New to forum. Hi all.

Looked through previous forum posts for same concern as I have but surprisingly could find none.

Picked up my 57 plate 1.9tdi Octavia yesterday from Evans Halshaw - Cardiff. Nice looking car - 34K - FSH- good price with 3 month warranty.

I have driven Octavia hire cars before and liked them so knew what to expect so I only carried out a visual condition and doc check.

After 1.5 hours waiting for them to sort out ownership paperwork etc I finally managed to get the keys.

As soon as I drove off I noticed a quite distinct droan from the running gear. Drove down to Devon yesterday and the droning is continuous although it probably appears worse around 40-50 mph.

Have seen review indicating similar symptoms - Some say wheel bearings, some say it is a common tyre problem.

Will take it into the dealer this week for them to drive it and make a judgement. Hopefully any fault will be covered by the warranty.

Disappointing considering the old Renault Clio I p/ex for this was so silent and smooth.

Have any other forum members experienced this and any suggestions on the cause ?

Thanks

99% good bet it's worn tyres on the rear. If they are reasonably low on tread run your hand around the inner edges and they may be uneven. Replace the tyres and the noise should disappear.

changing the tyres is not going to fix the problem, it's just going to do it again.

My money is on tyre noise caused by rear suspension geometry being out. A common problem.

What size wheels and tyres are on it, and what brand tyres? I test drove an elegance estate that the owner had fitted 17" alloys (genuine skoda) and the world cheapest unheard of brand tyres. It sounded louder than my 4x4 with All Terrain tyres on!

As others have said, look for uneven tyre wear on the rear. It is normally evidenced by a 'sawtoothing' effect on the inner edges. You need new tyres and full 4 wheel geometry (not 4 wheel alignment) set up doing. This will line each wheel up with the centre line of the car perfectly and eliminate the uneven wear and noise. Expect to pay about £90-£120 for a geometry set up. If you are in the North, give Drury Lane Garage in Oldham a call - I had mine done there and they are brilliant. They have a £30k ramp that supports each wheel on a cushion of air so that they can adjust all the angles with the car 'floating'. Quite a few places have the Hunter alignment rig, but not the expensive floating ramp, which makes a huge difference as they can move the wheel about as if there is no weight on it, but the full weight of the car is on the suspension!

There are plenty of threads on here about this, but is normally more of a problem with the vRS with the wider wheels, than standard models on 6 or 6.5J rims.

Edit: Just noticed you are in Bristol! Have a look here for someone more local.

My money is on tyre noise caused by rear suspension geometry being out. A common problem.

What size wheels and tyres are on it, and what brand tyres? I test drove an elegance estate that the owner had fitted 17" alloys (genuine skoda) and the world cheapest unheard of brand tyres. It sounded louder than my 4x4 with All Terrain tyres on!

As others have said, look for uneven tyre wear on the rear. It is normally evidenced by a 'sawtoothing' effect on the inner edges. You need new tyres and full 4 wheel geometry (not 4 wheel alignment) set up doing. This will line each wheel up with the centre line of the car perfectly and eliminate the uneven wear and noise. Expect to pay about £90-£120 for a geometry set up. If you are in the North, give Drury Lane Garage in Oldham a call - I had mine done there and they are brilliant. They have a £30k ramp that supports each wheel on a cushion of air so that they can adjust all the angles with the car 'floating'. Quite a few places have the Hunter alignment rig, but not the expensive floating ramp, which makes a huge difference as they can move the wheel about as if there is no weight on it, but the full weight of the car is on the suspension!

There are plenty of threads on here about this, but is normally more of a problem with the vRS with the wider wheels, than standard models on 6 or 6.5J rims.

Edit: Just noticed you are in Bristol! Have a look here for someone more local.

Thanks all.

I hope the dealer has the same knowledge as you all and can fix the problem. It really is quite bad.

He will only convince me the problem is tyre noise by fixing it. Otherwise I will look for an alternative vehicle.

34k miles is low for bearing wear. I paid the price for a low mileage Octavia so don't feel bound to pay for the additional geometry checks proposed.

Went to check the inner rears and yes - there is evidence of wear.

Seems rather drastic to have the whole vehicle geometry check on air rigs. No other car I have owned has been susceptical to this problem.

Even if the car is aligned as proposed, how long might it last until the problem re-occurs?

Many thanks for the insight

Regards

Bob

If you are in Bristol then try:

S J Curtis

Southway Drive

North Common

Warmley

Bristol

BS30 5LW

I'm in Bath and have used them before. Found them very good.

Thanks all.

I hope the dealer has the same knowledge as you all and can fix the problem. It really is quite bad.

He will only convince me the problem is tyre noise by fixing it. Otherwise I will look for an alternative vehicle.

34k miles is low for bearing wear. I paid the price for a low mileage Octavia so don't feel bound to pay for the additional geometry checks proposed.

Went to check the inner rears and yes - there is evidence of wear.

Seems rather drastic to have the whole vehicle geometry check on air rigs. No other car I have owned has been susceptical to this problem.

Even if the car is aligned as proposed, how long might it last until the problem re-occurs?

Many thanks for the insight

Regards

Bob

Ask the dealer to pay for the geometry check - it isn't as bad as it sounds and it has probably been like this since the day it left the factory.

The tyre wear on the inner edge points to the geometry being out. As you have bought from a dealer, advise them you are straight off to Trading Standards if they don't sort the geometry and put you 2 new tyres on that are an equivalent spec to the ones that are on the rear now.

One really easy way of telling if it is the tyres is swapping front to rear for a quick test drive. If that cures it you need 2 new tyres and the geometry doing. The only way the geometry will go out of line again is if you hit a pothole or kerb at some speed, but then that is true for any car.

Remember, dealers have to give you 3 month warranty, if they refuse to do it just ring Trading Standards. It is a known issue with the Golf Mk5 platform and the dealer can just search the internet for Octavia VRS Sawtooth and get lots of hits on the problem. Skoda even issued a Bulletin with revised rear geometry settings at one point.

This isn't as bad as it sounds by any means and is very easily cured. Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of the car. You might even be able to get a place with a Hunter rig to just do you the 'Before' print out to prove to the dealer that the alignment is out - I suspect they would only want £40 or so as they are not doing any adjustments. A worthwhile investment if it gets you 2 new tyres and the full geometry set up done.

My car had no visible problems, I only had it checked because I had the tracking checked and they reckoned it was miles out (it wasn't) but they were lining the fronts up with the rears and one of the rears was slightly out. My car drives so straight and true after having it done I would recommend everyone has it done every 3 years or so, depending on your mileage, anyway. As I do 25,000 miles PA I am going to have mine checked every 2 years.

Ask the dealer to pay for the geometry check - it isn't as bad as it sounds and it has probably been like this since the day it left the factory.

The tyre wear on the inner edge points to the geometry being out. As you have bought from a dealer, advise them you are straight off to Trading Standards if they don't sort the geometry and put you 2 new tyres on that are an equivalent spec to the ones that are on the rear now.

One really easy way of telling if it is the tyres is swapping front to rear for a quick test drive. If that cures it you need 2 new tyres and the geometry doing. The only way the geometry will go out of line again is if you hit a pothole or kerb at some speed, but then that is true for any car.

Remember, dealers have to give you 3 month warranty, if they refuse to do it just ring Trading Standards. It is a known issue with the Golf Mk5 platform and the dealer can just search the internet for Octavia VRS Sawtooth and get lots of hits on the problem. Skoda even issued a Bulletin with revised rear geometry settings at one point.

This isn't as bad as it sounds by any means and is very easily cured. Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of the car. You might even be able to get a place with a Hunter rig to just do you the 'Before' print out to prove to the dealer that the alignment is out - I suspect they would only want £40 or so as they are not doing any adjustments. A worthwhile investment if it gets you 2 new tyres and the full geometry set up done.

My car had no visible problems, I only had it checked because I had the tracking checked and they reckoned it was miles out (it wasn't) but they were lining the fronts up with the rears and one of the rears was slightly out. My car drives so straight and true after having it done I would recommend everyone has it done every 3 years or so, depending on your mileage, anyway. As I do 25,000 miles PA I am going to have mine checked every 2 years.

Thanks for all the info.

It is a Classic with 15" wheels, fitted with Pirellis on the front and Avons on the back.

All tyres from 1st look appear to have lots of tread but as discovered there is some wear on the inside of the rears.

There are several places I have found in Bristol who do the geometry check. I have the car booked into the Evans Halshaw service dept next Tuesday. They seemed very helpful and not at all reluctant to help like some may but they don't have the Hunter geometry system and admit to having alignment performed by the garage across the road. Although it may be 4 wheel laser alignment I don't know if this will fix root cause.

Of course I will insist on new tyres on the back and maybe bite the bullet and have it rechecked myself at SJ Curtis who are just down the road.

Veering off topic, can anyone recommend this---e bay listing 300580343626 TDI Tuning Chip ?

Many thanks

4 wheel laser alignment is not the same as a geometry check. You need to get it on a Hunter rig or similar.

4 wheel laser alignment will just line up the fronts with the rears!!! Kwik-Fit will do that!

As for tuning chips, don't bother, go to Ben@Shark performance for a proper remap if you are after more power and better economy.