Six weeks ago I bumped over a traffic island where the bollard was missing and I didn't see it while making a left turn into a side road. Of course the council are denying all responsibility but before I can take the matter further I need to diagnose the exact nature of the problem.
The front right (offside) wheel struck the 6 inch kerb while at almost full left lock. The steering then was left pulling to the left and the wheel was slightly off centre, down slightly to the right.
I took the car to the local dealer who are helpful and go out of their way to be so. They have a Hunter steering alignment rig and put the car on it and said that the steering angles, front and rear, needed realigning, which they did. They also inspected the steering and said that they could find no actual damage. I test drove the car and all seemed well so I paid the bill and took the car away.
Over a period of a couple of weeks I felt that the steering was not as stable as it had previously been and by the time three weeks had elapsed the steering wheel was off centre by about an inch at the rim.
I took the car back to the dealer and said I was worried that they may have not found something as the wheel was off centre and the steering felt as if minor adjustments needed constantly to be made to hold a straight line. They put the car back on the Hunter rig and confirmed that the angles were out of alignment and readjusted the set up and again inspected the steering but could find no damage. They said that they could not charge me for the work as it might be that they hadn't done it properly the first time although they were confident that they had.
Within a week the same thing happened again and after a 200 mile round trip the steering wheel was again an inch out of true, down on the right and the car was drifting slightly to the left and needing constant micro adjustment to hold a straight line.
Back to the dealer for the third time and back on the Hunter rig where the read out inexplicably showed that it was now the rear tracking which was more out than the front which was also out of alignment. The technician said that rear wheel misalignment can have a significant effect on the steering and handling of the car. The tracking all round was again adjusted, again at no cost, but I now have little confidence that it will stay as it hasn't before and no one can say what the underlying fault might be.
Since the tracking adjustments cannot all loosen themselves at random in this way, I am left with a couple of possibilities. Firstly that the problem is inside the rack where, of course, things are supposed to move but that doesn't explain the rear tracking. Secondly, more sinisterly could the chassis be out of true? The technician offered the thought that the bushes needed replacing but that seemed unlikely that they would all fail immediately after the impact on one wheel and that the car has only done 55K miles.
This car has been my most successful car over a lifetime of driving all manner of cars. I had intended to keep it for the indefinite future with great confidence. That confidence has suffered and I don't know what to do when within the next few days the problem reappears, as it is likely to do judging from recent events.
This is not something that VIDA can check and the Hunter rig is acknowledged to be the best in the business. Do these symptoms ring any bells with anyone as I am spiralling into a depression about the state of this car.
