Hi All

I've been a vRS owner since June, and was happy with the car untill I rotated tyres front to back 2k miles ago (car had only done 7.5K from new at this point), the noise and juddering from the now front tyres has been unbearable at anything less than motorway speeds, and they inside edges have a sawtooth effect.

I had not noticed the noisy rear end before this as it was a lot quieter than my Scooby was.

Having found this site and seen other postings I expected it to be the known issue of the rear suspension alignment.

However after contacting my local dealer (leamington spa - typical main dealer attitude) they denied ever hearing of the problem on the FL and that there was no bulletin from Skoda UK, so they would not proceed with any work as they couldn't claim it under warrenty.

They did not even check the alignment when they had my car - some excuse about the VW dealership next door that has the equipment being fully booked.

I then contacted Skoda UK Customer Services, after waiting for dealer to ring me after they did same - still waiting for the dealer to ring me at a week later...

Skoda UK's tech has said "its a characteristic of the tyres" - which is a fob off - it unfortunately has Dunlops fitted.

So I am now left with a car that has eaten its tyres in less than 9K - a new car warranty not worth the paper its written on, and the fact that Skoda advertise so much about "Happy drivers", yet don't care when they have an unhappy one - I suppose because if you then change brand do to the service then they don't have the problem.

I have now got to the stage where I just want to get rid of the car rather than have to keep replacing tyres every 10K - my scooby was 20K+ on its tyres.

Has anyone else had the same fob off - or has anyone manged to get someone dealer/skoda UK to admit there's a problem on the FL and have it fixed?

Rear saw-toothing can be caused by repeated hard braking even with correct rear geometry, scarcely Skoda's fault! Since it's got Dunlops on, I presume the tyres are not unidirectional, in which case try swapping the current LHF and RHF tyres with each other, effectively reversing the direction of rotation.

For peace of mind I would get the geo checked to make sure it has the revised settings from Skoda. I had Dunlops on mine when I got the car and the rears saw toothed but replaced them with another manufacturers tyre and havent had the problem return.

alignment is not usually a warranty issue.

It is definitely a characteristic / trait of Dunlop tyres especially Sport Maxx. I can't wait to get rid of mine.

You would be much better with Michelin IMO, preferably one that can be rotated to even out the pattern. Pilot Sport are directional and have an exterior marker too.

its not been a problem on mine..my fronts are nearly done now after close to 8500 miles so will be changing them soon and the rears are wearing evenly

mines on contis though and I will be getting them again for the front

totally different to my 56 plate car which was noisy as hell but that was on eagle f1's whiich seemed prone to the sawtoothing

here is some "official" Skoda info re sawtoohing which is caused by incorrect camber settings and recommended action.

its not been a problem on mine..my fronts are nearly done now after close to 8500 miles so will be changing them soon and the rears are wearing evenly

mines on contis though and I will be getting them again for the front

totally different to my 56 plate car which was noisy as hell but that was on eagle f1's whiich seemed prone to the sawtoothing

8500 miles and you will be changing them soon?! I have done nearly 8k on my Conti's and hardly any wear on them!

The bulletin which quoted the revised rear axle alignment has since gone and has been replaced with the generic group bulletin explaining about checking tyre pressures, loading and driving styles. SEAT and VW have the same issues and the same bulletin.

Does seem to effect some brands of tyre worse than others but to be fair a lot I look at have under inflated tyres so it's not always suprising.

Slighty off topic:

My Dunlop Maxx fronts are very worn after only 6500 miles.

Ive never had a tyre wear so much as these and now they have begun to lose some grip...Absolute rubbish

Dont know what to replace them with in the spring after Ive taken my Winter wheels off!!

A colleague of mine has a FL VRS with Dunlops on. His rear tyres saw toothed exactly like my old 07 plate one did. Took it to the dealers who knew all about the rear suspension problems, took it down to them, they sorted it out no problems. Even more surprising was the fact that HSBC (its a lease car) coughed up for a new pair of rear tyres with little or no questions asked. I think his had done about 8K also.

8500 miles and you will be changing them soon?! I have done nearly 8k on my Conti's and hardly any wear on them!

hehe your not doing it right then!

even on my mk1 and mk2 and now the fl Vrs changing the fronts is essentially an annual job for me..I drive like a saint when my mrs is with me and a car thief when she's not

its my fishing I blame as it takes me to some superb roads in northumberland and county durham with nobody on them but me!

Edited 6 October, 201015 yr by FTM

Hi

I called a dealer in Stirling yesterday to mention that my rear tyres were sawtoothing and that could the geometry be checked and adjusted if required, under warranty to make sure that they were at the new settings.

They didn't know there were any new settings and said that tyres were not covered under warranty. I said that I didn't expect the tyres to be covered but if Skoda had brought out another list of geometry settings to stop the rear tyres sawtoothing, I didn't think I should have to pay for the geometry to be setup with the updated settings.

They eventually said they would look into it and call me today. I have had no call yet but will call them later if they don't call me.

So far they seem willing to be helpful...........time will tell.

Cheers

Dave

I had the same on the 1st set of Dunlops (vRS FL Estate) and the lease company swapped them out without question, it was only at my request the suspension was checked!

Anyway, no issues there; tyre dealer blamed suspension, Skoda dealer blamed tryes...

If it were my car, then I daresay Dunlops wouldn't be on the menu next time. The lads at the tyre dealer said swap front to rear periodically if you're paying the bills.

The Dunlops were the worst tyre I've had on a car, replaced the fronts at 8500 miles as they were shot, the Vredsteins that replaced them have done 12000 miles and still have between 4 and 5mm tread left...

As far as I'm concerned, the Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres that came on my vRS were not for purpose and have only reinforced my view that I will never buy Dunlop tyres again (last time I bought Dunlops was about 15 years ago)

The rear Dunlop Sport Maxx on my vRS starting sawtoothing. The dealer had a look at the car, and adjusted the geometry free of charge. I did note that they said that they did this as 'good will' rather than as warranty work.

Hi

I called a dealer in Stirling yesterday to mention that my rear tyres were sawtoothing and that could the geometry be checked and adjusted if required, under warranty to make sure that they were at the new settings.

They didn't know there were any new settings and said that tyres were not covered under warranty. I said that I didn't expect the tyres to be covered but if Skoda had brought out another list of geometry settings to stop the rear tyres sawtoothing, I didn't think I should have to pay for the geometry to be setup with the updated settings.

They eventually said they would look into it and call me today. I have had no call yet but will call them later if they don't call me.

So far they seem willing to be helpful...........time will tell.

Cheers

Dave

Hi All

No call from the dealer yesterday so I called them this morning. They said they would call me back later this morning and they did - seems they wrote my number down wrongly.

Anyway, they have said that they will swap the wheels round putting the back wheels (dunlops) onto the front and the front wheels (avons) on the back and check and adjust the geometry.

This will all be done under warranty (as it should be). They did say that I would still get some noise from the dunlops until wear evens out again or they are replaced.

I am so far quite impressed with the customer service from this small dealer - will wait and see if the sawtoothing stops with the avons on the back and the geometry done.

As soon as the tyres are worn, I will be getting a set of Falken 452's for it. I have Falken 912's on my Astravan and they are excellent - much quieter and grippier in the wetthan the original bridgestones. They are also very good in the dry.

Cheers

Dave

Cheers Dave.

Just to close this out, I'm another Dunlop hater. IME they have poor grip, and this is not compensated for by wear rates. Quite the reverse; they're the fastest wearing tyres I've ever had on a car (and that only because they were on it when I got it).