The steering on my 1.9 TDi Skoda Fabia estate isn't quite right. I started noticing a few months ago that on smaller roundabouts as I was going to exit the roundabout, it was as if the steering 'locked' and the car wanted to keep going round as I tried to straighten up. I had not changed my driving style any so didn't think it was something I was doing. Then one day the car actually spun out on me as I was going straight across a small roundabout.
Again, I couldn't think it was anything I'd done and I don't go fast round roundabouts. After that incident, the steering hasn't felt right. The car is still under warranty so I took it to the Skoda garage. They did all the checks on it (at least that's what they told me) and could find nothing wrong. My brother, an ex-mechanic, took it for a drive and it was ok then as well. He said it could be the different tread patterns on the front tyres and so swapped the tyres from back to front.
The steering is pulling to left a bit as he said it might due to the tyres being imbalanced. I'm just not happy with the handling at all just now and am wondering if there have been similar faults reported or any other suggestions would be very helpful.
Thank you.
Answer
The Fabia is increasingly suffering from power steering failure, apparently often caused by the steering angle sensor. It sounds as if you’re intermittently losing power assistance, which can certainly catch you out on a roundabout. Go back to the dealer and be insistent, especially while it’s still under warranty. It will also be a good idea to write to the dealer reporting the problems you’re having so that if they still don’t find a fault until the warranty ends, but then the steering fails completely, you have a record that the fault was there while the car was still under warranty.
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