Octavia vRS Issue

[subcal]

Hi, 

 

I purchased a 2015 Octavia vRS from a car supermarket 2 weeks ago and I've been experiencing a strange sound coming from the front passenger side. It's done 36,000 miles. 

 

The noise is present at 70-80mph, and at its loudest at 76mph. The best way I can describe it is "wom wom wom". I've attached a sound file. 

 

I have been searching to find a replica of the sound to try and establish the cause but so far no luck. From what I've read similar noises can be caused my tyres, alignment or wheel bearings. The car had 3 cheap tyres on so I replaced them with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric but the noise remains. I did ask kwik fit to check the bearings when they fit the tyres and they said they seemed fine. 

 

The car does have a 3 month warranty but this only covers £50 per hour of work (I was not told this when I was sold the car) 

 

Skoda main dealer charge £66 to diagnose the problem and if its a bearing £280 to fit it. I also asked at a halfords auto centre who quoted £49 to diagnose and £340 to fit. 

 

Has anyone else experienced this problem and can point me in the right direction? 

 

Any help would be really appreciated. 

 

Thanks, 

Dom

Record-005

[shyVRS245]

1 minute ago, subcal said:

Hi, 

 

I purchased a 2015 Octavia vRS from a car supermarket 2 weeks ago and I've been experiencing a strange sound coming from the front passenger side. It's done 36,000 miles. 

 

The noise is present at 70-80mph, and at its loudest at 76mph. The best way I can describe it is "wom wom wom". I've attached a sound file. 

 

I have been searching to find a replica of the sound to try and establish the cause but so far no luck. From what I've read similar noises can be caused my tyres, alignment or wheel bearings. The car had 3 cheap tyres on so I replaced them with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric but the noise remains. I did ask kwik fit to check the bearings when they fit the tyres and they said they seemed fine. 

 

The car does have a 3 month warranty but this only covers £50 per hour of work (I was not told this when I was sold the car) 

 

Skoda main dealer charge £66 to diagnose the problem and if its a bearing £280 to fit it. I also asked at a halfords auto centre who quoted £49 to diagnose and £340 to fit. 

 

Has anyone else experienced this problem and can point me in the right direction? 

 

Any help would be really appreciated. 

 

Thanks, 

Dom

Record-005

It's probably your partner when you exceed the national speed limit. Normally sounds like "tut tut tut".

[MarkyG82]

A bearing making that sort of sound will be very difficult to detect when static. The car supermarket should cover the costs in my opinion, whether diagnosis or bearing replacement. You've already ruled out the tyres. Have you checked whether it's worse under load. Admittedly difficult at those speeds.

[subcal]

18 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

A bearing making that sort of sound will be very difficult to detect when static. The car supermarket should cover the costs in my opinion, whether diagnosis or bearing replacement. You've already ruled out the tyres. Have you checked whether it's worse under load. Admittedly difficult at those speeds.

Yeah that's what skoda main dealer said when I spoke to them. It does not, it seems to virtually disappear as I accelerate above 85mph (only on the autobahn of course). 

[BigEjit]

Take it back to where you got it from and explain the issue. They should repair it or agree to reimburse repair costs if you agree with them to fix at a main dealer. This issue falls under the consumer rights act of 2015. They probably didn’t know there was a problem at the time of sale but I’m sure they will come to an arrangement with you over getting it repaired. 

[ahenners]

34 minutes ago, BigEjit said:

Take it back to where you got it from and explain the issue. They should repair it or agree to reimburse repair costs if you agree with them to fix at a main dealer. This issue falls under the consumer rights act of 2015. They probably didn’t know there was a problem at the time of sale but I’m sure they will come to an arrangement with you over getting it repaired. 

 

+1 raise with dealer, you've had the car 2 weeks, the fault was most likely there at time of purchase. Don't be fobbed off towards warranty leaving you out of pocket; the onus is on the dealer to prove it wasn't there at purchase and resolve accordingly, from a legal perspective.

 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-second-hand-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights#get-a-repair-replacement-or-refund

[Swirly182]

What about the one tyre you didn't replace, is this in good condition? 

[marko]

I take it the front passenger side has had one of the 3 new tyres fitted? to be honest I've never heard a wheel bearing make an intermittent droning noise like that, usually it's constant, only other thing I can think of is diff, but there again that's usually a constant drone that should increase in tone as you go faster.

[subcal]

13 hours ago, BigEjit said:

Take it back to where you got it from and explain the issue. They should repair it or agree to reimburse repair costs if you agree with them to fix at a main dealer. This issue falls under the consumer rights act of 2015. They probably didn’t know there was a problem at the time of sale but I’m sure they will come to an arrangement with you over getting it repaired. 

The dealer is an hour and 45 mins away so will have to resort to phone conversations first. 

13 hours ago, ahenners said:

 

+1 raise with dealer, you've had the car 2 weeks, the fault was most likely there at time of purchase. Don't be fobbed off towards warranty leaving you out of pocket; the onus is on the dealer to prove it wasn't there at purchase and resolve accordingly, from a legal perspective.

 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-second-hand-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights#get-a-repair-replacement-or-refund

Thanks for clarifying that, good to know I do have some rights! 

9 hours ago, Swirly182 said:

What about the one tyre you didn't replace, is this in good condition? 

Yeah it's a good year eagle f1 assymetric in good condition.

55 minutes ago, marko said:

I take it the front passenger side has had one of the 3 new tyres fitted? to be honest I've never heard a wheel bearing make an intermittent droning noise like that, usually it's constant, only other thing I can think of is diff, but there again that's usually a constant drone that should increase in tone as you go faster.

The front passenger originally had one of the cheap tyres fitted. Before I got the new tyres I had the front wheels swapped to see if the noise switched sides but it didn't, which led me to believe it could have been the back tyres (one of which felt like it was wearing unevenly). The front passenger side does not have one of the new tyres fitted but it has the existing Eagle f1 assymetric fitted. 

 

It's a bit worrying that no one seems to have had this noise before! Thank you for all the responses though. 

 

I think I'm just going to have to take it to my local skoda dealer and pay for a diagnostics test to see if they can confirm what the actual fault is. 

 

I will definitely be seeking compensation from the dealer for all this time and effort I've spent trying to fix a problem that should never have been there! 

[Saints92]

A wheel bearing generally gets louder as you speed up, rather than disappearing. 

 

Tyres can make that noise when they're starting to break apart, which would probably need the tyre removed to check. They can "transfer" the sound too so youd be better even just putting the spare on the one that's not been changed yet just to completely rule that out.

 

Only other thing at the front left would be the gearbox, but theres pretty much zero chance of it making the noise. Sure you can trst that by getting the noise to start, and dropping into neutral and coasting, if the noise remains it's not the box. You should only do that if you're a confident driver, and theres no traffic around you though.

[subcal]

1 minute ago, Saints92 said:

A wheel bearing generally gets louder as you speed up, rather than disappearing. 

 

Tyres can make that noise when they're starting to break apart, which would probably need the tyre removed to check. They can "transfer" the sound too so youd be better even just putting the spare on the one that's not been changed yet just to completely rule that out.

 

Only other thing at the front left would be the gearbox, but theres pretty much zero chance of it making the noise. Sure you can trst that by getting the noise to start, and dropping into neutral and coasting, if the noise remains it's not the box. You should only do that if you're a confident driver, and theres no traffic around you though.

If you mean spare wheel unfortunately I didn't get one with the car. Is there any visual signs I could look for on the outside of the tyre to indicate damage? I have checked it for uneven wear but I couldn't find any. 

 

I did actually think that so I've tried dropping it in to neutral but the noise remains and does not change. Also tried dropping to 5th but again no change in sound. 

[Saints92]

3 minutes ago, subcal said:

If you mean spare wheel unfortunately I didn't get one with the car. Is there any visual signs I could look for on the outside of the tyre to indicate damage? I have checked it for uneven wear but I couldn't find any. 

 

I did actually think that so I've tried dropping it in to neutral but the noise remains and does not change. Also tried dropping to 5th but again no change in sound. 

 

Can be hard to see, but you usually see a crack starting to form on the shoulder of the tyre, depends how far along it is. Eventually itll blister. An experienced tyre garage should be able to tell without removing the tyre, I'd have thought.

 

Since you've ruled out the gearbox, I'm not sure what else it could be. Theres not much else apart from the wheel bearing and tyres that'll be rotating enough to make a noise loud enough to my mind.

[marko]

get a full 4 wheel alignment sorted too, if it knocked a kerb at any point this could throw it out enough to scrub tyres as you mentioned about uneven wear on tyres?

[Swirly182]

I've been in this situation before with an old Focus ST which had 4 'good' Continental SC3 and had a noise I suspected to be wheel bearings. Anyway, changed all four tyres and it disappeared. 

[subcal]

28 minutes ago, Saints92 said:

 

Can be hard to see, but you usually see a crack starting to form on the shoulder of the tyre, depends how far along it is. Eventually itll blister. An experienced tyre garage should be able to tell without removing the tyre, I'd have thought.

 

Since you've ruled out the gearbox, I'm not sure what else it could be. Theres not much else apart from the wheel bearing and tyres that'll be rotating enough to make a noise loud enough to my mind.

I may take it to kwik fit today so they can have a look at it then, they fitted the 3 new tyres. 

19 minutes ago, marko said:

get a full 4 wheel alignment sorted too, if it knocked a kerb at any point this could throw it out enough to scrub tyres as you mentioned about uneven wear on tyres?

I got a full 4 wheel alignment done when the new tyres were fitted. The tyre I mentioned with uneven wear has been replaced. 

8 minutes ago, Swirly182 said:

I've been in this situation before with an old Focus ST which had 4 'good' Continental SC3 and had a noise I suspected to be wheel bearings. Anyway, changed all four tyres and it disappeared. 

Was the noise very similar to the one I'm experiencing? I'm thinking of having kwik fit move the front left wheel with the older tyre to the back to see if the noise changes or moves at all. 

[dan245]

I had the same whomp whomp whomp symptoms on a mk2 TT and Audi were convinced it was feathered tyres. They were pulling the wheels about all over the place and seeing no sign of bearing issues. New rubber all around and £800 later the noise was still there.

 

A local specialist then diagnosed and replaced the faulty wheel bearing for about £250.