New user with a 1.2 TSI and problems!

[dlg78]

Hi all, I'm Dave and new to the forum

My girlfriend and I recently purchased a 1.2 TSI in Candy white, fairly happy with the car apart from the problem described below, would be interested to hear of any similar issues experienced? Our other car is a 91' Golf GTi 16v

Basically the car has pulled to the left since we picked it up on 21st Jan, I noticed this during the first few miles of driving, relaxing the grip on the wheel would see the car steering to the left quite noticeably so I got the car booked in several days later back at the dealers.

The dealer did a 4 wheel alignment and announced all was well, that they had found the front out of alignment, their print out indicated the rear right camber to be out of spec too, however after driving I felt all was not still well and I arranged to take the car in on another date and go for a drive with one of their technicians, this happened at the beginning of this month, the tech reckoned our car was "worse than normal" and it was rearranged to be aligned again in early March.

So the 2nd wheel alignment took place and again I was told all was well, that it now ran true. Not so.

Yet again I noticed this pull to the left, worse on heavily cambered motorway lanes but at times is also quite bad at slow speed around town, most of the time it feels like some corrective force is required just to drive straight.

Today after a recommendation from a friend the car went into the TT shop in Bedford, and was aligned on their Hunter system, they found front toe settings and rear right camber out of spec, below are the print outs from the last visit to VW and from the TT shop this afternoon.

The car feels slightly better at low speeds on level ground, but the pull is still there, especially at speed on the motorways.

I am trying to find out if this is an isolated incident or not, as VW don't seem too helpful on the matter, I have a feeling it might be something to do with the steering system as the sensation I am getting is that at times it's as if the thing wants to centre in the wrong position.

This is the first car I have had that drives this way, our other car is a MK2 Golf GTi which drives loads better!

Any ideas and opinions on where to take things from here?


This is the VW Print out from earlier in the month:


002.jpg by Dave_George, on Flickr

And this one is from today at the TT shop in Bedford.


001.jpg by Dave_George, on Flickr

[CANDYMAN]

Maybe a sticking brake caliper not fully releasing?

[craig200588]

Hi there

Im a 2011 SE owner, I got my car brand new last year and on the drive home I noticed my car pulling to the left. I live about 16 miles from my VW and from Dundee to Arbroath theres a dual carriage way thats basically a straight line. So I put up with it for a while, 6 months later I took it in for them to have a look at it because it was really annoying me. If I was in the right hand lane on the dual carriage way and wanted in the left all I had to do was take my hands off the wheel and it gradually went left. So I took it in and they did some tests (must have been the ones you got too) and they noticed the wheels weren't aligned so they preformed a beissbarth alignment. They said it was fine. Drove it home, nothing had changed!! Its not a sudden move left but you do notice it and you do need to correct it a lot of times.

So when I took it in a month ago for its annual service I decided I wanted a new car, so I ordered a new VW High Up!, however I needed to wait a couple months for it to arrive. While at the service I mentioned to the guy about it. So it went in and when I went to get it back I asked and he said the technicians didn't notice anything, and I asked about preforming another beisbarth but he said its a 5 hour job and I said I wasn't waiting that long so never bothered.

The thing is, when I was telling him about how drastic the pulling to the left it was his answer to me was "Yeah, but all cars pull to the left. their ment too". I was literally shocked when he said that! My mum works in a car garage and she laughed when i told her! He was obviously just wanting me to shut up about it.

If I was keeping the car I would take it further, but because my new car will be here in a couple weeks time, I'm not bothering! it can be the new owners problem!!

But my advice!! tell VW its obviously an issue with the Polo, your worried about your safety in the car and you need it rectified!

[AJ_7]

Hi mate,

Real shame your having issues with your Polo. I understand your frustration but I severly doubt if there was a fundamental problem with your car, they wouldn't pick up on it. They possess a duty of care to their customers and I can't see them turning a blind eye to an issue with your tracking!

Craig, he's infact wrong, the car itself doesn't pull to the left. The roads are designed with an adverse camber, for drainage and also if you fall asleep at the wheel you don't drive into oncoming traffic (You just plow any pedestrians instead.) So your call will always pull to the left, this is normal.

[dlg78]

Maybe a sticking brake caliper not fully releasing?

Yes maybe, it's something I have considered and will be checking, there is nothing to suggest that the fronts are sticking but I can't rule anything out at present!

Hi there

Im a 2011 SE owner, I got my car brand new last year and on the drive home I noticed my car pulling to the left. I live about 16 miles from my VW and from Dundee to Arbroath theres a dual carriage way thats basically a straight line. So I put up with it for a while, 6 months later I took it in for them to have a look at it because it was really annoying me. If I was in the right hand lane on the dual carriage way and wanted in the left all I had to do was take my hands off the wheel and it gradually went left. So I took it in and they did some tests (must have been the ones you got too) and they noticed the wheels weren't aligned so they preformed a beissbarth alignment. They said it was fine. Drove it home, nothing had changed!! Its not a sudden move left but you do notice it and you do need to correct it a lot of times.

So when I took it in a month ago for its annual service I decided I wanted a new car, so I ordered a new VW High Up!, however I needed to wait a couple months for it to arrive. While at the service I mentioned to the guy about it. So it went in and when I went to get it back I asked and he said the technicians didn't notice anything, and I asked about preforming another beisbarth but he said its a 5 hour job and I said I wasn't waiting that long so never bothered.

The thing is, when I was telling him about how drastic the pulling to the left it was his answer to me was "Yeah, but all cars pull to the left. their ment too". I was literally shocked when he said that! My mum works in a car garage and she laughed when i told her! He was obviously just wanting me to shut up about it.

If I was keeping the car I would take it further, but because my new car will be here in a couple weeks time, I'm not bothering! it can be the new owners problem!!

But my advice!! tell VW its obviously an issue with the Polo, your worried about your safety in the car and you need it rectified!

Thanks for the information there, most useful. I think what the guy meant was that all right hand drive cars are designed to drift gently to the left, following natural road camber for safety reasons - to be honest coming from a dealership this comment is (at best) insulting, I have in the past had to recover a new car (Seat Arosa) back to the dealers and had the staff tell me there was nothing wrong with my car - while it was being unloaded from the AA wagon!! So I am used to the silly comments they tend to come out with.

Hi mate,

Real shame your having issues with your Polo. I understand your frustration but I severly doubt if there was a fundamental problem with your car, they wouldn't pick up on it. They possess a duty of care to their customers and I can't see them turning a blind eye to an issue with your tracking!

Craig, he's infact wrong, the car itself doesn't pull to the left. The roads are designed with an adverse camber, for drainage and also if you fall asleep at the wheel you don't drive into oncoming traffic (You just plow any pedestrians instead.) So your call will always pull to the left, this is normal.

Thanks, I have some faith that the dealership acknowledged a problem and thought they were doing the right thing to correct it, but the fact of the matter still remains that my car pulls excessively, how do I define excessive? Well out of 17 years of driving this is the worst car I have ever had in terms of tracking in a straight line (the 21 yr old Golf we own drives just fine too) and will change lanes by itself with ease. What they have not done is look into anything past 4 wheel alignment, things like rear axle positioning, steering system sensors and centering, brakes etc, so that is hopefully next on the list for them, so whilst I agree they wouldn't turn a blind eye, by the same token they will only take the next step when pushed, as long as their 4 wheel alignment print out reads green they are fine and dandy so to speak

I am going to call in at a few other dealers tomorrow and see if anyone has a solution, and also will be calling VW UK to register the issue should it continue to be unresolved by the dealer.

[Grey_Polo]

The thing is, when I was telling him about how drastic the pulling to the left it was his answer to me was "Yeah, but all cars pull to the left. their ment too". I was literally shocked when he said that! My mum works in a car garage and she laughed when i told her! He was obviously just wanting me to shut up about it.

Should have asked what happens in most other countries in the world that drive on the right?? This it A1 total b**locks...