a front wheel drive car it is possible to unhook if you had a break job down

My best bet: one of your speed sensor is down. Take the car to Autozone and let them check it out for you. In 1 to 2 minutes, they will tell you which sensor is not working

This also happens with some of our Toyota's when disconnecting battery. The electronics in the combination meter, (dash cluster) will lose memory. Try this, disconnect the battery negative cable and wait 1 minute. Then reconnect and try.

kitch428 may have nailed it. The manufacturer may have incorporated a delay-on-brake timer in the dash cluster's circuit, in order to prevent damage if the power goes off and suddenly comes back on.

I have an audi tt , when I went on holiday the battery died , I jump started it and now none of my dials work for a at least 10 minutes then they jump to life?? Am totally confused , does anyone know what this might be?

kunzigirl, it's very dangerous to jump start a modern-day car. A voltage spike can wipe out the ECM, alternator, and/or sensors. It's best to always remove and fully charge the battery. Most auto parts stores will test and charge batteries for free. You likely need a new battery.

Ah , well I had a new battery fitted yesterday and its still happening? Its like it don't like the cold but after a few minutes its fine , thanks for yr reply anyway :) if you have anymore ideas of what it could be id be grateful to hear them .

Test all under hood and under dash fuses with a test light or multimeter:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-selected-other-vehicles-46563-3.html#post252145

It's possible corrosion is developing on the fuse contacts. You may want to spray the fuses and relays with WD-40. If the problem persists, the ignition switch may be failing and need replacing. This is often the situation when the dash lights don't work.