New Polo 1.2 TSI Pulling to the left

[dlg78]

Hi all

Looking for a bit of assistance with our new Polo 1.2, which 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:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/7024191575_784930ddf4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_george/7024191575/)
002.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_george/7024191575/) by Dave_George (http://www.flickr.com/people/dave_george/), on Flickr

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

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/6878089842_dcef8c98a6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_george/6878089842/)
001.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_george/6878089842/) by Dave_George (http://www.flickr.com/people/dave_george/), on Flickr

[Piddles]

Just a tiny, tiny general point when there's a slight pull to the left on normal roads, check if it's still there when driving on the crown of the road (obviously when there's nothing coming the other way.......!), before taking it the garage. ;)

[vc-10]

The printout from the independent garage says '9n/9n3'. Your car is a 6r. Not sure if that makes any difference, but just thought it should be pointed out.

[dlg78]

Just a tiny, tiny general point when there's a slight pull to the left on normal roads, check if it's still there when driving on the crown of the road (obviously when there's nothing coming the other way.......!), before taking it the garage. ;)

Hi, thanks but it's there at all times, even on a road cambered to the right it will start to pull itself left again...


The printout from the independent garage says '9n/9n3'. Your car is a 6r. Not sure if that makes any difference, but just thought it should be pointed out.

Thanks, I did check this with them and was told the figures are shared across the two platforms.

[Not a mech guy]

Hi, thanks but it's there at all times, even on a road cambered to the right it will start to pull itself left again...



Thanks, I did check this with them and was told the figures are shared across the two platforms.

HI, I just purchased a new polo 1.2 TSI as well and although I am in australia, I am experiencing the same problem. I am dropping in my car at VW tomorrow for the first time. Hopefully they can fix the alignment. Have you had any success with your car? If so, how? Thanks

[dlg78]

HI, I just purchased a new polo 1.2 TSI as well and although I am in australia, I am experiencing the same problem. I am dropping in my car at VW tomorrow for the first time. Hopefully they can fix the alignment. Have you had any success with your car? If so, how? Thanks

Hi there

Nice to hear from you all the way over there!

I have not as yet been able to sort out our car, the pulling continues but we actually take it back into the dealer next week where they require it for 2 days, they plan to swap out wheels and tyres, allow me to test two other Polos and hopefully whatever they need to do to find the issue.

I swapped the rear tyres to the front with no change, and I also took a tape measure to the car and interestingly found a 2mm difference between the positioning of the front wheels, the left front wheel sits further forward due to a 1mm difference between the front subframe mounting brackets on our car, can clearly see the right hand bracket is out of position.

They will more than likely claim this is "within tolerance" but to be honest I am willing to pursue every avenue to get to the bottom of this, the laughable thing is that they claim not to have had any other reports of Polos pulling to the left, corporate denial?

I hope you get yours sorted out, do keep in touch as I would be interested to know how you get on, I will update this thread with any findings / outcomes from next week.

Dave

[vc-10]

No matter if they say it's 'in spec', the performance certainly isn't. If the garage accept that it's pulling left, then they must sort it out. It's the law. At least they're trying to do something, rather than denying there's a problem.

[dlg78]

No matter if they say it's 'in spec', the performance certainly isn't. If the garage accept that it's pulling left, then they must sort it out. It's the law. At least they're trying to do something, rather than denying there's a problem.

Yes, they are "diplomatic" shall we say in actually agreeing that it pulls, but they are indeed trying to help which is something. Fingers crossed.

[Not a mech guy]

Hi there

Nice to hear from you all the way over there!
.
.
I hope you get yours sorted out, do keep in touch as I would be interested to know how you get on, I will update this thread with any findings / outcomes from next week.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I have just picked up my car from VW and went for test drive (Melbourne city area). I am so far satisfied; the car does not seem to pull to the left as much if not at all now.

I am yet to let my friend test drive it and go on the highway. Below are the specs from the local repair shop (i.e alignment not done by VW).

Now, I am a complete novice concerning the techinical terms and readings on the report. So, I was told, by the local dealer shop, that the only major adjustment made was changing the toe in which was off. The camber and caster were fine, he said. I suspect that my wheels were swapped from back to front but he denied it.

Hence anyone, with understanding of a wheel alignment report, is welcomed to verify whether what I was told is legit or not.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/wheelalignment.jpg/

https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3BsMFh0dENBNkUwTWRVag valid til 29/12/2012

Dave I hope this will help you in getting your car fixed.

I will also post back after I went on the highway and let my friend test drive the car.

Cheers,
Jason
MY12.5 Polo Comfortline 77TSI Sports and comfort packages

[Not a mech guy]

My friend tested the car and went on the highway too. Everything seems fine.

Cheers,
Jason

[dlg78]

Picked up our Polo this afternoon, VW have had it for two days and concluded there is nothing wrong with the car.

They have tried swapping tyres left to right and front to rear, checked sub-frame alignment at my request and stated that it is within tolerance, checked brakes for binding and also sent a diss report to head office of VW UK who have said our car is within tolerance and does not have evidence of a manufacturing defect.

The Golf Bluemotion they loaned to us also displayed this pulling to the left at times, as did another brand new Polo TSI with the boavistas fitted that I drove before leaving the dealership, although I still feel our Polo exhibits more of a pull more of the time, ours now has 4800 miles on the clock, compared to 1700 for the Golf and just 69 for the other Polo.

I am now left feeling a little fed up, could this pulling be the product of neutral front toe to raise fuel economy figures? None of my previous cars has ever drove with this constant feeling that it wants to pull left.

I like the car but the pulling has started to become the thing which I notice all of the time and has kind of ruined the experience of having a new car, my dealership have been helpful but stated that if I want to take things further then it's customer services that I need to contact.

I wondered if an independent inspection might be worth paying for, but I have a feeling VW would not take any notice of things like this, they very quickly discounted the fact I had the alignment checked by an independent garage.

Trying to live with it but everything tells me it's not right for a car to drive like ours does!

[vw_owner]

Hello!

My car has been in 6 times now, each occasion they've admitted there's a fault, apart from the 6th time were they said it was resolved by an independent garage as they did not have the tech to make the precision adjustments! Polo 1.2 TSI 2011 - anyone else out there still having issues?

Let me know, I am in the process of escalating this.

Thanks

[niall campbell]

I would physically swap over front tyres and road test it

Then if that doesn't work,swap one at a time to the rear.

I have been at a few garages who have said car pulling to one side was acceptable, and swapped over the wheels to cure the fault.

Sometimes plastic wheel trims do the same thing.

Have you also checked that the front left brake isn't binding ever so slightly?

[vw_owner]

I would physically swap over front tyres and road test it

Then if that doesn't work,swap one at a time to the rear.

I have been at a few garages who have said car pulling to one side was acceptable, and swapped over the wheels to cure the fault.

Sometimes plastic wheel trims do the same thing.

Have you also checked that the front left brake isn't binding ever so slightly?

Thanks for your response.

Apparently the dealership has already done this, alongside many wheel alignments as well as replacing the rear axle!

I'm not a mechanic, nor have sufficient knowledge to check whether the brakes are binding - I would presume that the dealership would have checked this, considering it has been in six times. The vehicle went in the last time the other day, as it was escalated to management, who confirmed the fault was present. They also mentioned that the initial adjustment that was carried out on the day, made it worse, however this was not a bad thing I was told, and was advised the technician now knows he's got to turn it in the opposite direction!

It was then taken to an independent garage by themselves, as they advised the alignment equipment was not sophisticated enough to precisely align the wheels. Back to square one, the vehicle is still the same. Funnily the manager that agreed with me that there was a fault, now deems that it drives normally. Fun times! Progressing via the legal channel now, enough chances have been given.

Awful position to be in, if anyone else is suffering with the same issue, I would be pleased to hear from you.

All the best.

[niall campbell]

You are missing the point of swapping wheels over yourself

Swap the front ones over, then road test

If problem still there then swap front left to rear left and road test

If problem still there then swap front right to rear right and road test

CHECK tyres are rotating the correct way,

[geoffbot]

Just thought I'd pile in and say that my new (to me - '62 plate) 1.2 tsi pulls to the left too!