Hi everyone,

 

I noticed my Octavia VRS MK2 facelift pulling to the left when driving, most notable on B roads and motorways etc. Booked it in with Halfords (yeah I know) for a wheel alignment as they were offering various free checks to the steering and tyres etc. The car was bought on 10th November with a fresh MOT and service, 3 new tyres were put on for the MOT, the one that wasn't changed and has some good tread depth left is the driver side rear tyre.

 

They said the alignment was slightly out but they sorted it, however the manager said their mechanic mentioned whilst doing the work that Skoda did a recall but not a well advertised one on my car and the DSG gearbox and it can be known to pull to pull to one side as a result . I looked this up and can see there was a recall on the 7 speed, I'm sure mine is the 6 speed. Also nothing mentioned about pulling to one side.  I am noticing poor information from Halfords here?

 

They also left on the paperwork an amber warning saying slight concern that could lead to further issues if not maintained. I think this is because of this supposed DSG recall as nothing else was mentioned...

 

Can anyone make any sense of that?

No Recall on 6 speed Wet Clutch DSG 

& even the World Wide on the 7 Speed DSG DQ200 in Europe, just a Service Campaign. so not affecting your car.

'34F7'

http://master.skoda-auto.com/mini-apps/recall-actions 

 

 

Halfords talking nonsense then...

 

I was less than impressed with them anyway, booked in for a few checks and the wheel alignment.  Dropped it off at 1:30 as requested, got a phone call at 3:30 saying they had't started the car yet as they had staff off sick etc and could they keep the car overnight. Absolutely not, I was in the town center whilst the car got done with 3 young children. So came to an agreement they would do the wheel alignment, steering and tyre check and I could get it at 5pm. Then this odd advice about a recall.

 

Won't be using them again!

@HarleQuinn - Did Halfrauds actually do a full 4 wheel alignment using a Hunter rig or similar (likely cost ~£70, would supply before and after figures for camber, castor and toe angles on all 4 wheels)?

The Technician knew some stuff. 

 

Mk2 Fabia especially vRS and Monte Carlo on 205/40 R17's were prone to Pulling to the left, 

and Skoda UK after lots of messing people about approved fitting Pirreli Zero Nero to hide it because the Alignment issue was on Right Hand Drives from the Factory, on Skodas and some other VW Group Cars.

So VW Group just put non directional tyres with harder sidewalls on.... Never stopped Fitting Dunlop Sport Maxx or Continentals though, 

Or training Techs how to align a car.

 

As well as that Fabia vRS DSG's and others were part of the Service Campaign.

 

Long story short, Halfords staff take 2 and 2 and tell a load of Bull Sh!t.

@KenONeill Hi, no they didn't. It was a £30 front wheel alignment. I think the car feels a bit better but I will keep an eye on it. If it doesn't I know a few places I can get the 4 wheel Hunter alignment done if needed.

 

@AwaoffSki Hahaha don't they indeed, thanks for the information. It's good to know this kind of thing!

Edited 29 December, 20178 yr by HarleQuinn

1 hour ago, KenONeill said:

@HarleQuinn - Did Halfrauds actually do a full 4 wheel alignment using a Hunter rig or similar (likely cost ~£70, would supply before and after figures for camber, castor and toe angles on all 4 wheels)?

I work for Halfords Auto centre's, none of the centres have hunter rig's, sorry to say the manager was talking crap as there is no recall for octavia for pulling to the left.

^^^ You are involved in training are you not.

Maybe a pleasant message to a fellow Halfords Manager saying get a grip you havver would be in order.

 

Improving standards of customer care and reducing Bull Sh!tting.

26 minutes ago, Ju1ian1001 said:

I work for Halfords Auto centre's, none of the centres have hunter rig's, sorry to say the manager was talking crap as there is no recall for octavia for pulling to the left.

 

The manager at my local branch has got a bad reputation, he didn't seem the most friendly guy. It's the Coventry branch in case you were wondering.

 

What bothers me is this "Amber" advisory on the receipt, if there was no recall for my car and they found no issues then it should not say that quite simply.

Front wheel alignment is almost a complete waste of time.  The only "easy" adjustment is toe.  You can do a bit of give and take with camber but that is rarely done because it's difficult.

 

It would be interesting to see what the caster & camber was. 

 

Rear has toe and camber adjustment.

On 12/29/2017 at 19:36, AwaoffSki said:

^^^ You are involved in training are you not.

Maybe a pleasant message to a fellow Halfords Manager saying get a grip you havver would be in order.

 

Improving standards of customer care and reducing Bull Sh!tting.

No i'm not involved in the training side per say, just trained up a couple of MOT testers because thats now in house; DVSA just carry out the final practical assesment and sign off.

 

Have covered a lot of depots in my region, thats how i know there's a good few bad managers, (plus a lot are ex Kwickfit staff, enough said there i think)