do all skodas pull to the left

[richardg8jvm]

First registered 24/9/2013

mileage     34000

Tyres:  Perrelli preso  225/50 ZR17,  about 5 mm of tread on them.

Purchased last Thursday

It is now booked in to a Skoda dealership in Wolverhampt

very much a case of on for a full inspection, with a road test with a technician

with me driving, and to sort out the problem.  Skoda UK customer services involved now.

So we will see what happens Wednesday when its booked in.

 

What this dealer has failed to realise  is that if you treat your customers well and try to resolve problems , you keep a customer.

This dealer has lost any future custom, I could not under any circumstance recommend them.

I had a call from the sales manager accusing me of threatening him as I e-mail the sales person saying I was unhappy and to warn her manager I was,

he also considered that saying the statement from the service manager was "bull ****" was swearing at him.

And if I wanted to return the vehicle I would be charged for doing so as he considers nothing wrong with it.

 

I think all car salespersons should have a  "caveat emptor" tattoo on their forehead.

Richard

[Rooted]

At a main dealership when an Employee says the likes of 'They all do that',  you ask their name and for them to write that down on headed paper with their Name their Position in the Dealership & their formal qualifications on Motor Vehicle Engineering.

 

Then you have something for the Manufacturers or the Importers.

It is amazing how often that Skoda Employees say that Dunlop, Continental or some other Multi National companies products are at fault, 

even Skoda UK appear to when they then give permission for Pirelli or some other brand to be fitted.

[Tech-Yeti]

In the old days when we used to MOT test cars with a brake meter on the floor for brakes and steering, we would straddle the white line so we have both pos & neg camber acting together.

The throttle was held steady and if the car goes straight it indicated no defects, if the car pulled either way it confirmed a defect, I still do this today as an on road test for non alignment.

[muddyboots]

I presume you've checked the tyre pressures ?

Any signs of odd wear on any of the tyre edges ?

I'd be seeking out a decent alignment place, ideally with a Hunter-style setup where everything is measured, front and rear.

Too far for you perhaps but I always go to a place in Nottingham (Nottingham Alignment Services I think it's called). Proper Hunter setup, and don't charge the earth for a check.

Remember the rear suspension is adjustable on the Yeti, I bet most tyre places don't check rear geometry (as in camber as well as toe) ?

[ernieb]

In the old days when we used to MOT test cars with a brake meter on the floor for brakes and steering, we would straddle the white line so we have both pos & neg camber acting together.

The throttle was held steady and if the car goes straight it indicated no defects, if the car pulled either way it confirmed a defect, I still do this today as an on road test for non alignment.

Sometimes the old ways are not so bad some of the time.  A simple test as long as someone else is not doing the same thing in the opposite direction.  

 

 

[Tech-Yeti]

A simple test as long as someone else is not doing the same thing in the opposite direction.  

That's when you do the brake test  :peek:  :peek:

[richardg8jvm]

Hi

what it shows is a modern trend to fob off customers and do nothing where ever possible.

Unfortunately its across the board.

The same trend of lack of proper training to do jobs properly,  I used to work in electronics , design, dev and repair

and I've noticed how there is the lack of people that are capable of working at component level, all they can do is work at modular level.

And as for auto electronics, look at costs, 50p component fails £50 or more module changed.

What is worse is that everyone excepts this as fact of life now, a few dinosaurs like me won't.

[richardg8jvm]

Hi Muddyboots & co

 

As I only collected it 1 week ago, I would expect the pre delivery check to have checked that there was no difference 

left to right. 

I would have expected went it back to them yesterday they would have checked this, pretty basic stuff really.

I strongly suspect they couldn't be bothered, the same as couldn't be bothered to rectify the problem.

Its booked in to another dealer next week, I wont touch anything until after the inspection.

Their pre-delivery check list states remove road wheels and check for damage, doesn't say check tyre pressure.

Its wait til Wednesday time now.

[Rooted]

Personally i could not care if the CEO of Skoda checked tyre pressures before collection, 

it is common sense when collecting a vehicle, new, used or hire / loan to check and set your own pressures.

Why leave that decision to someone you do not know. 

The very least to do is ask what pressures are set, then check and see if they were telling the truth.

[thingy]

No, as said above, not all Yeti's pull to the left or the right.

In France yesterday, 80+mph (130kph) drove straight as a die

with 2 hands light touch holding steering wheel.

Hope you get the right solution to your Yeti.

[Bexhillian]

Michelin Primacy3

33psi cold all round

'two up + luggage / shopping' is usual load

4500 miles from new

RUNS DEAD STRAIGHT unless there is significant camber

(and unaffected by road markings / road repair seams, unlike when driving my son's hypersensitive A6 steering which has a mind of its own)

 

[richardg8jvm]

Hi all

One thing I have noticed is that its not sitting level when looked at from the rear.

On the front , ground to wheel arch is equal both sides, on the rear the left side is 1 cm higher than the right. and I did put a spirit level on the ground 

before measuring just to check it was on level ground.

Thats with the car with no load what so ever

 

 

Richard

[Rooted]

Check with the Dealer or Skoda UK if any warranty work was done, like a broken rear spring and Skoda UK saying they only replace the broken one and not a pair.

Unlikely but worth checking if warranty work was done.

Or if you car is set up for right hand drive on UK roads / cambers, and badly set up / aligned.

 

or similar to this. Which is OK if the car drives OK, sadly yours does not.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/412127-difference-in-ride-height-left-ride-side-03-scout

[Ryeman]

You wouldn't have a broken coil spring.........not that uncommon apparently

[richardg8jvm]

Shouldn't  have , as a broken or cracked coil spring is a MOT failure, and it had its first MOT just before collection.

 

But should it have, it puts me in a very strong legal position, as I will have be sold an unroadworthy vehicle.

[Rooted]

Shouldn't be Pulling to the Left, but a Service Manager told you they all do that.

 

 

A MOT will not tell you if one spring was replaced and the other has been on since the vehicle was built.

So you check.

It is just rubbish when the likes of Skoda UK & a Warranty Manager approves the replacement of a broken part, say 1 damper or 1 Coil Spring.

You seldom see a Dealership Employees vehicle with a breakage of a spring only have the broken one replaced.

 

The Wheels off inspection as marked on your Pre-Sales Workshop Inspection could have found a broken spring and one could have been replaced, 

even using a 'Taken Off' used rear spring  from another vehicle having had a  Warranty Replacement of 2 rear springs where only 1 was broken.

These things happen.

As do an odd sized used tyre replacing one with a bulge and maybe adding to Pulling to the Left issues....

Edited 7 October, 2016 by Offski

[Falmouthboy]

Linked to this topic is the wheel being level on a straight road. On our first Yeti the wheel was level and the car didn't pull. On delivery our new L&K the wheel was just slightly out or in the dead ahead and if you let go of the wheel pulled slightly to the left. Took it back to the dealer and they did a full alignment check and found the rears to be slightly out, so clearly set up wrong at the factory. It now runs straight unless on a steep camber although the wheel is still a couple of degrees off level - which is frustrating.

It's worth mentioning that if a 4-wheel alignment is done properly, the car must be weighted for the suspension to replicate driving and passengers. A lazy tech won't do this so the alignment still won't be perfect. Also, clearly you need to be certain the tyre pressures are right and the tyres balanced.

Finally, if you align a car with unevenly worn tyres or badly worn suspension that too can still result in a slight pull as the alignment assumes the tyre ware is even and suspension normal.

[richardg8jvm]

Hi All

had the car checked by another dealer, Trust Skoda in Wolverhampton.

Verified that the car is down on the offside rear , but the coil springs have no signs of defects.

so just wear, so the only way I can level up the car at the rear would be to change the coil springs.

The only thing they could find is that the offside rear tyre wear was 1mm down on the outer edge compared to middle and inner.

4,4,3.

Changing that tyre to the nearside now causes the car to pull right.

So at least I know the car is sound , but I'll have to fork out for a couple of tyres.

Cant fault Trust Skoda, very helpful .

What a pity I didn't see the reviews on that dealer in Telford before buying.

 

All I can say is I hope the managers that insist all skodas pull to the left, suffer from their balls going square and festering at the edges

 

Richard

[Rooted]

Likely you are going to spend out on a couple of tyres that one will likely wear prematurely due to the worn suspension or the spring that has lost some of its spring and might well be the original while the one on the other side is a replacement.

Maybe worth getting a pair of springs. 

Check or have those dampers checked / inspected properly.

 

?

Did you buy a Skoda Approved Used car that has a Workshop Check before purchase, because the tyre wear should be noted on the Health Report.

Edited 12 October, 2016 by Offski

[ejstubbs]

The only thing they could find is that the offside rear tyre wear was 1mm down on the outer edge compared to middle and inner.

4,4,3.

Changing that tyre to the nearside now causes the car to pull right.

So at least I know the car is sound , but I'll have to fork out for a couple of tyres.

 

Doesn't uneven wear across the offside rear tyre also suggest that the wheel alignment might be off?

 

Verified that the car is down on the offside rear , but the coil springs have no signs of defects.

so just wear

 

What 'wear' do they suggest is causing one corner of the car to sit 1cm low?  As far as I am aware coil springs don't 'wear' like that.  Could be a suspension bush or something like that I suppose, but I'm not sure I'd call it "just" wear if the result is a 1cm deviation from datum.  Sounds a bit of an iffy explanation to me.

 

Whatever the cause of that corner sitting low, it could very well explain why the alignment is out - and would suggest to me that simply putting a new tyre on that corner would just lead to that one wearing unevenly as well, and thus the tracking problem re-occurring.

 

All I can say is I hope the managers that insist all skodas pull to the left, suffer from their balls going square and festering at the edges

 

Perhaps all the Skodas they sell do pull to the left 

Edited 12 October, 2016 by ejstubbs

[richardg8jvm]

Their health report was a tick in a box

And it was a Skoda dealer. 

I will change both rear coil springs after the winter, as the mileage during the winter is fairly low for me.

The state of the roads in Shropshire there is a good chance of a spring breaking by then anyway.

But it will get done before wandering around Ireland in May and Croatia in late summer.

 

Richard

[aerofurb]

Good to hear of the progress - and enjoy Croatia next summer. I've been many times now - only once by Yeti, though:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/314528-yeti-road-trip-to-dubrovnik/?hl=%2Bcroatian+%2Broad+%2Btrip

Edited 12 October, 2016 by aerofurb

[The Plumber]

Bit late getting into this post but my own experience is that it depends which Skoda your talking about. Fabia's (I & II) tended to be left pullers, particularly the Monte. Yeti's then both mine drove straight as did the Octy's. The Spaceback and Toledo/Rapid on the other hand tend to go very slowly right.

 

Know with the Fabia there was very little adjustment available to the garage tech, so it was pot luck on how good or bad each car was on the in built factory tolerances.

 

 

 

TP

[richardg8jvm]

yes a nice country, also been many times.

Until the war in the 90's it used to be the main route down to Greece, driven there many times.

Went back down a year after the war had finished but could only get as far as the Montenegro border.

From the start of the war we diverted via Ancona and got the ferry, but stopped that route about 7 years ago as the cost of the ferry from Italy to Greece had gone

sky high.

So after a couple of summer hols driving around the USA we started going down to Croatia and found a nice little village on the coast just south of Zadar

and have been renting an apartment there for the last 4 years.

You still cant get any of the idiots employed by insurance companies in the UK to give cover for the 5 mile stretch of road through Bosnia to get to Dubrovnic.

it means getting robbed for a green card at the border, Yet nearly all of the motor insurance companies in mainland Europe have no problem with it.

its a flat earth mentality by them, you drop off the edge of their known world when you cross the English Channel.

God knows what its going to be like when March 2019 arrives

Rant over

Richard

[Ryeman]

^^^^^ keep a diary and publish 'Yeti Tours' please.

ps - springs may have had inconsistent temper perhaps.....there do seem to be some shoddy components that let down the brand it seems.