Supposedly picking up a new Octavia Vrs later today.

Asked the dealer if Dunlop's or Conti's were fitted, they said Dunlops and denied any knowledge of a problem, I find this shocking now having read this whole thread.

Pick mine up on Monday & mine has Dunlops on too...but a Conti on the full size spare :S

Dealer was pretty unhelpful.

Pick mine up on Monday & mine has Dunlops on too...but a Conti on the full size spare :S

Dealer was pretty unhelpful.

Reject the car!!

Reject the car and ask the dealer to ring John Good at Skoda Cus Service. He will tell you that there is a problem with Dunlop tyres, or at least he should! Actually there is a problem with the alignment of this model, which Skoda deny, but which I have proved by changing tyres and having the car aligned. So I guess your rejecting the car until the dealer proves that it is aligned correctly and not just on the dealers "handy suspension alignment rig" neither! My dealer D M Keith checked my car using their gear and it said it was OK, but the service manager said that he could see quite clearly from the tyres that this was not the case, so sent it for a proper check to a suspension specialist and sure enough it was out.

If your dealer says there is no evidence then I'm quite happy for you to ring me and I'll speak to both Good and Dealer reference this. PM me if you want my phone number.

The situation is, that Skoda are playing this out using the" I can't comment on other cases" angle, meanwhile they continue to supply cars with these tyres and/or out of alignment.

Doing it this way could save you alot of hassle in 7000 miles time!!

Edited 5 June, 201115 yr by banksie

My dealer D M Keith checked my car using their gear and it said it was OK, but the service manager said that he could see quite clearly from the tyres that this was not the case, so sent it for a proper check to a suspension specialist and sure enough it was out.e!!

Hi; do you (or anyone else) know what the actual alignment settings are meant to be. I presume that Skoda issue these and I wonder what settings the mainstream specialists at alignment are working to and whether Skoda have issued any update to the field. Thanks.

Reject the car!!

Reject the car and ask the dealer to ring John Good at Skoda Cus Service. He will tell you that there is a problem with Dunlop tyres, or at least he should! Actually there is a problem with the alignment of this model, which Skoda deny, but which I have proved by changing tyres and having the car aligned. So I guess your rejecting the car until the dealer proves that it is aligned correctly and not just on the dealers "handy suspension alignment rig" neither! My dealer D M Keith checked my car using their gear and it said it was OK, but the service manager said that he could see quite clearly from the tyres that this was not the case, so sent it for a proper check to a suspension specialist and sure enough it was out.

If your dealer says there is no evidence then I'm quite happy for you to ring me and I'll speak to both Good and Dealer reference this. PM me if you want my phone number.

The situation is, that Skoda are playing this out using the" I can't comment on other cases" angle, meanwhile they continue to supply cars with these tyres and/or out of alignment.

Doing it this way could save you alot of hassle in 7000 miles time!!

I'll give Skoda UK a ring in the morning & speak to John Good, cheers for the advice

I too have a new Octavia vRS which is nine months old. Dunlop SP Sport Maxx all round.

I took it into National Tyres in Slough the other day to get a worn front tyre replaced and thought the technician was winding me up when he asked me whether I knew both my back tyres were illegal (they had done less than 8,000 miles and had loads of tread - or at least that was what I thought!). He then took one of the wheels off to show me and I was staggered to see that, despite having loads of tread on the centre and outer sections, they were ice smooth on the inner section! He asked whether I had noticed more noise when I had been driving recently and explained that was down to the uneven wear on the tyres. At his suggestion I booked my car in for a full geometry and camber check at Feltham Tyres in Slough.

Much to my surprise, apart for a slight adjustment that was required on the front wheel alignmen,t the technician at Feltham Tyres told me that his computer print-out (they use Hunter equipment)showed that the set up (including camber) matched Skoda's factory specification exactly.

When I told him about the two rear tyres that needed replacing he said that it was possible that Skoda had specified an incorrect setup on the new vRS and suggested I did a trawl of internet forums. Hence my presence here!

Edited 5 June, 201115 yr by RoyalBlue

Skoda UK were dreadful, usual comments from a Customer service center - not what I have experienced in the past from them.

They state there is 'nothing wrong with the vehicle' and 'there are no faults', 'I can't comment on internet forums' etc

I reinforced the issue stating that it was well known by Skoda, but I was told that I can't refuse it for the reasons stated above.

The call is logged, as are my concerns :S

I too have a new Octavia vRS which is nine months old. Dunlop SP Sport Maxx all round.

I took it into National Tyres in Slough the other day to get a worn front tyre replaced and thought the technician was winding me up when he asked me whether I knew both my back tyres were illegal (they had done less than 8,000 miles and had loads of tread - or at least that was what I thought!). He then took one of the wheels off to show me and I was staggered to see that, despite having loads of tread on the centre and outer sections, they were ice smooth on the inner section! He asked whether I had noticed more noise when I had been driving recently and explained that was down to the uneven wear on the tyres. At his suggestion I booked my car in for a full geometry and camber check at Feltham Tyres in Slough.

Much to my surprise, apart for a slight adjustment that was required on the front wheel alignmen,t the technician at Feltham Tyres told me that his computer print-out (they use Hunter equipment)showed that the set up (including camber) matched Skoda's factory specification exactly.

When I told him about the two rear tyres that needed replacing he said that it was possible that Skoda had specified an incorrect setup on the new vRS and suggested I did a trawl of internet forums. Hence my presence here!

Same as mine, was quite shocked when dealer at service said i needed two new rear tyres. it was very clear when the tyre guy took them off what the problem was.

i have in the mean time had a full wheel alignment as per the December 2010 technical bulletin, waiting for feedback from my dealer who i will see on Thuraday when they replace the seat cover they ripped.

i am sure that there is a PDF on this forum which shows before and after and the settings/tolerences (i printed it out to take to my 4 wheel alignment guy but didn't need it as Skoda Uk paid for mine to be done).

UPDATE

Had a call from Kevin Holdsworth (Tech at Skoda resposible for the Emergency Services Vehicles) to discuss problems with the car.He was keen to help out. He was/is aware of "some issues with Dunlops and Bridgestone tyres, but not Continental". He said that not all the cars exhibit the problem even if fitted with the Dunlops etc, but then no-one has posted to that effect on here!!

He was keen to discuss the alignment of the car and having e-mailed him the copy of the suspension work done by D M Keith Leeds he rang back to say that the work had not been carried out by an authorised VAG suspension specialist!! He stated that Skoda are keen that the work is carried out on proper equipment because once the operator inputs the chassis number the machine checks everything and prints the results. It then knows exactly how the suspension should be set as the data for that chassis number is in the machine. He also stated that the recommendation was to set the suspension to its extreme setting (can't remember which way, but will find out).

Anyway the result from today was that Skoda are now going to have the car checked at there expense and then make an assessment about the tyres!!

While I was on the phone and this was mentioned, I thought how will they now ever know how my car wasoriginally set? D M Keith have used the wrong machine, I didn't want to get into any discussion over this as he'd already said they were paying for the proper full alignment, so the car will be set correctly. As for the tyres then I think they have now shot themselves in the foot, because they can now not prove that the car was or wasn't set up correctly. I can prove the tyres wore incorrectly!

Will update when I know more!

Edited 6 June, 201115 yr by banksie

Banksie,

Mine was carrried out by an approved VAG specialist, you can see clearly how far out mine was.

Just for the record, I've got Dunlops fitted to my 06 vRS, were on it when I bought the car a year ago. They've only around 4mm tread left, but have worn evenly.

I bought the car at 4 yrs old, so presumably it could've had a complete realignment, though there's no record of this in the paperwork.

I notice that most of these cars on here are VRS's. And the rears are the problem, more so than the fronts?

I would have thought a FWD car would eat tyres at the front when there is so much traction demand needed, and the fronts will naturally struggle with 200hp or even 170hp with loads of torque.

Is there anyone out there that has this car and is not experiencing these problems?

This is putting me off buying the car!

Yep. Mostly VRSs. Great car but flawed in this area I'm afraid. Not sure I'd go through the hassle again.

I notice that most of these cars on here are VRS's. And the rears are the problem, more so than the fronts?

I would have thought a FWD car would eat tyres at the front when there is so much traction demand needed, and the fronts will naturally struggle with 200hp or even 170hp with loads of torque.

Is there anyone out there that has this car and is not experiencing these problems?

This is putting me off buying the car!

Hi,

When I got my 08 VRS PD the rear tyres were saw toothed (budget tyres) and whining. I got the alignment set to newer spec and put on a set of Michelin PS3's. Changed the set after 28k kms and there were all evenly worn. Issue sorted to date and second set of PS3s look fine at the moment.

Regards,

Biffo

I started to get the whining noise at about 20-25k miles (OE Dunlops).

The dealer spotted the problem when I went in at around 30k and changed the geometry (without the specialist equipment) according to the technical bulletin, which involved changing a setting to the maximum limit/tolerance.

They also suggested a visit to a proper alignment centre (I didn't actually clarify as to who would pay for this).

I'm now on 40k and because I've been too busy I haven't yet had anything checked any further.

There's still about 3mm of tread left (original tyres) and signs of saw-toothing, but nowhere near illegal yet.

I'm happy with the mileage I've got from the tyres (fronts changed at 24k), but the droning noise gets a bit tedious sometimes!

The whining is still there but I think it might have quietened down a bit.

I'll get the alignment done when I change the tyres to something other than the Dunlops.

Not great, but at least I haven't suffered the excessive wear that some of you have.

I started to get the whining noise at about 20-25k miles (OE Dunlops).

The dealer spotted the problem when I went in at around 30k and changed the geometry (without the specialist equipment) according to the technical bulletin, which involved changing a setting to the maximum limit/tolerance.

They also suggested a visit to a proper alignment centre (I didn't actually clarify as to who would pay for this).

I'm now on 40k and because I've been too busy I haven't yet had anything checked any further.

There's still about 3mm of tread left (original tyres) and signs of saw-toothing, but nowhere near illegal yet.

I'm happy with the mileage I've got from the tyres (fronts changed at 24k), but the droning noise gets a bit tedious sometimes!

The whining is still there but I think it might have quietened down a bit.

I'll get the alignment done when I change the tyres to something other than the Dunlops.

Not great, but at least I haven't suffered the excessive wear that some of you have.

have you checked the very inside edge, as already stated mine looked fine apart from the baby smooth inside edge?

have you checked the very inside edge, as already stated mine looked fine apart from the baby smooth inside edge?

Although you can see the low bits due to sawtoothing, the inner edge looks OK to me:

Although you can see the low bits due to sawtoothing, the inner edge looks OK to me:

i agree it does, mine was baby smooth.....maybe yours is not so far out??

Just to add that mine isn't a VRS, it's a 1.9 diesel estate(2008) and the saw toothing is as bad now on the second set of tyres as it was on the originals. And that is after it had gone back to the dealer for adjustment. It seems to me that the problem is that there is no way that we can check whther it is right at the time of the work being carried out. It's only a year later that the noise starts. I'm on Dunlops and will switch to Continentals and then wait a year!

Michael L

I have a 59 reg 1.6 diesel which had this problem when I bought it. Dunlop SP sports on the back, sawtoothed, sounding like a wheel bearing was gone (no idea why I didn't notice it when I test drove the vehicle!!). The dealer changed the rear tyres to Uniroyals and the problem has currently disappeared. Will keep an eye on it having read this thread. Continental Contact 2's on the front.

Spoke with my dealer today as car goes back i tomorrow for them to replace the seat cover they ripped.

she asked if i was happy and i stated yes for now better handling and no noise but i also said ask me in 20K miles

i also reiterated that she spoke with Mr Good at skoda as he is well aware of the issues (still pushing for contribution to tyres).

wait and see hey.....

They are blaming certain brands if tyre, in particular Dunlops, but my falken 452 are going the same way. The geometry was done just after the new tyres went on.

As an update: My local dealer has the car on friday and they are taking it to a vag approved place to have a further look at the geometry. My money is on the rear being fine and within tolerance (and the front being a mile out again, although that's a completely different problem altogether!)

I'm thinking of getting a VRS estate but this is on eof the things making me apprehensive. Is this problem confined to the facelift models?

It appears to be, but thats probably because most of the FL models come with Dunlop's whereas the pre-FL usually came with Continental's on.

So does that make it a tyre issue?

Either way its not a customer issue!!

The geometry settings are the same for both models according to the Skoda Tech info.

As an aside mine is in for alignment check today and I've been told by Skoda to have it adjusted to max camber on the rear which is "negative 1 degree and 20 minutes".

They are blaming certain brands if tyre, in particular Dunlops, but my falken 452 are going the same way. The geometry was done just after the new tyres went on.

As an update: My local dealer has the car on friday and they are taking it to a vag approved place to have a further look at the geometry. My money is on the rear being fine and within tolerance (and the front being a mile out again, although that's a completely different problem altogether!)

Similar issue to me. Skoda checked them and said the rear was fine but front needed adjusting - which they did. This corrected steering wheel alignment but I'm disappointed to see that the front tyres (Michelin PS3) are again showing sighns of sawtoothing after 2000 miles.

Sarge.

It appears to be, but thats probably because most of the FL models come with Dunlop's whereas the pre-FL usually came with Continental's on.

With regards to tyres it's just pot luck as to which it arrives with, my pre-facelift Vrs arrived with Dunlop's which I can honestly say is the worst tyre I have ever had on a car. My facelift Vrs arrived with continentals and another built the same week as mine arrived with dunlops so it's just pot luck. I have been lucky with my last Vrs to have never suffered any of the issues that most people on here have suffered even with the dunlops they wore evenly across the tyre.