What did you do to your Octavia today?

[dArK5HaD0w]

New right front guard, wheel liner, new door skin, other cosmetic repairs

wat happened?

[k_rider]

...but they mucked up the alignment of the steering wheel, need to have it offset to the right in order to steer straight. And when I mentioned it the reply was "it was straight when I road tested it".

Glad I'm not the only one... Seems to be a common problem these days. I don't recall ever having this problem years ago, but in the last ten/fifteen or so years, more often than not, the steering wheel is slightly 'off' centre after having a wheel alignment done. Don't know if this is down to current techniques, modern alignment equipment or just sheer laziness on the part of the mechanic, but it's damned annoying to say the least! It either means a second trip to the aligner or having to put up with the 'slightly off' steering wheel.

[brad]

Did the poor alignment have any impact on the tyre wear? Just wondering because after about 8000k my tyres are looking surprisingly worn and I wonder if it will be covered by warranty if it turns out it's poor wheel alignment from delivery.

Nope, your stuffed.

They'll basically say that you could have belted a kerb as you left the dealership.

In what way are the tyres worn? What pressures do you run (Skoda recommended pressures are ridiculously low)

[brad]

And when I mentioned it the reply was "it was straight when I road tested it". Just another thing for them to fix.

Did the mech have his head tilted to one side when he said it?


It's really hard to get a straight steering wheel due to the varying cambers of the road and peoples perceptions (they are especially picky after an alignment). I used to take people for a drive and get there agreement on a straight wheel for a particular road as you couldn't get it straight for all roads.

[Martin]

wat happened?

Guy in a Ute turned into me

AAMI and the repairer were awesome

[MJKooLio]

Noticed the other day after washing my RS Octavia MY14.5; that my left rear fog light did not work but only my rear one... And looked closer they have different bulbs in them. Should post a pic when back home..

[brad]

Noticed the other day after washing my RS Octavia MY14.5; that my left rear fog light did not work but only my rear one... And looked closer they have different bulbs in them. Should post a pic when back home..

Unless you have coded it in yourself, only the RH rear works ex-factory.

The bulbs sound a bit odd though.

[woofy]

They normally have the same bulbs and you can use those as a spare.

[MJKooLio]

And I've got the Combi RS... So does everyone else just have One rear foglight that works?

[woofy]

Only one should work, the side depends on what side of the road the country drives on.

[dArK5HaD0w]

It's the same on the mk2 - only 1 rear foglight works.
That's normal, not just on skodas either.

[MJKooLio]

Then why have the lights the same at the rear? Ie Polo have one Red and the opposite is White lens and bulb?

[brad]

Then why have the lights the same at the rear? Ie Polo have one Red and the opposite is White lens and bulb?

On the Octavia you can swap sides when you go from RHD to LHD. On the Polo you'd have to buy new tail light housings.

Depending on the model it can be done via the MFD or on the older ones by doing a quick headlight removal.

Some people enable both sides - I can't remember the name of the software tool but it isn't VCDS.

[daMama]

At the lights the other day I had a mini drag off with mk2 vrs... Needless to say, the vrs won, lol

[MJKooLio]

Ahhhhh.....