Does anybody else have "creaky" front suspension. I have 2 year old Octavia, which has developed an annoying creaky grunty noise, most noticeable at low speed and when moanouevering (or however you spell that!) Variable service means it shouldn't be in for service for ages yet and nuisance arranging for trip to dealer just to investigate intermittent type problem. So has anybody else experienced this and was there a quick answer? Sure I could turn the radio up I supose but better not to have to.

Hello, hugothebear, and sorry to hear that you are having problems with your car. My Octavia hasn't suffered that problem yet but I have heard of it. Hopefully one of our members will be able to suggest a cause. In the meantime welcome to Briskoda!

Hugo..

My 1.6 Octy Estate is a '99 model, with 35K on the clock. I have just started to experience load speed creaking which gets worse when signficant amounts of steering lock are applied. Also have a slight pull to the left. My car is booked into to main dealers next Thursday for a full alignment check to fix the pull, I'll be asking then to investigate the creak also....watch this space !!!

:cheers: Paul

Hmmm - not to sound alarmist but sounds a bit like a broken spring ... make sure they check them. Of course hopefully it'll be nothing of the sort

Hi HugoTheBear :wave:

Mine doesn't creak but i do get an almightly bang from the front suspension - usually after an incredibly heavy breaking (to almost a stop) then accelerating again. I'm hoping it's normal :(

When I first got my RS the very first right turn (out of my road) would be accompanied by a bang.

It doesn't do it now and I've put it down to one of the fronts springsreseating itself in the the strut. Probably needed bedding in if springs needed such a thing

I remember from our Vortex day Duncan had a similar sort of thing; can't remember what the prognosis was.

Hugo, wondering if your problem is the one of the rubber mounts.

Cheers.

Adrian.

Adrian

I cant remember either , all i know is the car doesnt do it anymore!

I have the same problem with my vRS. It has been into the dealers once but they couldn't find anything and just tightened everything up - which worked for about a day.

It will be in for its 30k service in about 3 weeks so I will get them to check again. Interestingly the noise is also accompanied by a small pull to the left.

will update as soon as I know anything...

Many thanks for responses so far..... visiting dealer tommorrow... also have friend locally who has Octavia which "creaks".... I always think that creaking and squeaking might mean that abrasion is occurring which may lead to premature wear..... I don't want to find out after the warranty runs out!

Hugo,

Please let me know how you get on, I've had creaking quite alot, put it down to my unvoluntary off roading ina bid to maintain higer avg speeds. Shocks and spigns are coming off this week, but if the "sound" indicates a more serious issue I'll dealer warranty it (21k) and then do my mods.

Octavia has just come back from dealer re creaking noises, noises were traced to anti-roll bar bushes. Solution was simple.... bushes replaced, On my car this was done under warranty. I have heard same noise on another Octavia, its not loud but annoying , fortunately it seems easy and quick. to fix.. looking forward air-conditioned tranquility once more with the radio down low.

Hugo

Glad you got your car sorted , hope it stays silent and creak free!

Just returned from the dealers, with an answer, but at a price. I have two 'creaks' one steering related - requiring a new steering rack control arm and one suspension related requiring the replacement of both bushes on the lower wishbones. Total cost a couple of quid short of

Sorry to hear of SPC's espensive experience.... Personally I think these annoying creaking "quality control type" things leave the kind of impression that stays with you when you are thinking about what car to buy next, .... when its time to replace and I am tempted but the Superb Estate (or not if they still haven't got around to it... hint hint Skoda... :-) ) will I buy the Passat instead in the hope it wont rattle or creak so much. Before the Octavia I had a Swedish Car (not mentioneing names of course) from new, from its first day the darned thing rattled and leaked rainwater and I cheered the day I saw the last of it... compared with that my lovely little Octavia runs like a Merc but lets hope the noises now stay away.

My 4X4 has only done 5522 miles but the whole car is creak free, including the suspension. Some of the trim may not be up to Audi standards of finish and fit, but the car is remarkably well put together and in that respect is more impressive than the 2 Audis I have owned.

whole car is creak free

Note: Denis must try harder.

Well mine is creaking, spoke to the dealer and perhaps interestingly said oh, but it's only done 20k. We have this problem with a few cars; but they are all taxis. The odd other one a strip and rebuild of the joint suffices.

I'm guessing Horners are the bearers of bad news on the price. But consider this; if it's now out of warranty (which means what anyway!) then call around a few smaller garages/shops.

Eg, Horners to refit suspensionn :264+vat+geometry

Awesome 145+vat inc geometry.

In a way I'd like to give it to the dealer as they know the car, but atthe same time Awesome know how to fit non standard parts...

Call around, also dealer supplied bushes v 3rd party bushes; they can't object as it's outsode warranty.

Good luck.

but they are all taxis.....

the boundahs.... how dare they imply that a creaky Octavia may result from being used as a taxi.... mine was deeply cosseted and pampered... creaking started at about 20,000 miles...

my local dealer very good at fixing so can't complain (they also know I am in incurable fusspot too!) the only way to improve qc in general is for owners to make sure all problems are sorted so dealers and VW know what to fix for the future

Originally posted by ColinD in this post

Well mine is creaking, spoke to the dealer and perhaps interestingly said oh, but it's only done 20k. We have this problem with a few cars; but they are all taxis. The odd other one a strip and rebuild of the joint suffices.

Good luck.

Colin

Sounds exactly like the response I got....so 10/10 for consistency of said dealer...yes Horners of Manchester.

I've already paid

Well, just for your info, here in Panama the dealer bring all the Skodas with a Reinforced Suspension Package. I hear that in other countrys you have to pay extra for this package.

My wife 1.6i Skoda Octavia Elegance Combi is one year old and here in Panama the streets are the worse you can imagine. They are full of holes and the car does no have any noise in the suspension.

My 8 month 1.8T Octavia L&K does not make any noise in the suspension.

My cousin also have a one year old 1.6i Octavia Ambiente without any noise.

Isaac

quote.....Reinforced Suspension Package. I hear that in other countrys

interesting.... will UK Skoda dealers now be inundated with requests to install the beefed up suspension, never been to Panama but there are plenty of awful patchwork potholed roads in UK!

Anti-roll bar bushes ?? - I think i'm right in saying that the octavia shares its front suspension with A3/TT/Golf -- if this is right when we have a noisey anti-roll bar - we (Audi Dealer)change the bar - although there are small bushes that are seperate - the noise is usually caused by the platic "sleave" around the bar that the bushes go around becoming loose - these are not available on their own - might be worth checking as noise may come back - esp before warranty runs out.

Originally posted by hugothebear in this post

... will UK Skoda dealers now be inundated with requests to install the beefed up suspension...

Buy a 4X4 and you get it for free!

Denis , you are a comedian ......................well you make me laugh anyway

Well, the car is back, the creaking seems to have gone but the steering still pulls to the left! It seems that I've even had a new lower left suspension wishbone fitted in an attempt to cure the pull, they suggested the original may have been damaged. Picked the car up and before I'd left the car park I knew the steering pull was not fixed. Took it out on the road and drove about 15 miles of mixed roads, the pull was still there so went back to horners and said I still wasn't happy with it. One of the techies came out in the car with me and accepted that the pull was still there. Couldn't progress the matter any further because the service manager had called in sick (I think he knew I was coming)

I'm not a happy chap at the moment, not only is the car not right but my confidence in the dealer is not great. To be given the car and told it's ok when it clearly isn't....hmmm. I'm getting to the stage where I'm ready to cut my losses and sell the car. Since this is my nearest dealer and it's a 90 minute trip on public transport to get there I think I'll be looking to buy closer to home which means it wont be Skoda. Can't post it for sale here though, you guys know too much about it!!!

Anyone had any experince of mystery steering pull?

Paul :(

Paul,

I've had exactly the same with my 2001 4x4. With the pulling I've found that mine is very sensitive to front tyre wear. Simply swapping the front and back may be the solution.

Gary @ Horners said the same thing about my front suspensio creak. They recon they fitted a new front strut which made it better for a couple of weeks. Get the creak when driving over speed bumps - slowly. It's due for it's 90,000 service in a 5 thou so I'll get them to look at the ARB bushes as the Audi chap mentions.

As an aside do all 4x4s eat tyres? My fronts last about 20K.

Phil

:bttt: