OK Big update with lots of info!!

Spoke to 3 people today, Dunlop, D M Keith and Skoda. Here is what they said.

Dunlop, quite happy to look at the tyres but will need them sending from the dealer so that if there is any problem Skoda will have the opportunity to put it right under the SOGA. He also said he was sending me a further e-mail ref tyre rotation which I will put at the end in the order thing have happened today.

Rang D M Keith who are quite happy for me to take my wheels in and for them to send them to Dunlop.

Customer services Skoda rang me back as I had sent them an e-mail stating the problems. John Good was the guy I spoke to and he seemed very helpful and knew about the problems. He stated that of all the cars that Skoda have checked non have been out of alignment. He stated that he was aware of problems with certain tyres namely Dunlop and Bridgestone and that they were advising to rotate the tyres to get rid of the noise. We discussed my previous Vrs with its Continental tyres on and that there had been no problems with them and he stated that this was been fed back to factory about the Dunlop problem. When I asked him would I be within my rights to reject my forthcoming Scout should it be on Dunlops he said that as far as he was aware there had been no problems on the Scout. I asked him why if they know about the problems why they haven't sent Dunlop tyres back to Dunlop for assessment to which he had no answer, but he was keen to keep in touch when I get my results!

When I checked my e-mail Dunlop have sent this

Tyre Rotation

Tyre rotation is important for even tread wear and long tread life. As a tyre is driven on a road surface

it begins to wear. Tyre wear rarely takes place uniformly on tyres, because each tyre is mounted at a

different position on a vehicle.

Front and rear, drive and non-drive tyres exhibit different wear patterns. Front tyres tend to wear more

rapidly in the shoulder area, because of steering/cornering forces. Rear drive tyres wear more rapidly in

the tread centre because of drive traction forces. On front-wheel-drive cars, front tyres wear much more

rapidly than rear tyres. Personal driving habits and vehicle performance characteristics also cause tyres

to wear differently. Rotating tyres at frequent intervals (at 6000 miles or less) tends to equalise tyre

wear and minimise the progress of irregular wear.

Tyre rotation will also reduce the chances of increased tread noise which can become prevalent if a tyre

has worn unevenly. The noise is often described as sounding like a worn bearing.

Note: Irregular wear or excessive wear in any area of the tread may indicate tyre damage.

Unless the vehicle manufacturer advises otherwise tyres should be rotated at frequent and regular

intervals. Tyres can be rotated conveniently during a regular oil change, which for most vehicles occurs

every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Ideally rotation for a car should be every 6,000 miles or less for optimum

benefit. For 4x4 vehicles rotation may need to be every 4000 miles.

Directional tyre rotation

Unless directional tyres are removed and turned on their rims option 4 alternative rotation pattern

should be used.

Some vehicle manufacturers use valves with a pressure monitoring system installed. If your vehicle has

these types of valve care needs to be taken as the pressure warning system may identify the wrong tyre

has a puncture once the rim and tyre combination has been moved.

So in summary having now read the Dunlop rotation e-mail I feel as though we will get nowhere!

The facts are that I have a noise coming from the rear of my car. On changing tyres the noise goes away, indicating a problem with the tyres. Dunlop now catagorically state that their tyres need to be rotated which I haven't done, so by sending them away for assesment I feel that the answer that will come back will be "that the tyres are ok just rotate them". I guess that unless someone has done this and has no problems then we won't know. I think the tyres will last a reasonable time so we have no comeback there. I think the only gripe we have is that Skoda haven't told us that we need to rotate the tyres. They are fit for purpose if you follow the manufacturers guidelines. Whether you would buy these tyres knowing the guidelines is a different matter.

As I understand it most car manufacturers get a "batch" of tyres from different tyre makers so as to avoid the possibility of a strike at one plant which will stop car production. So my original, and most 2006/07/08 Vrs's came on Continental's with a few exceptions and now they come on Dunlops, next year they may come on something different. I think 09/10 owners are unlucky in getting a selected tyre that doesn't suit the car but is operating within the guidelines. I think that the best tyres are ones with less tread blocks and ones that have the continuous band of tread around them ie Continental.

I will not be sending my tyres off for assessment, I will be rotating my Dunlops until they are worn out. I will not be purchasing Dunlops when I change!!

Edited 2 February, 201115 yr by banksie

OK Big update with lots of info!!

Spoke to 3 people today, Dunlop, D M Keith and Skoda. Here is what they said.

Dunlop, quite happy to look at the tyres but will need them sending from the dealer so that if there is any problem Skoda will have the opportunity to put it right under the SOGA. He also said he was sending me a further e-mail ref tyre rotation which I will put at the end in the order thing have happened today.

Rang D M Keith who are quite happy for me to take my wheels in and for them to send them to Dunlop.

Customer services Skoda rang me back as I had sent them an e-mail stating the problems. John Good was the guy I spoke to and he seemed very helpful and knew about the problems. He stated that of all the cars that Skoda have checked non have been out of alignment. He stated that he was aware of problems with certain tyres namely Dunlop and Bridgestone and that they were advising to rotate the tyres to get rid of the noise. We discussed my previous Vrs with its Continental tyres on and that there had been no problems with them and he stated that this was been fed back to factory about the Dunlop problem. When I asked him would I be within my rights to reject my forthcoming Scout should it be on Dunlops he said that as far as he was aware there had been no problems on the Scout. I asked him why if they know about the problems why they haven't sent Dunlop tyres back to Dunlop for assessment to which he had no answer, but he was keen to keep in touch when I get my results!

When I checked my e-mail Dunlop have sent this

Tyre Rotation

Tyre rotation is important for even tread wear and long tread life. As a tyre is driven on a road surface

it begins to wear. Tyre wear rarely takes place uniformly on tyres, because each tyre is mounted at a

different position on a vehicle.

Front and rear, drive and non-drive tyres exhibit different wear patterns. Front tyres tend to wear more

rapidly in the shoulder area, because of steering/cornering forces. Rear drive tyres wear more rapidly in

the tread centre because of drive traction forces. On front-wheel-drive cars, front tyres wear much more

rapidly than rear tyres. Personal driving habits and vehicle performance characteristics also cause tyres

to wear differently. Rotating tyres at frequent intervals (at 6000 miles or less) tends to equalise tyre

wear and minimise the progress of irregular wear.

Tyre rotation will also reduce the chances of increased tread noise which can become prevalent if a tyre

has worn unevenly. The noise is often described as sounding like a worn bearing.

Note: Irregular wear or excessive wear in any area of the tread may indicate tyre damage.

Unless the vehicle manufacturer advises otherwise tyres should be rotated at frequent and regular

intervals. Tyres can be rotated conveniently during a regular oil change, which for most vehicles occurs

every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Ideally rotation for a car should be every 6,000 miles or less for optimum

benefit. For 4x4 vehicles rotation may need to be every 4000 miles.

Directional tyre rotation

Unless directional tyres are removed and turned on their rims option 4 alternative rotation pattern

should be used.

Some vehicle manufacturers use valves with a pressure monitoring system installed. If your vehicle has

these types of valve care needs to be taken as the pressure warning system may identify the wrong tyre

has a puncture once the rim and tyre combination has been moved.

So in summary having now read the Dunlop rotation e-mail I feel as though we will get nowhere!

The facts are that I have a noise coming from the rear of my car. On changing tyres the noise goes away, indicating a problem with the tyres. Dunlop now catagorically state that their tyres need to be rotated which I haven't done, so by sending them away for assesment I feel that the answer that will come back will be "that the tyres are ok just rotate them". I guess that unless someone has done this and has no problems then we won't know. I think the tyres will last a reasonable time so we have no comeback there. I think the only gripe we have is that Skoda haven't told us that we need to rotate the tyres. They are fit for purpose if you follow the manufacturers guidelines. Whether you would buy these tyres knowing the guidelines is a different matter.

As I understand it most car manufacturers get a "batch" of tyres from different tyre makers so as to avoid the possibility of a strike at one plant which will stop car production. So my original, and most 2006/07/08 Vrs's came on Continental's with a few exceptions and now they come on Dunlops, next year they may come on something different. I think 09/10 owners are unlucky in getting a selected tyre that doesn't suit the car but is operating within the guidelines. I think that the best tyres are ones with less tread blocks and ones that have the continuous band of tread around them ie Continental.

I will not be sending my tyres off for assessment, I will be rotating my Dunlops until they are worn out. I will not be purchasing Dunlops when I change!!

Thanks for that Banksie - very interesting reading. I spoke with Skoda customer services today and they said to get the geometry checked and then send them the print-out. They'd then have a look at it and see whether they should be looking at my problem as a warranty issue. The lady I spoke to was very pleasant and helpful; she recognised there was an issue and said that although not normally covered by the warranty Skoda were looking at the geometry issue as a sort of special case (those are my words not hers).

Sarge.

OK Big update with lots of info!!

Spoke to 3 people today, Dunlop, D M Keith and Skoda. Here is what they said.

Dunlop, quite happy to look at the tyres but will need them sending from the dealer so that if there is any problem Skoda will have the opportunity to put it right under the SOGA. He also said he was sending me a further e-mail ref tyre rotation which I will put at the end in the order thing have happened today.

Rang D M Keith who are quite happy for me to take my wheels in and for them to send them to Dunlop.

Customer services Skoda rang me back as I had sent them an e-mail stating the problems. John Good was the guy I spoke to and he seemed very helpful and knew about the problems. He stated that of all the cars that Skoda have checked non have been out of alignment. He stated that he was aware of problems with certain tyres namely Dunlop and Bridgestone and that they were advising to rotate the tyres to get rid of the noise. We discussed my previous Vrs with its Continental tyres on and that there had been no problems with them and he stated that this was been fed back to factory about the Dunlop problem. When I asked him would I be within my rights to reject my forthcoming Scout should it be on Dunlops he said that as far as he was aware there had been no problems on the Scout. I asked him why if they know about the problems why they haven't sent Dunlop tyres back to Dunlop for assessment to which he had no answer, but he was keen to keep in touch when I get my results!

When I checked my e-mail Dunlop have sent this

Tyre Rotation

Tyre rotation is important for even tread wear and long tread life. As a tyre is driven on a road surface

it begins to wear. Tyre wear rarely takes place uniformly on tyres, because each tyre is mounted at a

different position on a vehicle.

Front and rear, drive and non-drive tyres exhibit different wear patterns. Front tyres tend to wear more

rapidly in the shoulder area, because of steering/cornering forces. Rear drive tyres wear more rapidly in

the tread centre because of drive traction forces. On front-wheel-drive cars, front tyres wear much more

rapidly than rear tyres. Personal driving habits and vehicle performance characteristics also cause tyres

to wear differently. Rotating tyres at frequent intervals (at 6000 miles or less) tends to equalise tyre

wear and minimise the progress of irregular wear.

Tyre rotation will also reduce the chances of increased tread noise which can become prevalent if a tyre

has worn unevenly. The noise is often described as sounding like a worn bearing.

Note: Irregular wear or excessive wear in any area of the tread may indicate tyre damage.

Unless the vehicle manufacturer advises otherwise tyres should be rotated at frequent and regular

intervals. Tyres can be rotated conveniently during a regular oil change, which for most vehicles occurs

every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Ideally rotation for a car should be every 6,000 miles or less for optimum

benefit. For 4x4 vehicles rotation may need to be every 4000 miles.

Directional tyre rotation

Unless directional tyres are removed and turned on their rims option 4 alternative rotation pattern

should be used.

Some vehicle manufacturers use valves with a pressure monitoring system installed. If your vehicle has

these types of valve care needs to be taken as the pressure warning system may identify the wrong tyre

has a puncture once the rim and tyre combination has been moved.

So in summary having now read the Dunlop rotation e-mail I feel as though we will get nowhere!

The facts are that I have a noise coming from the rear of my car. On changing tyres the noise goes away, indicating a problem with the tyres. Dunlop now catagorically state that their tyres need to be rotated which I haven't done, so by sending them away for assesment I feel that the answer that will come back will be "that the tyres are ok just rotate them". I guess that unless someone has done this and has no problems then we won't know. I think the tyres will last a reasonable time so we have no comeback there. I think the only gripe we have is that Skoda haven't told us that we need to rotate the tyres. They are fit for purpose if you follow the manufacturers guidelines. Whether you would buy these tyres knowing the guidelines is a different matter.

As I understand it most car manufacturers get a "batch" of tyres from different tyre makers so as to avoid the possibility of a strike at one plant which will stop car production. So my original, and most 2006/07/08 Vrs's came on Continental's with a few exceptions and now they come on Dunlops, next year they may come on something different. I think 09/10 owners are unlucky in getting a selected tyre that doesn't suit the car but is operating within the guidelines. I think that the best tyres are ones with less tread blocks and ones that have the continuous band of tread around them ie Continental.

I will not be sending my tyres off for assessment, I will be rotating my Dunlops until they are worn out. I will not be purchasing Dunlops when I change!!

Banksie, Which DM Keith did you deal with?

Before I get in touch with Skoda I thought I best let the dealer have a look first and give their opinion

Took mine back to DM Keith Bradford today. Having been in for service on 23rd December it was sent to JCT600 V W at Bradford for Geometry checking. I retained a copy of the print out.

When no improvement I took it to HI Q Leeds for them to look at the tyres and they offered a free check of the alignment on 31st Jan. The print out they gave me showed it being out against Skoda tolerances. I told them not to alter anything. Having showed the print out to the technician at DM Keith, very helpful and understanding guy, they have arranged for it to go to Bradford Audi next Tuesday for re checking.

Whilst at DM Keith the technician showed me a report on "sawtoothing of tyres" dated December 2008. He would not give me a copy of this. The content was similar to what Dunlop have quoted in their response to you, i.e It's the way we drive them!!!!

Interestingly there is an article from EVO magazine going back to 2007 or 8 regarding this problem on a mark 1 VRS.

OK Big update with lots of info!!

Spoke to 3 people today, Dunlop, D M Keith and Skoda. Here is what they said.

Dunlop, quite happy to look at the tyres but will need them sending from the dealer so that if there is any problem Skoda will have the opportunity to put it right under the SOGA. He also said he was sending me a further e-mail ref tyre rotation which I will put at the end in the order thing have happened today.

Unless the vehicle manufacturer advises otherwise tyres should be rotated at frequent and regular

intervals. Tyres can be rotated conveniently during a regular oil change, which for most vehicles occurs

every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Ideally rotation for a car should be every 6,000 miles or less for optimum

benefit. For 4x4 vehicles rotation may need to be every 4000 miles.

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Very comprehensive update; though as you say, not particularly good news all round. Thanks anyway for letting us all know.

Of course, Dunlop's point about 'regular oil changes' which occurs every commonly at 5000 to 7500 miles. Hmmmm - it's many many years since I had a car that needed an oil change before 9000 miles and with long life serviicing I'm now at 14000 and still not had the oil changed.

Sums it up for me - avoid Dunlops and let other know that the manufacturer is living in the dark ages.

Dealer is D M Keith Leeds - Andy, service manager very helpful, said he would still send tyres if I wanted.

He also said that there was no change in the geometery set up between an 04-08 Vrs and an FL Vrs.

I now think, that given I did 23000 miles on my previous 06 Vrs on the same tyres, (Continental), that this comes down to a specific tyre not especially suited to the car. Looking at my tyres now, I would estimate that they will still achieve a similar mileage, so as I've said before I believe they are fit for purpose, its just that Skoda need to be more specific in telling us about rotation of the tyres.

Looking at it from Skoda's point of view, I'm quite sure that they will not have tested every single tyre compatable with car for 10000 miles or more. What they will have done is put a suitable tyre on a test car, driven it in development and then asked for tyre companies to bid for the tyre contract to a certain spec. It just so happens that Dunlop won and its a "characteristic" of these tyres. We have now found out that they need to be rotated to stop the noise!

As a matter of interest to back up this theory I have put 5000 miles on my half worn winter tyres (Kumho), ie similar wear to the Dunlops taken off, and I have no noise. If the geometry was out or it was a car problem then it should have manifested itself with these tyres virtually straightaway.

As I've said before Dunlops will not be the replacement of choice!!

Edited 2 February, 201115 yr by banksie

Hi

(First post here, long time lurker but as I had nothing sensible to say I kept quiet)

Anyway, I have had my Octavia Estate 1.4 since the summer and clocked up 6500 miles so far. Generally very happy with the car only one minor niggle which I THINK may be the 'droning' mentioned here but I am not sure.

Basically, when I hit 65-ish (sometimes less, sometimes more and seemingly dependant on the type / smoothness of roadsurface) there is a vibration noise from the rear passenger side of the car.

Difficult to descibe the actual noise but It hink it's almost teh sound you hear when the bass on the radio is too low and the speaker is of low quality. (Hope that makes sense).

So, could this be the droning noise mentioned here? Does it happen that it's only on one side of the car or should I expect this on both sides or both front and back on a certain side. Does the droning generally happen at a certain speed?

Cheers

Freddie

Sorry for late response, Doesn't sound like the problem most of us are experiencing however most of us are running the VRS so it may be different on yours.

It is most noticable on mine between about 20 and 40 mph on smooth surfaces. The way to check is to run your hand backwardsand forward over the inner edge of the tyres. One way should feel reativly smooth the other your hand should catch the edge of the tread blocks and feel jumpy. ( Not very technical I know but try it and if you have the problem you should see what I mean)

October 2009 Octavia CR vRS Hatch

Dunlop SP Sportmaxx fitted

Problem noticed at about 5/6000 miles

Noticed sawtoothing on rears (had been alerted to fact by this forum)

Skoda dealer checked and altered rear geometry settings as 'good will' gesture.

This happened at the same time that I had hit a pothole and damaged a front tyre, so I replaced two tyres and fitted the new Michelin PS3s to the rear, and moved the rear Dunlops to the front.

I have now done around 13,000 miles and the (now) front Dunlops have evened themselves out, and the PS3s appear to be wearing evenly.

Well things aren't what they seem! Its not the tyres.

Having just taken off my Kumho winter tyres, that have done 6000 miles, they are exhibiting exactly the same style of wear as the Dunlops. The evidence is there in "black and rubber"! The inside shoulders of both rear tyres are worn, probably twice as much as the rest of the tyre.

This seems conclusive proof, to me, that there is something wrong with the geometry of the rear of the car. Andy, the service manager at D M Keith Leeds, agrees and has offered a laser alignment with pending SUK Customer Services agreement.

I will be speaking to SUK mon pm/tues am and will update with further developments!

Edited 27 March, 201115 yr by banksie

I finally got an answer out of SUK last week after asking them to replace the prematurely worn out rear tyres. They had previously carried out a full alignment under warranty and took the rear camber settings to their tolerance limits to even out the wear and said this should solve the problem and they wouldn't need to change the tyres (there's still 3mm tread on the inside, 5mm outside).

I reluctantly accepted to see if the wear evens out but have pointed out that I expect double the mileage out of the rears in comparison to the fronts. Currently on 22k miles and just changed the fronts to Falkens.

Now the only problem is the noise from the rears until they even themselves out.

I finally got an answer out of SUK last week after asking them to replace the prematurely worn out rear tyres. They had previously carried out a full alignment under warranty and took the rear camber settings to their tolerance limits to even out the wear and said this should solve the problem and they wouldn't need to change the tyres (there's still 3mm tread on the inside, 5mm outside).

I reluctantly accepted to see if the wear evens out but have pointed out that I expect double the mileage out of the rears in comparison to the fronts. Currently on 22k miles and just changed the fronts to Falkens.

Now the only problem is the noise from the rears until they even themselves out.

I'm still waiting to here back from SUK. When I first raised the matter with them they asked me to have the alignment checked, at my cost, but not adjusted at this stage and to send them printout from the check. On 17 Feb. full geometry check was done at Highland Audi and on 21 Feb I sent through the printout. Subsequently I have had to re-send it and am still waiting to here what they conclude.

Sarge.

With reference to rotating the tyres I had them rotated front to back and diagonally and the noise is worse than ever. I suspect this is because the tyres are closer to the driver now on the front axle. I have done about 2,000 miles since and there is no sign of the wear evening itself out.

I wrote to Skoda finance threatening to reject my car under the Supply of Goods Act as it is part financed on their 0% offer. They are currently investigating the matter and have stated they will seek to espond within five weeks. This was about three weeks ago.

I will update as and when

Spoke to SUK Customer Services today who will laise with D M Keith as regards the alignment. During the course of conversation it was explained to me that SUK Warranty department see this as a wear and tear issue and a problem with the "brand of tyres"and are reluctant to reimburse the dealers when they have done alignments.

I then asked him which brand of tyres were the warranty department recommending to fit, to which he had no answer. "you can't have this both ways" was my answer! I also asked him how if it was a tyre issue that most makes now seem to be "wrong". Again no constructive answer.

He also stated that alot of the time this problem was due to "curbing the wheels". I asked him how it was possible to curb both back wheels so that the tyre wear is identical and further more that there are at least 25 VRS owners all running over the same curb! Again no answer!

He was going to discuss the alignment with D M Keith and get back to me.

I think this has now gone on long enough and we need to start to compile a proper list of the cars effected so we can tackle this en-mass.

Thoughts please.

I'm still waiting to here back from SUK. When I first raised the matter with them they asked me to have the alignment checked, at my cost, but not adjusted at this stage and to send them printout from the check. On 17 Feb. full geometry check was done at Highland Audi and on 21 Feb I sent through the printout. Subsequently I have had to re-send it and am still waiting to here what they conclude.

Sarge.

29/03/2011

Decided to call SUK today to see where things were at. I was left gobsmacked and thoroughly cheesed off. The guy I spoke to was not the person normally dealing with the case but he went off and came back with an update. Apparently, their technician (whoever that is) couldn't approve the alignment check that I'd had done because it had been carried out on equipment that was not approved by VW! It was done at an Audi dealer using the Hunter equipment highly rated elswhere on this Forum. What is particulalry annoying is that SUK advised me to get the check done (have it checked but not adjusted they said, so that their tech. can see what he thinks about it) and agreed for it to be done at my 'local' audi dealer (because they have geometry checking equipment) without indicating to me that it had to be a particular type of equipment (a vice bar machine). Having travelled 130 miles and spent £95 to have the check done to be told the data couldn't be used by SUK enraged me! But I kept my calm with the guy at SUK who said he would locate the nearest place with the right equipment and get back to me so that I could arrange to take the car there. It beggars belief. And why has it taken since 21 February 2011, with me faxing the Hunter print-out to them twice, to come up with that response?! Sorry to go on but it is really disappointing. I love my vRS but this experience is definitely not inspiring me to buy Skoda again.

Edited 29 March, 201115 yr by Sarge

Everyone should agree on a date and ALL those affected right to Watchdog and Which Car at the same time!

Everyone should agree on a date and ALL those affected right to Watchdog and Which Car at the same time!

You should find an approved alignment centre central to all owners with the problem. You book every car in for an alignment and you invite representatives (I would get in touch with PR reps not sales or Tech reps) from Skoda UK, Dunlop, every local journalist (press, radio and TV) and then see the response you get.

I find that marketing and PR departments have the biggest budget (and the most to loose from bad press) so tend to be more responsive than underfunded and under staffed customer service departments.

29/03/2011

Decided to call SUK today to see where things were at. I was left gobsmacked and thoroughly cheesed off. The guy I spoke to was not the person normally dealing with the case but he went off and came back with an update. Apparently, their technician (whoever that is) couldn't approve the alignment check that I'd had done because it had been carried out on equipment that was not approved by VW! It was done at an Audi dealer using the Hunter equipment highly rated elswhere on this Forum. What is particulalry annoying is that SUK advised me to get the check done (have it checked but not adjusted they said, so that their tech. can see what he thinks about it) and agreed for it to be done at my 'local' audi dealer (because they have geometry checking equipment) without indicating to me that it had to be a particular type of equipment (a vice bar machine). Having travelled 130 miles and spent £95 to have the check done to be told the data couldn't be used by SUK enraged me! But I kept my calm with the guy at SUK who said he would locate the nearest place with the right equipment and get back to me so that I could arrange to take the car there. It beggars belief. And why has it taken since 21 February 2011, with me faxing the Hunter print-out to them twice, to come up with that response?! Sorry to go on but it is really disappointing. I love my vRS but this experience is definitely not inspiring me to buy Skoda again.

I've had a similar fight with Skoda customer services. They told me to have the alignment checked/adjusted and come back to them with the results.

Skoda wanted £120 so went somewhere local for half the cost. The results showed the factory set up to be a mile out an the car felt a million times better afterwards.

I sent the results to SUK and they cane back and came the crap that I should have habit done inside the dealer network, which they didn't tell me i had to do, so they wouldnt re-imbirse me. They also said that the alignment results were within tolerances - utter crap, it was miles out.

After they turned my claim down i told them I was fully aware thy this was a very common issue and it wasn't down to the Dunlops either as it affected my new falkens too. Thus seemed to make them change their mind, and ibwill be getting my cash back for the alignment work.

Result.

Unfortunately, the alignment on the front keeps moving out of line. It's done it twice after adjustment now, so I need to get to the bottom of that now. I'm not a happy bunny!!!

I've had a similar fight with Skoda customer services. They told me to have the alignment checked/adjusted and come back to them with the results.

Skoda wanted £120 so went somewhere local for half the cost. The results showed the factory set up to be a mile out an the car felt a million times better afterwards.

I sent the results to SUK and they cane back and came the crap that I should have habit done inside the dealer network, which they didn't tell me i had to do, so they wouldnt re-imbirse me. They also said that the alignment results were within tolerances - utter crap, it was miles out.

After they turned my claim down i told them I was fully aware thy this was a very common issue and it wasn't down to the Dunlops either as it affected my new falkens too. Thus seemed to make them change their mind, and ibwill be getting my cash back for the alignment work.

Result.

Unfortunately, the alignment on the front keeps moving out of line. It's done it twice after adjustment now, so I need to get to the bottom of that now. I'm not a happy bunny!!!

Thanks for that. I had a message on the answer phone when I got home today to say that the dealer in Perth has the right equipment and so does the dealer in Inverness. If that's true I'll be even more annoyed because when I originally asked the Inverness dealer about doing the geometry check they said they could do basic alignment but not full geometry. I'd be interested to know who you went to after you turned the claim down. I can see this saga of mine becoming rather protracted.

Sarge.

I've just read through this with interest. I picked up my Octavia about 10 days ago from a main dealer, it was sitting around the 18K mark. Prior to driving off I noticed that the rear tyres were very worn (about 1K left on them) - the wear seemed extreme verging on illegal on the rear tyre edges. Fronts were better and fairly serviceable. The dealer with huge embarassment whisked the car off and fitted it with some brand new rear tyres for me and mentioned in passing that it looked as though fronts had been swapped to rears at some time in the past. So now I am sitting with said motor with new tyres on the back and part worn, but quite serviceable tyres on the fronts - at present I couldn't tell you what brands as it's dark and cold outside (and I'm cosy inside and don't want to go and check!). I would sooner not have problems akin to those mentioned above with the tyres - is it worth getting the alignment of the car checked as clearly there has some been major wear in the past. If so where can I get this done? Is it worth asking the dealer to take a look, or worth going to somewhere independant for a check (or a popular tyre and exhaust centre maybe?). What I can't deduce from this thread is are you all decided that it is a tyre issue or is it a possible alignment issue that should be rectifiable with adjustment?

hi guys,

i have been watching this thread closely and just wanted to ask if this is the case with all new octavia vrs cars? i mean has anyone not had the problem with the tyre wearing?

i ask as i have ordered one and waiting on it to be shipped over and as this is my first skoda and first brand new car i am worried that this is going to ruin the experience.

is it a specific build date range that these have happened to?

cheers

For the sake of £60/80 I would drive it straight to somewhere that can check the geometry. If it is out, go back to skoda and claim the money back. At the very least it will save problems in the long run.

So by geometry can I assume this is what I what have always known as 'tracking' or is this a different issue. Would I need to ask for a 'tracking check' or something else please?

2010 may fl octavia 1.9 tdi estate.

dunlop original equipment tyres.

saw toothing started at 10,000 miles.

reported to supplying dealer at 14,500 miles.

dealer not intrested as it is in their opinion a tyre issue.

dealer could only suggest tyre rotation.

suk not really intrested giving the same reply as dealers.

suk now have asked to take anothere look at the car since i also sent a copy of my last e-mail to watchdog as well as suk.

i suggest everybody else also sends copies of e-mails to watchdog as well as suk.

Edited 1 April, 201115 yr by browny151

So by geometry can I assume this is what I what have always known as 'tracking' or is this a different issue. Would I need to ask for a 'tracking check' or something else please?

No, tracking is different from a geometry. I'm not technically minded enough to be able to elaborate but there was a good explanation of the difference between tracking, alignment and geometry somewhere on here. Interestingly, whilst it is the geometry check that is widly recommended on the forum (hence why I had mine done), from what I can gather from SUK and the Inverness dealer (my local one)what SUK are wanting me to get checked is just the alignment, not the full geometry. Call me a sinic, but I wonder if an alignment check will likely show that the car is within tolerences (for its alignment) whereas a full geometry check would highlight a potential problem in another aspect. By just checking alignment they can turn round and say all is well, it aint our problem! Apparently there has now been some TPI(Technical ? Instruction, I think) produced by Skoda on the issue, so I'm going to see if I can track it down.

Hi Sarge - interesting! So if I asked any local garage to carry out an independant 'Geometry' check they would know what aspects to check for and wouldn't just check the tracking?

No, tracking is different from a geometry. I'm not technically minded enough to be able to elaborate but there was a good explanation of the difference between tracking, alignment and geometry somewhere on here. Interestingly, whilst it is the geometry check that is widly recommended on the forum (hence why I had mine done), from what I can gather from SUK and the Inverness dealer (my local one)what SUK are wanting me to get checked is just the alignment, not the full geometry. Call me a sinic, but I wonder if an alignment check will likely show that the car is within tolerences (for its alignment) whereas a full geometry check would highlight a potential problem in another aspect. By just checking alignment they can turn round and say all is well, it aint our problem! Apparently there has now been some TPI(Technical ? Instruction, I think) produced by Skoda on the issue, so I'm going to see if I can track it down.

Whats the difference - explanation of the difference between tracking, alignment and geometry checking

I am totally confused by this statement as I don't understand where the poster is coming from.

Could some one who has a detailed knowledge of these complex issues please explain so that we can all benefit.