Pulling to one side

[Woody91]

I am currently in an argument with skoda about my vrs pulling to one side and have been told now by 2 different technicians that it is completely normal and nearly all fabia mk2's do it. Does anyone else have a problem with there cars pulling to one side/ following the camber of roads? The car has recently been 4 wheel aligned also which still makes no difference.

[James I]

Our Fabia pulls to the left, however, if you drive on the other side of the road (against the oncoming traffic) obviously when the road is clear, it pulls to the right!

 

 On track at Oulton park it does not pull to either side nor does it track left or right when I have the track wheels on. These have Avon ZZ3 tyres, daily road wheels are Dunlops.

[Ootohere]

One of the many many threads on Briskoda, here the Monte & vRS, you will find ones for other Skodas & VW's.

 

Tell the technicians they do not all do that.

Which tyres, Dunlops or Continentals,?

they may need to fit Pirelli but then they will find that out when they do their job properly.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/260271-my-monte-carlo-is-pulling-to-the-left-help

[hoppipolla]

I picked up a new VRS in May.

After a little while I noticed it was pulling to the left. Took it back to the dealer and the technician took it out for a drive and said yep! It's pulling to the left.

Booked it in, they took the wheels off and drove it with a different make of tyre and then went back to skoda who authorised them to replace all the dunlops the car came with and change them to goodyears.

The guy on the service desk said skoda says the trouble was the dunlops were omni directional tyres and changing them to directional tyres would do the trick.

So far so good, no pulling to the left!

[Big Sheep]

My vRS pulls perfectly straight, but I have had it pulling slightly to the left after swapping wheels around. I have now established on which corner each tyre needs to be to avoid a pull to the left. In my case this is explained by the coloured lines found on tyres as outlined here: -

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=165

Obviously, if your car pulls strongly to the left you are likely to have a tracking issue but it is always worth swapping your wheels around to see if you get an improvement.

This issue has been previously discussed in length on this forum.

[Woody91]

Thanks very much for the answers, i have dunlops all round on the car which ive also had a tyre fitter I know check over and hes told me that they are wearing excessively on the inner and outer edges of both front tyres more than likely caused by having to constantly hold the car in a straight line. Im expecting a call off Skoda UK tomorrow so will tell them about you have all said cheers.

[Ootohere]

What pressure do you run the tyres at?

 

& how old is the car and what miles has it done?

[R4zb3rry]

In the same boat myself at the moment, been into dealers twice and now waiting on Skoda UK to come back to me.

[Ally_bassman]

Both my MK1 and MK2 both pulled to the left ever so slightly, I mean if I let go of the wheel (on a private road of course) after a couple of seconds they would start creeping to the left.

I just take it as normal behaviour on how VAG cars are setup. I heard its to stop them going into the centre of the road? Or even the way the camber on our roads affects them?? Who knows.

[Woody91]

I run 34 psi all round if I remember correctly however have run 32 psi as well with no change. The car is a year old 7900 miles on the clock and just had its 1 year service. 

 

I have road tested a few scouts at work even 1 which id just put new suspension on the o/s/f after a minor accident, none of them have pulled or tried to follow cambers in the road. I could accept following camber if it werent so bad but at times my wheel can turn not far off 1/4 of the way round so im constantly having to hold it in a straight line.

[Ootohere]

Run off /pulling left where a driver is needing to physically keep a vehicle out of the nearside gutter

is very different from a car that tends to go left,

or when on the other side of the road like when abroad, tends to go right.

 

A technician that road tests cars or other vehicles  

or even anyone that drives various vehicles can tell the difference pretty easily i would have thought.

 

Hope they sort things for you.

 

george

[Woody91]

This is following camber but its not a slow gradual floating to the left  as you would expect a car to you have to hold this in a straight line otherwise it wants to go left but drive it on the flat and it seems fine.

[skoda1982]

This is following camber but its not a slow gradual floating to the left  as you would expect a car to you have to hold this in a straight line otherwise it wants to go left but drive it on the flat and it seems fine.

Look at this topic

 

My Monte Carlo is pulling to the left HELP!

 

[Woody91]

Did have a good read of this thread last night and a few people including yourself i believe were experiencing exactly the same thing ill be on to the person dealing with my complaint tomorrow and see what they say but I dont expect much tbh.

[skoda1982]

Did have a good read of this thread last night and a few people including yourself i believe were experiencing exactly the same thing ill be on to the person dealing with my complaint tomorrow and see what they say but I dont expect much tbh.

I went to dealers last friday they told me to ring skoda customer service which i did and told them all about the problem. phoned me back yesterday and said it is in the hands of skoda uk who are having there tech guys look into it and see what they can come up with. skoda customer service are phoning  me back on monday to tell me the outcome

[Ootohere]

How often can Skoda UK have their Tech Guys look into the same situation with the same cars out of the same factory with the same tyres?

 

The Tech Guys previously found the solution or so some dealers and some Skoda UK Call handlers claim.

They changed tyres on cars.

 

They know the problem and they know the solution,

and they just seem to think just sending them away and they might stop moaning.

 

It is a nonsense that they just keep wasting Customer & Owners time.

 

george

[Woody91]

Couldnt agree more why when you go to the dealer can they not just admit that there is a fault which can be cured instead of giving the owner several different crap excuses and expecting them all to buy it?

 

 

I went to dealers last friday they told me to ring skoda customer service which i did and told them all about the problem. phoned me back yesterday and said it is in the hands of skoda uk who are having there tech guys look into it and see what they can come up with. skoda customer service are phoning  me back on monday to tell me the outcome

At least you seem to be getting somewhere with them they just dont seem interested when I phone up. Ill see what they say about what theyre doing with my car tomorrow which I doubt they will as 2 techs from 2 different dealerships will now have told them its road camber and theres nothing wrong.

[Woody91]

Also thanks so far for the help and info everyone very grateful 

[Carlodiesel]

For those of you that are being told a load of Porkies..... "Monte Carlos...they all do it"

 

Quote;

"Well its been a month now since having the car corrected.

After all the problems the result was a new set of tyres.
Skoda agreed the Dunlop's had been giving some grief. (It seem this is an understatement).
4 New tyres fitted and all is well.

Pirelli P Zero's.

Thanks again go to Barnstaple Skoda, Who in the end got things moving.

If any one else has this constant Pull to the left contact your Skoda dealer & ask them to contact Skoda re the tyres." (you the customer should not have to do this)

 

It really works well with the new tyres.
CD

[R4zb3rry]

I'll be glad if I even get an update from skoda Uk let alone get the issue fixed, called them today as I never had a call back on Weds as promised last week. Asked for the person dealing with my case to email me an update as I was in meetings all afternoon so it would be easier for them and they haven't even done that - not even a mail saying their investigation is still ongoing.

This is becoming quite a joke now and I just want it fixed without going through all this hassle.

Edited 18 October, 2013 by R4zb3rry

[Carlodiesel]

Surely R4zb3rry The Dealer should be your contact, not you having to contact Skoda. 

 

Take the car back & tell them your rejecting it, as its not fit for the purpose.

 

Trust me this will put the cat amongst the pigeons.

 

I have never heard of such dealings as this, some saying they all do it. Rubbish, they don't all do it and should not do it!

Ring your dealer, tell them to try 4 new Pirelli tyres. 

Good luck

CD

[R4zb3rry]

Surely R4zb3rry The Dealer should be your contact, not you having to contact Skoda.

Take the car back & tell them your rejecting it, as its not fit for the purpose.

Trust me this will put the cat amongst the pigeons.

I have never heard of such dealings as this, some saying they all do it. Rubbish, they don't all do it and should not do it!

Ring your dealer, tell them to try 4 new Pirelli tyres.

Good luck

CD

Carlo, I'm afraid I have already been to the dealer twice and they show no signs of solving this, simply going through the motions is the best way to describe their response.

Come Monday if I have no response I will be logging an official complaint and rejecting the vehicle with the dealer.

[Gazbull17]

My Monte went into the dealer's today to get the pull sorted and they rang late on this afternoon to say that all four wheels have been checked and aligned but although the pull is better, it's still there and the Technician is not happy with it.

He's contacted Skoda to see which course of action they want to go with and is awaiting their reply as this is the third one they've had to do.

The others have resulted in a full set of Pirelli's being fitted and he thinks this is what they'll hopefully go with.

They're going to call with an update tomorrow so hopefully it'll all be sorted by the weekend.

Been given a Citygo to use while mine is in the workshop and I'm surprised how good a car it is to drive.

[Woody91]

I'll be glad if I even get an update from skoda Uk let alone get the issue fixed, called them today as I never had a call back on Weds as promised last week. Asked for the person dealing with my case to email me an update as I was in meetings all afternoon so it would be easier for them and they haven't even done that - not even a mail saying their investigation is still ongoing. This is becoming quite a joke now and I just want it fixed without going through all this hassle.

 

Funnily enough this is EXACTLY how Skoda UK have been with me. Never calling when promised I usually ring them, 2 different dealers telling me its 'normal and they all do it' and no one seems to be really that bothered. I have also now got VW finance involved, told them im not happy with the service and if its not sorted I dont want the car anymore so lets see if that kicks there arses into gear.

[Sparkly]

Little information from a recent experience I had:

My three year old Fabia vRS had begun to pull to the left in a fashion that I wasn't happy with.

I went to my nearest garage with a full Hunter alignment system, AllcarTyres in Huddersfield. I was looked after by their head tech for the Hunter system and was really pleasantly surprised that instead of just running the factory file and then correcting as they see fit, had a conversation with me, asked me what the issues were and what I actually wanted.

He said that UK roads because of the camber will induce a car to pull slightly to the left and quite a few VAG cars are sensitive to this. He had even been advised by a VAG head tech to dial in some additional negative camber on the left to neutralise this.

My scan showed issues with my toe being out, producing the pull.

As I want to put my car on a track at some point I asked that rather than he fix my problem in the way the chap from VAG suggested, that he set my car up to run true and straight on the flat with camber and toe even on each side, my caster was read as should be and even each side to two decimal places. The result was that my car tracks straight as a die on a completely flat piece of ground but like many are reporting will follow the camber on the road 'a little', this for me is very different to having an alignment issue, this feels more pronounced and has more weight in the pull. The bigger difference though is felt in cornering whilst pushing the car, my car with even a small alignment issue felt skittish and less planted when taking a series of bends on a B road compared to now where I feel I have full use of the available grip and turning the wheel has equal weight either direction.

Not sure if there is a conclusion other than on UK roads a car on good tyres and aligned to be as straight as an arrow will still meander left. So I guess I paid to have a car that pulls to the left.

Not being flippant at all here, if any of your cars has a really pronounced pull rather than a slow creep then I hope you get it sorted. If it's a creep, go looking for some ground other than a road, maybe a big car park and see what the car does there.