Suspension / Steering issue

[Leonblue]

Had my Octavia for 6 weeks. My steering feels dead / unresponsive around the centre, the car seems to be very sensitive to bumps in the road and tends to wander about. It's difficult to describe but if, for example, you turn the wheel very slightly to the left the car fights and actually goes slightly towards the right, turn it slightly further then it goes in the intended direction. It does the same in both directions. The wheel is centred OK and the car does not predominantly pull either way. My impression is that something is loose / pliable in the chassis. When cornering there is sometimes a slight feeling of the car moving sideways. I have checked tyre pressures and that all the wheels are tight. I have taken it back to the dealer twice. First time the mechanic agreed it felt a little odd, but put it on the ramps and couldn't find an obvious problem or anything loose. I took it back again and they had it in for a day. The car had a software upgrade but the problem persists. They also let me drive a demonstrator with the same wheels / tyres, to me that one seemed to steer and handle ok. I have mentioned the problem to the dealer and SUK and that the problem persists.

Another annoyance is that the audio system 'Amundsen' is described in the brochure as being able to play FLAC audio files. It does not, SUK have admitted that it is a misprint and offered £250. I am not really satisfied with this and think they should upgrade to the 'Columbus' unit which apparently does have the feature.

Do you guys have any suggestions, am I likely to be able to return the car and get an exchange or even a refund? Has anyone else noticed this twitchy steering fault or is it just my car?

[greenstripe]

Driving with the lane assist switched on can feel very odd if you're not used to it. The Octavia isn't exactly the sharpest, most sporty feeling of cars and the steering should never feel twitchy -is there something off with the tracking or suspension geometry?

 

The Columbus definitely does play FLAC files -I'd have no idea if it is practical to retrofit a Columbus and how involved a job it would be.

 

Your dealer has recognised that there is a problem and you have every right to reject the vehicle provided that you have given them a fair chance to address the issue with the steering.

[Leonblue]

 

Driving with the lane assist switched on can feel very odd if you're not used to it. The Octavia isn't exactly the sharpest, most sporty feeling of cars and the steering should never feel twitchy -is there something off with the tracking or suspension geometry?

 

The Columbus definitely does play FLAC files -I'd have no idea if it is practical to retrofit a Columbus and how involved a job it would be.

 

Your dealer has recognised that there is a problem and you have every right to reject the vehicle provided that you have given them a fair chance to address the issue with the steering.

 

I am not sure if lane assist is turned on, but I'll check it tomorrow. I did wonder about the geometry. I will be speaking with the dealer tomorrow and will ask if they have checked it properly.

I have not accepted the goodwill offer as yet, as far as I am concerned the audio system is simply not as described. I feel quite annoyed at having to convert my entire audio collection to MP3. One of the reasons I chose this car was for that particular feature, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw FLAC listed in the brochure. I had even discussed it with the sales person on the test drive.

I will see what they suggest tomorrow, but as it stands, the 7 year old Astra that I traded in handled much better than this Octy.

[Gleemin]

That will be another misprint then the same as the cornering lights.

Surely things cant be that bad at Skoda that they cant afford somebody to proof

read before printing?

[sworrall]

its there in big letters in the brochure that Flac is supported on all the audio units so im pretty peeved if this is the case of it not working on the bolero :(

[greenstripe]

VW have said in the past that a lot of their units support FLAC, including the RCD310 which doesn't :( The MIB Columbus is the first of their units that I've come across that definitely does

[Lasseman]

 

 

I am not sure if lane assist is turned on, but I'll check it tomorrow.

Have you checked the lane assist beeing turned on or off?

[Aknedude]

Taking the car back because the radio cant play flac files???????? Are you serious!!!!!!! you definitly need to get real. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, Theres no doubt that the steering issue is the Lane assist, turn the s... off. and go make some mp3 files.

 

Sorry but i just had to get it out......

[greenstripe]

If the lane assist is switched on you will see an icon on the dash that I have circled in red in the picture below. It will be amber if it is looking for lane markings and green if it is locked on to the lane markings and is following them:

 

[meta55b]

Taking the car back because the radio cant play flac files???????? Are you serious!!!!!!! you definitly need to get real. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, Theres no doubt that the steering issue is the Lane assist, turn the s... off. and go make some mp3 files.

 

Sorry but i just had to get it out......

.

I have no idea what this FLAC file type is, but if I ever do convert music to digital file, I never use mp3 if I can help as it looses so much quality.

[NevilleStreet]

Taking the car back because the radio cant play flac files???????? Are you serious!!!!!!! you definitly need to get real. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, Theres no doubt that the steering issue is the Lane assist, turn the s... off. and go make some mp3 files.

 

Sorry but i just had to get it out......

I don't use FLAC personally, but I can imagine for an audiophile with a large prepared library who spends a lot of time in the car listening to music this is a big issue. IMHO it's not disimilar to advertising the climate control system as including a/c and then saying "oh, misprint, there is no compressor so the lowest temperature available is ambient".

[v0n]

It's not the type of car where you could hear a difference between flac and high bitrate mp3. Buying even the largest USB drive to convert the entire library (once and done) as mp3's is far cheaper and easier than ordering new car.

Clearly it wouldn't be an issue if the car wasn't handling weirdly.

[greenstripe]

For those who don't know FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec as in no quality is lost and in some cases can be better than CD quality if you can obtain a copy of the studio master -you can buy some classical music directly from the record label via pay download this way.

[greenstripe]

OT

 

Does anyone know of a decent converter to RIP FLAC to MP3 -I've yet to find one that isn't full of mallware or doesn't destroy all the tags. VLC is supposed to be able to do it but I cannot work it out.

[jocme]

Taking the car back because the radio cant play flac files???????? Are you serious!!!!!!! you definitly need to get real. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, Theres no doubt that the steering issue is the Lane assist, turn the s... off. and go make some mp3 files.

 

Sorry but i just had to get it out......

 

If you read more carefully and think a bit about it, I'm pretty sure he was going to take his car back because of the weird steering behaviour and not just because of the FLAC files. But what do I know...? I know as much, or rather as little, as You about his intentions. But in any case, no need to bring "sanity" into this. All he wanted to know is if someone else had experienced the same issues.

 

Then I could add a few "?????" and some "!!!!!!!!!" too, but we are all here to help each other and not insult someone... I thought...

"There are no stupid questions, just stupid replies."

[Leonblue]

 

Taking the car back because the radio cant play flac files???????? Are you serious!!!!!!! you definitly need to get real. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, Theres no doubt that the steering issue is the Lane assist, turn the s... off. and go make some mp3 files.

 

Sorry but i just had to get it out......

 

Right just to be clear. I have a large collection of FLAC files that took me many hours to convert and build the collection. I have now spent nearly two days converting to Mp3, as well as manually having to edit all of the track titles to make them play in the correct order. So yes I am extremely annoyed that the brochure was incorrect. It was also a close run between two different cars, it was the FLAC compatibility that finally swayed my decision. So for it to be missing is inexcusable in my book.

[Leonblue]

 

Have you checked the lane assist beeing turned on or off?

 

My car does not have lane assist. The dealer confirmed that my car drives different to their demonstrator, a fact that I confirmed when I drove it myself. They apparently performed a 'CRITICAL' software update to the steering system in an attempt to rectify the issue. However the car is behaving no better, I am certain there is something loose in the steering / suspension, if anything it's getting worse. They were however unable to find anything obviously wrong. It is now booked in again for two days next week so that they can carry out more tests. I have also informed SUK that if it is not rectified on this attempt then I will be taking steps to reject the car.

[Leonblue]

 

OT

 

Does anyone know of a decent converter to RIP FLAC to MP3 -I've yet to find one that isn't full of mallware or doesn't destroy all the tags. VLC is supposed to be able to do it but I cannot work it out.

 

I used Foobar2000, however, as you suggested, it did not carry across the tags properly. I had to manually edit all track names as well as add the cover art again for each album.

[Leonblue]

 

If the lane assist is switched on you will see an icon on the dash that I have circled in red in the picture below. It will be amber if it is looking for lane markings and green if it is locked on to the lane markings and is following them:

 

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to post the image. As stated though my car is not fitted with Lane Assist, and that icon is definitely not present on the display. Although I could understand the strange steering behaviour if this was the case. My car seems to veer off line, then as you start to turn to correct the error, the car initially goes further the wrong way until you overcome it then it starts to come back. Also during cornering, as you turn into the bend, the car initially under steers toward the outside of the bend, and then suddenly corrects and then almost over steers toward the inside of the bend. If it were an old car I would say worn track rods or loose rear axle etc.

[meta55b]

That is a scarey problem, i wouldnt even drive the car as the driver is liable for any accidents. plus skoda have a record of a steering problem in the system wich would also count against you.

[Pumatron]

When I worked in the motor trade I spent a whole week trying to fix a brand new renault espace from pulling to left. It turned out the factory had fitted the wrong road springs, fitting new ones totally transformed the car. If your having to over correct all the time it sounds like to me castor angle to be wrong. I would say from experience correcting geometry can be difficult. Requires a competent technician with decent geometry equipment.

[Jonny5ive]

I had very similar 'wandering' issues with my Roomster of late. Took it into a garage and the culprit was loose front wishbone bolts.

 

Since my nuts were tightened everything has been hunky dory, no more wandering and pleasant fast cornering

[Leonblue]

 

That is a scarey problem, i wouldnt even drive the car as the driver is liable for any accidents. plus skoda have a record of a steering problem in the system wich would also count against you.

 

Good advice, however you could argue that it's not my fault as I have brought it to the attention of the dealer and as far as they are concerned there is nothing loose or hanging off the car. I have carried out all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the vehicle. That is why I have asked the question on here, as although I think it's a fault, it may be (although I doubt it) a characteristic of this model.

[TudorM]

This sounds like a really dangerous situation to be in, not being able to be confident on what your car is going to do next. I would just reject the car at this point and go for the other one you said was a close contender. Your infotainment system on the Octavia doesn't read FLAC anyway, like you wanted.

[Leonblue]

 

This sounds like a really dangerous situation to be in, not being able to be confident on what your car is going to do next. I would just reject the car at this point and go for the other one you said was a close contender. Your infotainment system on the Octavia doesn't read FLAC anyway, like you wanted.

 

Well the choice was between Octy and the Leon, which incidentally has a very similar infotainment system, however that does not make any false claims about audio formats in the brochure.