Norton850

Here's my theory ... My Monte pulls to the left when I drive on a normal camber road I.e. Road sloping to the left... When I've drive on a totally flat surface the pull is greatly reduced. On an adverse camber road it drives straight. So my theory is that the car is setup for continental roads where they obviously drive on the right and the camber is adverse from a UK perspective. clearly the cars are over sensitive to camber issues, I suspect this is caused by simply fitting wide low profile wheels with very stiff tyre walls. I shared the experience of having the inside of the near side front tyre wear bald and ultimately puncture - although I can't say for 100% the two are linked. Changing tyres may help as people are finding, overall I'd say this a design flaw caused by tarting up a modest small car with low profile wheels and tyres and not getting it right for the UK. I suspect Skoda won't fix this as they will not view this as a safety issue, having paid around £14k for what Skoda claim is a great car I do feel rather let down and this will probably see me switch to another manufacturer when my car goes back in 18 months time. Their loss not mine. I commute by rail to London every day, work long hours and don't feel inclined to spend my Saturdays at a car dealer. This all said I had a major vibration issue will a new Harley Davidson that the factory won't fix, it was resolved by losening an exhaust mounting bolt so a cheap fix compared to the 2tyres I bought for my Skoda. Over and out.

I have just experienced something very strange and expensive with my Monte. I got a puncture in the front near side at just over 11,000 miles, no big deal you would think but the tyre was completely scrubbed bald on the right hand side, strange as the car was service back in June and I didn't notice any problems with handling. So putting this down to tracking I got a new tyre fitted. The car pulled strongly to the left. I was more than annoyed with the dealer, the car being in a situation where I felt it was unsafe and clearly not correct. After much investigation including swapping wheels around (this caused the car to steer to the right) it has only been cured by changing the off-side tyre as well to a new fitment. Needless to say I am at the mercy of the dealer but they mentioned other Monte tyre issues they have seen recently (I guess they are getting to the age where tyres will be wearing) I am now down around £280 but my car does track 100% true. I swore in the past I wouldn't have another car with low profile tyres as they add little to the handling or ride and inevitably end up with problems and the rubber is very expensive. I think I will try Skoda UK customer care, I really don't think I should need 2 new tyres in these circumstances, albeit the state of the roads is a real threat to the tracking on cars such as the Monte Carlo. I shall be watching the wear on the tyres much more carefully in future. Hope this may help with your problem.

red with black roof 1.6 diesel cruise control heated seats climate control ESP - new as of 23rd June delighted with stomp of the engine and handling is excellent climate control is fierce...

51 and getting 1.6 crdi Monte Carlo in Red with pretty much all the options - climate, ESP, reversing sensors, heated seats, armrest etc Previous Cars are Jaguar XJ8 (290 bhp), Jaguar S-Type (280 bhp) New style Mini-Cooper, Toyota Landcruiser (still own this), Skoda Favorit (£200 worth), Subaru Forrester, BMW 525i, Rover 820, Ford Fiesta XR2 MkII, Vauxhall Chevette.. Also currently own Harley Davidson StreetBob, Norton Commando (1977) & Suzuki Burgman AN400 (K7) and a horse box for the wife and daughters ponies. So had a few cars and many bikes over the years.... I thought about the vRS and to be honest it wasn't a lot more cash than the Monte and if I were still young enough to be more 'enthusiastic' in my driving I would have bought one. My recent lessons from Jag ownership are; 290bhp gets you there no quicker, costs of repairs of expensive cars are proportionate to the list price, depreciation is a killer, opportunities to overtake and show a clean set of exhausts are getting fewer and further apart and the costs of running at £6 per gallon are simply eye watering.. So its 105ps Monte for me, I know I shall miss the Jag (it went a week ago) for the ride quality and V8 etc... but reality bites, especially in the wallet. 3 more weeks to wait for the Skoda and I shall see how we go.

Hi, I'm moving from a Jaguar XJ8 to a new Fabia Monte Carlo (Red with red interior, climate control, stability, heated seats, arm rest, spare wheel, reversing sensors). I've spec'd the car much to the same level as the Jag but without the 22 mpg!! (it's a 1.6 diesel) - its amazing how luxury car fitments from only a few years ago are now available at affordable cost (I daren't tell you the cost of the Jag Sat Nav/phone/audio system) One option I didn't take was the maxi-dot. So my questions are: 1. is the maxi-dot worth the money or can I do without , I have an average/instant fuel on the Jag and its useful to some extent (if only to see the pound notes going out of the tail-pipes), I'm hoping that I can fill up the Fabia and not have to worry too much about the consumption. 2. Has anyone paid for the paint and fabric protection from autoglym- it is pretty pricey but my Jag has something similar and the paint has remained in outstanding condition 3. Is there a good aftermarket sat nav available or has anyone used an iphone? Delivery date is 12 weeks and I'm looking forward to the change immensely. Cheers!