This post should be read in conjunction with "Lego wheels, Skodas Response,

I have started this thread as there are so many regarding the issue of VRS wheel / geometry / problems resulting in damaged tyres or droning noises.

I have just come off the phone from "Which" legal services regarding the Tyre damage / geometry setting problems on the VRS. This is their response

Firstly, as I took advantage of the Skoda Finance 0% offer to part fund the purchase, my claim will be against Skoda Finance. The vehicle is therfore subject to a Hire Purchase agreement which brings it under the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 as opposed to the Sale of Goods Act 1979

I / we all have statutory rights under the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. As I took finance on the vehicle "Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Ltd, trading as Skoda Finance, took title to the goods from the supplying dealer, hence my contract is with them.

Under the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973, they are required to supply goods of a satisfactory quality which are fit for purpose.

This will, in these cases, include durability of the tyres affected by a defect or fault with the vehicle. (I will assert that this is a known and common fault with this model or an inherent design defect which is causing damage to the tyres, therefore making the vehicle itself unfit for purpose)

This is what I have been told to do

In the first instance, Call or write to Skoda Finance and inform them of the details of my complaint. Then tell them to make arrangements for the damaged tyres to be replaced and the cause of the fault rectified at their expense. If they fail to do so I reserve my rights to reject the vehicle under common law and reclaim back, in full, all monies paid including deposits, balance sums and finance payments made.

Give them a reasonable timescale to respond and comply, they suggest 14 days.

Dependant on what response I get I am to recontact "Which" for further advice.

This particular advice is only relevant to those who used a hire purchase agreement i.e the 0% finance offer for all or part of the purchase price

Should also be relevant for anyone who paid for part of their car on credit card.

I would have thought that you would have to prove that the alignment / geometry was incorrect when you collect the vehicle as it can be knocked out of alignment by potholes and other things.

I would have thought that you would have to prove that the alignment / geometry was incorrect when you collect the vehicle as it can be knocked out of alignment by potholes and other things.

The fact that it is both rear wheels and you only have to look on this forum to see that he isn't the only one with the issue.. Also the fact that Skoda released revised geometry settings.

I haven't had any issues with mine so not sure if it is now fixed or whether it was the fact that the Dunlops didn't work with that model...

I know there has been issues with a lot of cars on here but i still think it would be difficult to claim for tyres when the alignment can be knocked out. There are to many things that could be involved with wear issues on tyres. I have never had the issue with alignment on my 07 vrs or with tyres wearing incorrectly.

I believe that the issue is with FL VRS's with Dunlop tyres. I have never known anyone who has had their rear geometry adjusted when having alignment done so wouldn't have thought that both tyres wearing at them same rate in the same way could be construed as the alignment been knocked out.

I have just run into this same issue today.

I have a '10 VRS with the dunlops on, the car has done ~20k and have already had the fronts replaced due to normal wear (ie all the way across the tread) i had personally checked the backs and all the tread i saw\felt on the type was more than enough.

however today i had a blister on one of the fronts and after kwik fit had quoted me an insane amount for a tyre i had them put on the spare. when driving in they noticed the wear on the rears. the guy said he saw the steel banding in the tyre.

I spoke to my main dealer and they said they have seen a lot of this on this model and the warranty wouldn't cover the tyres. so i spoke to skoda UK and explained and argued that the geometry was obviously off or there was an inherent design flaw with the car. they said they had a common problem called "sawtoothing" (ie *******s) and tried to tell me that it was normal and that the dealer would swap the tyres round.

anyway after some talking and arguing they logged a call and i have to get the geometry checked at the local skoda dealer.

on inspection now its only when you put your whole hand round the tyre that you can feel the last inch is totally bald but the rest of the tyre is WELL above the limit (4mm +) its obvious to me that this is either bad setup from the factory or a design flaw in the car causing uneven wear to the tyres.

from what i can understand about sawtoothing this affects the the tread across the whole tyre. the issue with mine is simple the last inside inch being completely worn and the rest being ok.

it would be IMPOSSIBLE for potholes to knock both rear camber settings out by the same amount in opposing directions to cause similar tyre wear on both sides. (even if it would be possible the chances of this happening to 2 cars of the same make and model running the same tyres and causing almost identical damage is certainly impossible, if skoda claim this then we should all buy lottery tickets as we would have more chance of winning that)

if anyone has found a resolution to this or has also logged calls with skoda that i can reference whilst talking then let me know.

as far as i can see it there seems to be 4 people that can potentially get me the money back for the tyres.

1. my local dealer (if i whinge enough even though they are not obliged but if they want my return custom)

2. Skoda UK (if its a factory setup or inherrent flaw with the geometry)

3. Dunlop (if its a problem with the tyre design)

4. SKoda Finance (if you can prove the goods sold are unsuitable, is there a time limitation on this law?)

im certain i can get one of these parties to stump up the goods.

has anyone else had any success on this issue?

I have just run into this same issue today.

I have a '10 VRS with the dunlops on, the car has done ~20k and have already had the fronts replaced due to normal wear (ie all the way across the tread) i had personally checked the backs and all the tread i saw\felt on the type was more than enough.

however today i had a blister on one of the fronts and after kwik fit had quoted me an insane amount for a tyre i had them put on the spare. when driving in they noticed the wear on the rears. the guy said he saw the steel banding in the tyre.

I spoke to my main dealer and they said they have seen a lot of this on this model and the warranty wouldn't cover the tyres. so i spoke to skoda UK and explained and argued that the geometry was obviously off or there was an inherent design flaw with the car. they said they had a common problem called "sawtoothing" (ie *******s) and tried to tell me that it was normal and that the dealer would swap the tyres round.

anyway after some talking and arguing they logged a call and i have to get the geometry checked at the local skoda dealer.

on inspection now its only when you put your whole hand round the tyre that you can feel the last inch is totally bald but the rest of the tyre is WELL above the limit (4mm +) its obvious to me that this is either bad setup from the factory or a design flaw in the car causing uneven wear to the tyres.

from what i can understand about sawtoothing this affects the the tread across the whole tyre. the issue with mine is simple the last inside inch being completely worn and the rest being ok.

it would be IMPOSSIBLE for potholes to knock both rear camber settings out by the same amount in opposing directions to cause similar tyre wear on both sides. (even if it would be possible the chances of this happening to 2 cars of the same make and model running the same tyres and causing almost identical damage is certainly impossible, if skoda claim this then we should all buy lottery tickets as we would have more chance of winning that)

if anyone has found a resolution to this or has also logged calls with skoda that i can reference whilst talking then let me know.

as far as i can see it there seems to be 4 people that can potentially get me the money back for the tyres.

1. my local dealer (if i whinge enough even though they are not obliged but if they want my return custom)

2. Skoda UK (if its a factory setup or inherrent flaw with the geometry)

3. Dunlop (if its a problem with the tyre design)

4. SKoda Finance (if you can prove the goods sold are unsuitable, is there a time limitation on this law?)

im certain i can get one of these parties to stump up the goods.

has anyone else had any success on this issue?

Like I have said above, there are so many of us with the same problem, on the same model, of a similar age that it cannot possibly be that we have all knocked the geometry out. One member has today had his tyres replaced by the dealer.The fact that my local dealer had the car attended to and the geometry or whatever it is looked at with no arguement suggests Skoda no it's a problem.

If you have finance on the car then Skoda Finance are the ones to talk to.

I would be interested to see how many with this problem have Dunlop Sportmax and if anyone with different tyres also has the problem.

I understand that there is no time limit whilever there is outstanding finance.

Edited 28 January, 201115 yr by pg220

Like I have said above, there are so many of us with the same problem, on the same model, of a similar age that it cannot possibly be that we have all knocked the geometry out. One member has today had his tyres replaced by the dealer.The fact that my local dealer had the car attended to and the geometry or whatever it is looked at with no arguement suggests Skoda no it's a problem.

If you have finance on the car then Skoda Finance are the ones to talk to.

I would be interested to see how many with this problem have Dunlop Sportmax and if anyone with different tyres also has the problem.

I understand that there is no time limit whilever there is outstanding finance.

I have Sport Maxx on the rear and they are sh*te. They are prone to the sawtooth issue more than most other tyres. I am having then demounted and swapped to the opposite side to even the wear and then replacing in the next 6 months or so.

I have just run into this same issue today.

I have a '10 VRS with the dunlops on, the car has done ~20k and have already had the fronts replaced due to normal wear (ie all the way across the tread) i had personally checked the backs and all the tread i saw\felt on the type was more than enough.

however today i had a blister on one of the fronts and after kwik fit had quoted me an insane amount for a tyre i had them put on the spare. when driving in they noticed the wear on the rears. the guy said he saw the steel banding in the tyre.

I spoke to my main dealer and they said they have seen a lot of this on this model and the warranty wouldn't cover the tyres. so i spoke to skoda UK and explained and argued that the geometry was obviously off or there was an inherent design flaw with the car. they said they had a common problem called "sawtoothing" (ie *******s) and tried to tell me that it was normal and that the dealer would swap the tyres round.

Coincidentally (?) I just had all my tyres changed because the rears were just legal across only part of the tread (my car is 2010 scout with 20k miles) and one of my fronts had a big blister too, so had to replace all four at massive expense!!

We need to collate all this info across this forum about this suspension issue and confront Skoda en mass!

Coincidentally (?) I just had all my tyres changed because the rears were just legal across only part of the tread (my car is 2010 scout with 20k miles) and one of my fronts had a big blister too, so had to replace all four at massive expense!!

We need to collate all this info across this forum about this suspension issue and confront Skoda en mass!

Is it possible to set up a petition, register or list of people on this site?

If each person briefly identifies their vehicle, model, tyres, age mileage and what their problem is and when it started happening . This would be a start to identifying the extent of the problem.

I have just got back from Hi Q tyre depot in Leeds where I've had the tyres examined, the backs are badly sawtoothed as are the fronts but to a lesser extent. I am going back next week to have the cars camber settings and other things analysed (sorry I'm not at all mechanically minded so most of it meant nothing to me).

On looking at the car the guy immeciatly said that the rear nearside wheel appeared slightly out of line with the car which I could also see. If you imagine a line running from 3 o clock to 9 oclock on a clock face and that being the line of the car, the rear wheel was about 16 minutes past 3 to 14 minutes to 9. Hope that makes sense

I have posted on a couple of subjects already.

I have ready had geometry reset courtesy of skoda uk, and it has to go back again as they were not happy with the settings.

I think it is really important that anybody who has any work done keeps a copy of the original settings. I made sure I got a printout.

I agree that we need to setup a database as it is now a wicket known issue, and it is not just vrs owners.

Even my dealer who first told me they knew nothing about it (at the end of last year) said last week that they had a number of vrs owners in with the issue.

My hold over skoda is that I have an email (which I sent to them) confirming that I had been told by skoda uk that it was a "charachteristic" of the tyre. Told them that my next call would be to bridgestone. That got the ball rolling.

Wish I had time to head this up, but would definately give my details onto a databse.

Is it possible to set up a petition, register or list of people on this site?

If each person briefly identifies their vehicle, model, tyres, age mileage and what their problem is and when it started happening . This would be a start to identifying the extent of the problem.

I have just got back from Hi Q tyre depot in Leeds where I've had the tyres examined, the backs are badly sawtoothed as are the fronts but to a lesser extent. I am going back next week to have the cars camber settings and other things analysed (sorry I'm not at all mechanically minded so most of it meant nothing to me).

On looking at the car the guy immeciatly said that the rear nearside wheel appeared slightly out of line with the car which I could also see. If you imagine a line running from 3 o clock to 9 oclock on a clock face and that being the line of the car, the rear wheel was about 16 minutes past 3 to 14 minutes to 9. Hope that makes sense

That also was the worst affected wheel on mine!! Hmmmm!! In exactly the same 'times' too!

I'm off on holiday this afternoon so cant get the ball rolling with a collated thread....but will when I get back if no-one else has by then...

SO just in case:

Jan 2010 FL Octavia Scout 2.0TDI

20K miles

Pirelli PZero Rossos (2nd set now!)

Nearside rear tyre worst affected

ive had mine changed today as im sure they were dangerous

went to the local skoda dealer to have this done so they could look at the tyres themselves.

the service manager had a look as well as the technician and i have photos of the tyre wear.

as i understand it sawtoothing is uneven wear across the tyre and this is definatly NOT that. its the very last inch of the tyre is bald and the rest is fine.

the manager said he hadnt seen anything like that before and was definatly not what he thought it was when i described it to him on the phone

the technician said it wasnt right and a tyre shouldnt wear like that and it would certainly be the camber that was out and as both rear tyres were affected then it must have left the factory like that. (also as the damage would indicate they are angled in at the top then it cant be a kerb as it would kick the bottom in not the top - makes sense to my mind)

i have asked them for something to this effect in writing and im keeping the tyres themselves and have photos of them on and off the car.

they are servicing the car on tuesday and they will be looking at the camber (and hopefully will get them to do a 4 wheel alignment too) the results of this will go together with the other stuff i have collected and i will be giving skoda a little ring to further the call i had logged on friday.

i think this is a different problem to the sawtoothing but i could be wrong ill attach a couple of pics in a while so people can give me their thoughts.

or if this is what other people have been experiencing and their geometry is correct then there is a deeper issue wth the design of the car itself and it will continue to eat tyres from now on.

ive had mine changed today as im sure they were dangerous

went to the local skoda dealer to have this done so they could look at the tyres themselves.

the service manager had a look as well as the technician and i have photos of the tyre wear.

as i understand it sawtoothing is uneven wear across the tyre and this is definatly NOT that. its the very last inch of the tyre is bald and the rest is fine.

the manager said he hadnt seen anything like that before and was definatly not what he thought it was when i described it to him on the phone

the technician said it wasnt right and a tyre shouldnt wear like that and it would certainly be the camber that was out and as both rear tyres were affected then it must have left the factory like that. (also as the damage would indicate they are angled in at the top then it cant be a kerb as it would kick the bottom in not the top - makes sense to my mind)

i have asked them for something to this effect in writing and im keeping the tyres themselves and have photos of them on and off the car.

they are servicing the car on tuesday and they will be looking at the camber (and hopefully will get them to do a 4 wheel alignment too) the results of this will go together with the other stuff i have collected and i will be giving skoda a little ring to further the call i had logged on friday.

i think this is a different problem to the sawtoothing but i could be wrong ill attach a couple of pics in a while so people can give me their thoughts.

or if this is what other people have been experiencing and their geometry is correct then there is a deeper issue wth the design of the car itself and it will continue to eat tyres from now on.

It is strange as i haven't had any (touch wood) issues with mine :S

ok heres the pics

this is the drivers side

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398873498/

and this is the passenger side (this one is worse)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398269915/

as you can see its only the very inside edge thats worn on them and the rest of the tyre still has loads of tread depth left.

My tyres have been inspected twice, and althouhg I do not have the tyre wear, everything else is as per what others have reported.

That also was the worst affected wheel on mine!! Hmmmm!! In exactly the same 'times' too!

I'm off on holiday this afternoon so cant get the ball rolling with a collated thread....but will when I get back if no-one else has by then...

SO just in case:

Jan 2010 FL Octavia Scout 2.0TDI

20K miles

Pirelli PZero Rossos (2nd set now!)

Nearside rear tyre worst affected

Mine's an April 2010 vRS estate with just over 10,000 miles. I have the original Dunlops. All four tyres show signs of sawtoothing. The rears are very pronounced around the inner edge. The f//o/s is bad on the edge and on the flat of the tyre for about an inch/inch and a half; there's very definite rises and falls. The fronts will be changed soon as down to about 3 mm but the backs still have a bit more life in them.

Sarge.

ok heres the pics

this is the drivers side

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398873498/

and this is the passenger side (this one is worse)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398269915/

as you can see its only the very inside edge thats worn on them and the rest of the tyre still has loads of tread depth left.

Mine looked just like this and i went to have the geometry checked. Rear wheels way out and also the fronts were not as they should be. They put it right ( they not being Skoda) and the tyred wore evently then. I replaced them last week. Only got 13000 miles out of them though!

ok heres the pics

this is the drivers side

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398873498/

and this is the passenger side (this one is worse)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottguymer/5398269915/

as you can see its only the very inside edge thats worn on them and the rest of the tyre still has loads of tread depth left.

Very obviously incorrect camber. end of. I had a vectra with 17s on and that had the same problem, as the rear camber was set for 15s and was non-adjustable.

Prima facie case of camber set incorrectly from factory. Thats it

So car not fit for pur[pose

Needs to have 2 new tyres replcaed and geometry corrected by dealer,

If you boiught car from dealer contract is with them.

If you bought from skoda finace, its their problem

Very obviously incorrect camber. end of. I had a vectra with 17s on and that had the same problem, as the rear camber was set for 15s and was non-adjustable.

Prima facie case of camber set incorrectly from factory. Thats it

So car not fit for pur[pose

Needs to have 2 new tyres replcaed and geometry corrected by dealer,

If you boiught car from dealer contract is with them.

If you bought from skoda finace, its their problem

My rears ('10 vRS) have worn in exact the same way as this on the rear. They've been misshapen too as not they're on the front they make a god awful racket. Need to find time to see the local dealer and see if they are willing to align the suspension without me putting my hand in my pocket. The steering in my car is heavier than it should be so I think the alignment would sort that too.

Very obviously incorrect camber. end of. I had a vectra with 17s on and that had the same problem, as the rear camber was set for 15s and was non-adjustable.

Prima facie case of camber set incorrectly from factory. Thats it

So car not fit for pur[pose

Needs to have 2 new tyres replcaed and geometry corrected by dealer,

If you boiught car from dealer contract is with them.

If you bought from skoda finace, its their problem

this is what i thought. no one can be expected to have the camber of their brand new car checked. It should be correct when delivered (either from the factory or checked by the delivering dealer)

i will be getting the alignment done for free and will be pushing to have the tyres paid for as they have prematurely worn out which is not my fault in any way. not to mention the fact that it must be out by a hell of a way and the wear it caused is dangerous at the least.

when inspecting the tyre as a normal road user you could not be expected to notice that sort of damage (even a casual inspection from a specialist might not have seen this unless on the ramps) they tyres could have worn through and had a blow out and killed me and my family without even anyone noticing the tyre was worn in this way.

not very happy at all.

i will be ringing skoda in the morning and pursuing this until i get some sort of resolution.

I am trying to gauge how many owners have or are suffering damaged tyres due to incorrect geometry / camber or anything else that is causing this. As I have previously said I am not mechanically minded so bear with me on the title.

How many of us are out there wondering what to do about it. How has dealer treated you.

Please see thread "Register of complaints" and add your details if you are one of those affected

Thanks

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/189450-register-of-complaints-add-your-details/

I'm a little late responding to this thread but here goes...I received my 2009 Superb with Dunlop Sports Maxx fitted all round. Strangely, the space saver spare is Continental!! Have travelled 27000kms and have loud noise for most of it. I had my dealer check things out some time back and he diagnosed saw tooth problem. I honestly thought it was a wheel bearing on the way out. The dealer rotated the tyres back for front but its now worse. Overall wear is ok but can feel saw tooth very evident particularly on the inner edge.effect is

I have committed to replacing with Continentals as the chances of winning an warranty discussion with my dealer, Skoda or the Fair Trading folk is between zero and zilch!!