VW Specialist in Waterford

FGR

Hi there! As above, really.

I've gone through older threads on boards but find that nokad is gone (is Witches Lane Motorworks the same crowd or a whole new operation?) and that I can't even find Liam Knox Autos on Google Maps/Street View

Are the two above the best recommended? I've also read that Madigans in Ballygunner are an option - are they still in operation?

Have had a long running problem with alignment on a B5 Passat and haven't had much success with permanently solving it. Hopefully a specialist can!

Thanks

natnifnolnacs

What's the issue? It shouldn't take a specialist to be able to align a passat? I would imagine if you are having difficulty with it there are a few worn components and any mechanic worth his salt should be able to diagnose what the problem is...

FGR

Hey natnifnolnacs.

Don't get me started on how much money I've spent on this car! I've had the upper and lower control arms replaced, bushings, brakes and other things changed. The car came out of the last garage driving about 90% straight (still pulling to left) but when I brought it to a hunter machine it ended up practically veering to the left like it always had since about two weeks after I bought it.

No records of it ever being crashed and mechanics didn't see any sign of damage. I'm looking for someone who may have come across this before so that it might actually be resolved.

natnifnolnacs

Ah right, sounds pretty nasty. What year is it? How long have you owned it? Have you changed the tyres on it in that time?

I generally use PJ O'Shea up near gracedieu. Decent chap and very reasonable to deal with. As far as I know, Madigans are still up and running out near Ballygunner. I've never used them so have no idea what they're like. I'd be interested though, so if you do use them, report back please!

DaveJac

what size wheels/tyres are on the car? we had 2 passats in with us similiar problem could never get the car tracked 100% according to the owners always a tendancy to pull a bit to the left and both cars suffered a for tyres wearing on the insides.... what it came down too in the end was the size of the wheels and tyres both cars had 235-50-18 tyres, one customer let us put on 16" wheels 205-55r16 tyres from a lower model passat just to try and they couldnt believe the difference way nicer car to drive and no issues with the car pulling to the left they did put the alloys back on but are just living with a bit of a pull to the left... might not help at all if you car has 16" wheels lol

FGR

Thanks guys for getting in touch..!

To answer the questions - I put four new Pirelli P7 tyres on the car after I bought it. Drove well too. They're 16" stock alloys on factory sports suspension. Could one of the wheels be the problem in all of this..?

I've had PJ recommended to me also so will give him a shot! I'm hoping I can get the car looked at sometime this week as I'm back at work fulltime next week and badly need the car. It's an absolute pain not being able to point the car and have it travel in that direction.

DaveJac

both cars we had, had 18 alloys and swapping to 16's solved the problem

Was the car ever crashed i wonder even a small tip could bend something out of shape a small bit will make a massive difference hitting a kerb hard could do it. anyone with a good 4 wheel alignment system should have no problems tracking it, ask them to print off the results for you and get the factory settings and compare them

natnifnolnacs

yeah I'd bring it to Geraghty's, let them at it. If they can't get it to align properly, at least they will be able to point you in the right direction. Bring the printout to a mechanic and hopefully you should get sorted.