Kia Cee'd Wheel Alignment issue

muzzer_mc

Hi All

I drive a Kia Cee'd LX 08 Model Diesel. Bought it when it was new and its now got 36k on the clock..
However only down side is I have an issue with the steering. It keeps pulling to the side.

I first noticed this after about 6 months of having the car so I took it to a National Tyre garage to get realigned. Seemed to do the trick but after a few trips to work (80 miles a day round trip) it started to pull the other way than before. So I took it back and they realigned it. Same happened again. So I took it to a Different National Tyre garage. Same again, Took it back and same again.

When I took it into get it serviced with the dealer and I asked them to check the alignment. When I got it back they said it had been adjusted. But again it started to pull to the side again. On February 1st this year I got the front tyres replaced at National Tyre and they did the alignment. After a month it started to pull to the left. I decide to leave it for a few weeks before getting it checked again but it got away from me and I next got it checked towards end of July. Took it to get checked and they said that it was 14 degrees out. So they realigned it. But after a day I noticed that it was now pulling to the right.

I'm taking it to get serviced at the dealer again next month and I'm going to ask them to check it again. I'm wondering if its worth saying that I have had the alignment altered a few times by another garage would that effect my Warranty?

I'm also looking for suggestions to what it could be the problem to why it keeps going out? I don't remmber hitting big pot holes etc, It just really annoys me having to hold the wheel at an angle to go straight and forking out £25 a time to get it realigned.

Any suggestions/comment would be appreciated

jimbo_the_jetset

It does not affect your warranty by having any work undertaken on your car by another garage.

"Q. Do I need to take my car back to the Dealers for servicing to preserve my Warranty?
No. Block Exemption Regulations (BER) were introduced in October 2003. This means that vehicles still need to be serviced on time to the same standard and using equal quality parts but there is no requirement to use the Main Dealers."

I think you need to be a bit more bullish and go to Kia and tell this this isn't right and tell them to sort it. Take the receipts from each time you have had to have it re-aligned in the past to prove your point and ask them to refund the full cost (settle for about 60-70% but ask for full to start with)

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

All cars pull to one side. Its known as road camber and is quite normal. If it pulls to the left on the correct side of the road, it'll probably pull to the right on the opposite side.

If the dealer will not or can not repair whatever is causing the steering wheel to not be straight, then you should take the car for four-wheel laser geometry alignment. This should cost about £100, with a report and invoice you can wave under the nose of the accounts dept of your dealer.

muzzer_mc

Thanks for the Advice guys.:beer:

Never thought about doing trying to claim the money back for the adjustments. Worth a shot.

If they can't fix it I'll look into getting the four wheel thing done. Be worth it in the long run to prove that it is out of line.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

All cars pull to one side. Its known as road camber and is quite normal. If it pulls to the left on the correct side of the road, it'll probably pull to the right on the opposite side.

The car pulls to the right no matter what side of the road I'm on. I have to hold the wheel to the left to get it to go stright.

gilbert_and_sullivan

I get the impression your first set of front tyres lasted around 30K+ miles, is that correct, if so i seriously doubt you have an alignment issue, as misaligned tyres would scrub out quickly.

What tyres are causing this problem, i ask because some cheaper tyres can drive unpleasantly as well as slide far too easily in the wet.
Have you replaced the probably Korean originals with similar quality?

14 degrees seems an astonishing amount to be out and would be visible to a very rheumy set of naked eyes without glasses, and the car undriveable did they mean 1/4 of a degree.
IIRC normal front wheel alignment is usually +/- 1 or 2 degrees at the most, and is probably parallel for your FWD car.

I would be inclined to let Kia do the alignment or find a recommended alignment specialist, never been too impressed by some tyre depot's bodge attempts at the job.

My own gut feeling is tyres are not as good as they should be.

Hope you get it sorted, i have a great respect for the cars Kia and Hyundai are turning out now, and their superb warranties.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

muzzer_mc wrote: »

The car pulls to the right no matter what side of the road I'm on. I have to hold the wheel to the left to get it to go stright.

Do you actually have to hold the wheel to make it drive straight, or without your hands on the wheel does it drive in circles on a flat surface?

cyclonebri1

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

I get the impression your first set of front tyres lasted around 30K+ miles, is that correct, if so i seriously doubt you have an alignment issue, as misaligned tyres would scrub out quickly.

What tyres are causing this problem, i ask because some cheaper tyres can drive unpleasantly as well as slide far too easily in the wet.
Have you replaced the probably Korean originals with similar quality?

14 degrees seems an astonishing amount to be out and would be visible to a very rheumy set of naked eyes without glasses, and the car undriveable did they mean 1/4 of a degree.
IIRC normal front wheel alignment is usually +/- 1 or 2 degrees at the most, and is probably parallel for your FWD car.

I would be inclined to let Kia do the alignment or find a recommended alignment specialist, never been too impressed by some tyre depot's bodge attempts at the job.

My own gut feeling is tyres are not as good as they should be.

Hope you get it sorted, i have a great respect for the cars Kia and Hyundai are turning out now, and their superb warranties.

Sounds bang on to me. The most likely cause is un even tire wear, lots of people actually drive harder round left hand bends than right, or vice versa.

At 14 degrees out the car be unsteerable, you would have one wheel pointing east and one west :rotfl:, so must be a decimal point out

muzzer_mc

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

I get the impression your first set of front tyres lasted around 30K+ miles, is that correct, if so i seriously doubt you have an alignment issue, as misaligned tyres would scrub out quickly.

What tyres are causing this problem, i ask because some cheaper tyres can drive unpleasantly as well as slide far too easily in the wet.
Have you replaced the probably Korean originals with similar quality?

14 degrees seems an astonishing amount to be out and would be visible to a very rheumy set of naked eyes without glasses, and the car undriveable did they mean 1/4 of a degree.
IIRC normal front wheel alignment is usually +/- 1 or 2 degrees at the most, and is probably parallel for your FWD car.

I would be inclined to let Kia do the alignment or find a recommended alignment specialist, never been too impressed by some tyre depot's bodge attempts at the job.

My own gut feeling is tyres are not as good as they should be.

Hope you get it sorted, i have a great respect for the cars Kia and Hyundai are turning out now, and their superb warranties.

I got the front tyres replaced around 28K miles. The orginal Tyres were Michelin, the ones I replaced them with were Continental ones (£120 each). I could have shopped around but they were getting very close to the legal limit and just wanted a good set of tyres and they didn't have any Michelin ones in stock that would fit my car.

When they told me the amount the Alinment was out they told me two totals, one for the back and one for the rear. I remmber the front ones being much worse than the rear. Just the 14 degrees sticks in my mind as the Average total.

I'm taking it next month to get serviced and will be saying about the alinment. Not a fan of the local Kia service centre, When I had the Kia Picanto on its last service they said they needed to replace the break pads, got it back and the total came to around £400 (thats with a 20% discount since kia had just moved to that site and includes the service cost of around £140). Recently on my Cee'd the back rear electric window motor broke, they replaced it for free under warrenty but it took them 2 months to get the part in stock and that was with me calling up once a week.

muzzer_mc

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Do you actually have to hold the wheel to make it drive straight, or without your hands on the wheel does it drive in circles on a flat surface?

I have to hold the wheel at an angle to get it to drive stright. If I let it drive with my hands off the wheel on a flat stright road it attempts to correct its self and doesn't drive in a stright line.

At the moment I have to hold it to the left, when I take my hands off the wheel starts to turn right in to a centre postion and the car will start heading right.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Then you give the dealer one last chance to correct it. If they do not, you take it to a professional alignment centre to correct whatever the problem is (sounds more like something is bent or damaged than simple misalignment). I can't see tyres creating this problem.

If the problem is simple alignment rather than actual physical damage, get it repaired, and bill the dealer. If they don't pay, consider legal advice.

mchale

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Then you give the dealer one last chance to correct it. If they do not, you take it to a professional alignment centre to correct whatever the problem is (sounds more like something is bent or damaged than simple misalignment). I can't see tyres creating this problem.

If the problem is simple alignment rather than actual physical damage, get it repaired, and bill the dealer. If they don't pay, consider legal advice.[/QUOTE]



Bear in mind, you can have your tracking done, and then drive away & hit a kerb & cause the tracking to be incorrect, so advising someone to consider legal action is not really correct advice.