Smashed Ixnay
Veteran Member
In December 2017 I bought a 2015 Passat TDI. While test driving it I noticed it pulled to the right, so I figured it needed an alignment. I did not hound them to fix it or anything because I had to make the deal and go home. Basically if I wanted the car I had to take it as is b/c it was a silver SEL, which at the time was only 2 in the state. This one had the black interior I liked and the other was some weird color that I didn't like.
Anyways, I drove the car like that for about 3 months and when I had to have my 40k mile service done I had an alignment and balance done. The vibration the car had felt better at higher speeds, but the car still pulled to the right. It was not as hard as before, but it definitely pulled to the right still. I figured they didn't do anything, so I called back to tell them it was still pulling. The tech told me they did the work, but to bring it back.
I took it back a few days later and they did the alignment and balance again. The car still pulled to the right the same, but now the balance issue was back to square one when it was worse. The tech showed me the print out of the tires all in the green area, to show the alignment was done. He ended up telling me one of the rims is slightly bent and that's probably what is causing the issue. I just didn't worry about the slight vibration anymore because I kept hating to waste a few hours there each time.
My tires have 46k miles on them now, so in a few months I will change them out when they have about 55-60k on them. They still have a decent amount of tread on them, so I don't want to change them out just yet. I figure new tires will help with the balancing issue, but probably won't fix the pulling issue.
The wheels do have a lot of scratches on them from whoever was the previous owner, so it would not surprise me if a wheel actually was bent some, but would this causing the pulling issue? I figured it would be more of a balancing issue if that was the case, but I could be wrong.
I'm thinking about just buying new wheels also whenever I get new tires just because of the fact how scratched up they are. And if once really is bent, then it wouldn't hurt to buy the other 3 so they all are new. This would rule out the pulling issue if it still happens.
So do you thinks think the bent wheel could be causing my pulling issue, if it really is bent? Do you think it is something else?
The tires on my car now are Continental ProContact
Anyways, I drove the car like that for about 3 months and when I had to have my 40k mile service done I had an alignment and balance done. The vibration the car had felt better at higher speeds, but the car still pulled to the right. It was not as hard as before, but it definitely pulled to the right still. I figured they didn't do anything, so I called back to tell them it was still pulling. The tech told me they did the work, but to bring it back.
I took it back a few days later and they did the alignment and balance again. The car still pulled to the right the same, but now the balance issue was back to square one when it was worse. The tech showed me the print out of the tires all in the green area, to show the alignment was done. He ended up telling me one of the rims is slightly bent and that's probably what is causing the issue. I just didn't worry about the slight vibration anymore because I kept hating to waste a few hours there each time.
My tires have 46k miles on them now, so in a few months I will change them out when they have about 55-60k on them. They still have a decent amount of tread on them, so I don't want to change them out just yet. I figure new tires will help with the balancing issue, but probably won't fix the pulling issue.
The wheels do have a lot of scratches on them from whoever was the previous owner, so it would not surprise me if a wheel actually was bent some, but would this causing the pulling issue? I figured it would be more of a balancing issue if that was the case, but I could be wrong.
I'm thinking about just buying new wheels also whenever I get new tires just because of the fact how scratched up they are. And if once really is bent, then it wouldn't hurt to buy the other 3 so they all are new. This would rule out the pulling issue if it still happens.
So do you thinks think the bent wheel could be causing my pulling issue, if it really is bent? Do you think it is something else?
The tires on my car now are Continental ProContact