My Monte Carlo is pulling to the left HELP!

[Woody91]

Just thought everyone might like to know I have today been onto citizens advice today about the pulling on my car. Among other things have told me they will be passing the info onto trading standards due to it being a safety issue which affects a number of vehicles (I mentioned what i'd found out on the forum) so hopefully they will kick Skoda into gear for everyone having this fault    . 

[Gazbull17]

Waiting for my dealer to call me back tomorrow to say they've also fitted new tyres to mine, the service guy says that's what they've requested from Skoda and were just waiting for the OK to do it.

Good work to get your car sorted, I bet you're glad it's all fixed.

While the Citygo they've gave me to use is a fab little car, I just want my Monte back with no pull and hopefully shod with a shiny new set of tyres, here's hoping!!

Should see if they've done the VCDS tweaks as well, they said they would do it while it was in.

[2013]

hi all I have been following this topic for about 3 months or so because yes my monte tech pulls to the left. ive done all the things other people have done its been to the dealers 5 times but never been come back driving in a straight line (not much to ask for its a new car) anyway like it or hate it I am a facebook user and have skoda as one of my likes ......................they posted on there page ' what is your skoda doing this weekend' (20th October ) they had replies from around the world and I replied that mine was going nowhere because it pulls to the left and skoda uk wont fix it I had a reply the next day asking me to mail them my concerns along with the vehicle identification number V.I.N to........................................ [email protected]     so we can take a look at my case .......................low and behold the very next day the dealer phoned  and asked to book in my car for new tyres.....................booked it in on Friday all sorted no pulling ................not saying this will work for everyone but hey its worth a go

[The Plumber]

I sent an e-mail to that support address and still not got a reply, albeit on another subject but I'm glad it worked for you and the tyres got changed, as the Monte is a great little motor when it drives straight.

 

 

TP

[multiskoda]

hi all I have been following this topic for about 3 months or so because yes my monte tech pulls to the left. ive done all the things other people have done its been to the dealers 5 times but never been come back driving in a straight line (not much to ask for its a new car) anyway like it or hate it I am a facebook user and have skoda as one of my likes ......................they posted on there page ' what is your skoda doing this weekend' (20th October ) they had replies from around the world and I replied that mine was going nowhere because it pulls to the left and skoda uk wont fix it I had a reply the next day asking me to mail them my concerns along with the vehicle identification number V.I.N to........................................ [email protected]     so we can take a look at my case .......................low and behold the very next day the dealer phoned  and asked to book in my car for new tyres.....................booked it in on Friday all sorted no pulling ................not saying this will work for everyone but hey its worth a go

 

Nothing like a bit of public shaming to make them stand up and take notice. I've previously had to email the UK MD (related to my previous Fabia's various woes) to get what I need.

 

These issues all stem from Skoda UK and flow straight down into the dealer network. If SUK had half-decent internal communication (which they clearly don't, because one customer support person's story varies significantly from another's) and half-decent management of its dealer network (i.e. ensuring customers are treated fairly and get the service they are entitled to - clearly not the case currently) things would be very different. Two simple problems that could be easily fixed. Makes me wonder what the top man is actually being paid for.

 

Glad you got yours sorted in the end!

[billylyne5]

Well had my monte new February this year, in for its first service this week, mentioned to dealer in Lincoln that it's pulling to left, they confirmed this and said they needed it back next week and it would need an alignment check and it was going to cost me £78 should I be paying for this or not? Yes it's got dunlops on.

[The Plumber]

Well had my monte new February this year, in for its first service this week, mentioned to dealer in Lincoln that it's pulling to left, they confirmed this and said they needed it back next week and it would need an alignment check and it was going to cost me £78 should I be paying for this or not? Yes it's got dunlops on.

 

The Lincoln dealers have sorted out ours under warranty, however we did start reporting issues with the car wanting to naturally turn left from the first week of ownership.

 

Ours had wheel balance twice (paid for one as we had our own winters fitted first time round), tracked three times and eventually 4 new Pirelli tyres fitted to replace the factory Dunlops.

 

Car still has a very slight tendency to track left with both the standard 17" summer tyres and 15" Uniroyal winters but it's nowhere near like it used to be and quite acceptable.

 

 

TP

[AshfordDeanoP]

Just to let you all know I have had murders with both Monte Carlo's where the front tyres are blowing time and time again which is quite scary when  you're driving! One my car I have replaced the front tyres 3 TIMES and on my wife's, 5 tyres (and they are only 2 1/2 years old). Both cars pull to the left and the tread goes on the inside which I am reliably informed is a camber design issue due to the suspension and tyre size. The tyres regularly deflate and whilst I have raised this many time, Saturday is enough for me enough. My front left tyre which was replaced on 1st September totally stripped away from the wheel while on the M25. This is not good and I intend to make sure Skoda deal with this once and for all. I have had wheel alignments etc and listened to them saying it is because of put holes etc. I am now of the opinion that there can only be one reason and that is there is a design fault! Both cars have also had coolant leaks which took them forever to change; one of which involved taking out the engine!

 

Has anyone actually got anywhere with Skoda UK because I am still dealing with the dealer and have had enough?

[Ootohere]

Welcome to the forum.

 

What is happening to your vehicle & Tyres Blowing sound something rather different from the 'Pulling to the left'.

 

A very extreme set of circumstances.

You have Wheel faults or some external issue going on with Speed Bumps, Kerbs, Street Iron wear or the likes.

Maybe Driver Issues.

 

When the car has good tyres fitted i would get a Proper Professional Motor Mechanic to look at the vehicle,

& if there is a Car fault get Skoda UK to pay a proper Qualified person to fix the cars under Warranty.

 

4500-5000  registered Monte Carlos on the UK roads, i hardly think there is a design fault on them all,

maybe a Manufacturing and Build issue for UK roads, tracking, alignment on some vehicles and a Tyre Fitting, Run out problem on others,

but something that makes tyres blow out is something else all together.

 

Enough Monte Carlo owners here to say if they have had Blow outs or even punctures during their ownership.

 

george

[Carlodiesel]

AshfordDeanoP

Deano I cant believe you have put up with this for so long.

I would suggest you get down to the local Skoda dealer and insist on the car being put right.

Get a loan car & keep it till you have yours sorted properly.

 

I hope you have kept your tyres to prove what you say & to show Skoda.

Your patience is incredible but now you must act. Get some professional help.

CD

[AshfordDeanoP]

George - I have explored many options with the dealers and independent garages; including as you say driver issues! All of which have not resolved the issues. If it was one car I could accept just an issue but both cars with identical faults; I think this goes beyond bad lock! I have had someone look at the tyre camber issues and my two cars definitely have what appears to be a suspension issue and I will of course be taking this forward.

 

CD - There have been other issues which I will not go into but let's say it's been a difficult 2 1/2 years!! Perhaps we have just been unlucky; hence why I have decided to join the forum to share my experiences in case others are experiencing the same problems.

[Ootohere]

All the best with it.

 

Please call Skoda UK Customer Services today and Log the Faults and Problems with them and start the ball rolling on

having 2 safe and fit for purpose cars.

 

Back up with Emails, and if things go slow, Written Complaints sent by Registered Post to Customer Services & the Skoda UK 

Brand Director Alasdair Stewart. 

All copies of Emails & Communications should be saved & anything the Dealership Service Desk or Workshop Manager tells you should be requested as being put in writing.

 

Ask and keep safe  the name of anyone working on the cars or telling you what has been done,

That should be on the Workshop Worksheets anyway.

 

george

[billylyne5]

Result, no issues with Lincoln hortons skoda, checked wheel tracking and I got a phone call saying the have ordered 4 new tyres no problems at all excellent customer service, v pleased with that. And no charge for the tracking as the had originally said. Let's hope it sorts it out. Winter tyres and wheels to sort now

[Gazbull17]

Mine's back in on the 2nd Dec as the pulling's still there as well as the steering wheel slightly off centre now.

There's also vibration through the wheel which could be just the balancing, it's got better as the tyres bed in but it's still there.

I've told them to keep it until it's put right and I've asked them to make sure the technician takes it for a proper test drive after the work has been done as it doesn't appear that ths was done before.

The senior technician is apparently looking at it this time as the first lot of work isn't right.

[multiskoda]

 

Update: car fixed.

Dealer replaced all four tyres for pirellis. Exactly what should happen.

 

Thumbs up to Citygate Watford. They also mentioned they've been seeing this issue on new VRSs (but not any Montes apart from mine, to their knowledge).

 

FWIW (following on from my last post):

• They sent off the tracking/camber settings to Skoda UK who authorised new tyres
• They took photos of the tyres at Skoda UK's request before swapping them (though this wasn't another step before changing the tyres - just something SUK wanted for their records, so they're presumably trying to figure out what's going on with all these cars)
• Tyres swapped.

 

 

Just thought I'd follow this up to say that the car looks like it probably isn't fixed after all - just better than it was.

 

I'm starting to wonder whether the problems happen to be improved by the addition of pirelli tyres, but that the cause isn't the tyres at all. Reason being, I've now put my winter wheels on (15" narrow wheels as opposed to wide 17s that the car comes with), and I'm back to square one - pulling to the left with the same vigour it was before. Could it be that pirelli tyres simply mask the issue?

 

I'll be doing some more checks today (swapping wheels left/right etc) and will report back, but if no change then it's back to the dealers. Will be interesting to see what they do this time, as alignment has been confirmed as spot on by two separate places now (dealership and independent) and the tyres and wheels have been taken out of the equation - so that pretty much leaves suspension/steering I guess.

 

Not sure if my issue is slightly different to others so perhaps worth describing: basically when travelling on a dead straight/flat section of motorway (and I do mean flat), the steering wheel when let go will immediately shift something like 5-10 degreees left and then slowly drift in that direction. 

[marky]

@louisv6: I tend to agree with you that the problem is with the car not the tyres. I have finally had Pirelli's fitted to mine and was so happy to get it sorted. But unfortunately it hasn't solved the problem. It has lessened the issue but the car still goes left when it shouldn't.

 

When the Dunlop's were on, if you took your hands of the wheel (on a clear flat straight bit of motorway) the car would run straight for half a second then snap to the left, the steering wheel would move left by say 10 degrees.

Now with the Pirelli's the car does not snap left but the steering wheel still moves left but only by around 5 degrees.

 

It does seem that there is a bad run of Monte Carlo's that Dunlop seems to be getting the blame for. Maybe it's something like a batch of wishbones that are badly fabricated.

 

Also, ignoring the movement to the left, I thought the Dunlop's were a much better tyre than the Pirelli's. They had a massive amount of grip in the wet and I quite liked the feel of the harder sidewall.

 

I am waiting for a third alignment to see if that will finally sort it. I am not holding my breath. I don't think this particular problem will be sorted for a long time. THere are quite a few parts on the car to check and replace.

[R4zb3rry]

Agree totally with the above, pirellis seem to have lessened the impact of whatever the true fault is as while mine is no longer pulling to the left strongly it certainly still has a tendency to drift.

Would be interested to canvas what week all these cars were produced in to see if we can establish if it can localised to a bad component batch.

Mine was week 34.

[marky]

How do you find out the build week?

[multiskoda]

Agree totally with the above, pirellis seem to have lessened the impact of whatever the true fault is as while mine is no longer pulling to the left strongly it certainly still has a tendency to drift.

Would be interested to canvas what week all these cars were produced in to see if we can establish if it can localised to a bad component batch.

Mine was week 34.

 

The problem seems to go back quite far, but if it helps, mine was week 38.

[multiskoda]

By the way, is anyone aware of a fix for this issue that DOESNT involve changing the tyres?

[multiskoda]

Some thoughts/ observations from the last couple of days driving:

- the pull isn't speed dependent. If it was the tyres I'd expect things to be worse at higher speeds, but that's not the case.

- on all cars with faults the pull is to the left. This doesn't support the tyre theory, because you'd have to have faulty tyres all fitted to the exact same position on the affected cars. This seems unlikely. I'd expect to see just as many cars pulling to the right, but that hasn't been reported by anyone.

- lighter/thinner winter wheels make the problem more obvious. Less contact with the road and it gets worse, so doesn't support this being a tyre issue because less contact should make the issue LESS apparent, not more. Instead we are reducing resistance, allowing what must be an underlying suspension/steering issue to shine through.

Thoughts anyone?

[Norton850]

Here's my theory ... My Monte pulls to the left when I drive on a normal camber road I.e. Road sloping to the left... When I've drive on a totally flat surface the pull is greatly reduced. On an adverse camber road it drives straight. So my theory is that the car is setup for continental roads where they obviously drive on the right and the camber is adverse from a UK perspective. clearly the cars are over sensitive to camber issues, I suspect this is caused by simply fitting wide low profile wheels with very stiff tyre walls. I shared the experience of having the inside of the near side front tyre wear bald and ultimately puncture - although I can't say for 100% the two are linked. Changing tyres may help as people are finding, overall I'd say this a design flaw caused by tarting up a modest small car with low profile wheels and tyres and not getting it right for the UK.

I suspect Skoda won't fix this as they will not view this as a safety issue, having paid around £14k for what Skoda claim is a great car I do feel rather let down and this will probably see me switch to another manufacturer when my car goes back in 18 months time. Their loss not mine. I commute by rail to London every day, work long hours and don't feel inclined to spend my Saturdays at a car dealer. This all said I had a major vibration issue will a new Harley Davidson that the factory won't fix, it was resolved by losening an exhaust mounting bolt so a cheap fix compared to the 2tyres I bought for my Skoda. Over and out.

[Ootohere]

It happens to the minority of the several thousand of UK registered Fabia MK2's fitted with 205/40 R17 Dunlops or Continentals tyres fitted on Gigaro or Trinity wheels.

 

Just get an honest answer from Skoda UK to why your particular vehicle & quite a few others, have an issue and many thousands of others do not.

 

As they supply the vehicle for sale and it needs to be fit for purpose as a passenger vehicle,

if it has an unsafe pull to the left and they accept that,which they have been doing,

leave it with them until it behaves and drives correctly, 

 

Ask where they want it delivered until they deal with a 'WARRANTY ISSUE' on a new car, & tell them where to arrange the Courtesy car to be for you.

and if they can not get a vehicle to drive correctly & safely in the UK or abroad if you want to use it in another country,

demand that they replace it with a vehicle that can.

'At no financial loss to yourself'.

Use your Customer Rights but important your 'UK Consumer Rights', & get a product of merchantable quality.

 

george

[multiskoda]

Thanks George. Some useful phrases to add to my armoury

[monkey182]

After a battle with Skoda customer services for a month, then a week at Caffyns Tunbridge wells...,

all is now good with VW 4WA & new set of tyres... I am happy. Thank goodness was about to just throw in the towel!!