Just bought a 2012 Passat and cannot believe the car pulls this badly... HELP!!

[golf18mike]

So I'm driving home and went thru a road repair road work where the road is uneven. I let go of the wheel to grab a drink of water and the car literally JERKS away from me! I was shocked this happened. Is it the Continental tires or the car steering??? I just came from a Benz and never had this happen so I need to know what happened? I wish I would have requested Michellins but missed it.

[turboDSG]

I would call the dealership and let them know. I just recently purchased one and have the same alignment issue as well as a right passenger area rattle. I plan on calling them and getting it looked at soon as I have some time. My car pulls to the right, how about yours? Please keep us updated what they say!

[Perio5]

uneven roads, junctions in the pavement, and all this stuff can indeed do this to a car´s direction, maybe you let go off the wheel at the exact time it touched and followed a line n the pavement, try to do the same in a good road and if it still does it then get it to the dealership

[Rico1]

This was one incident? Does the car pull in either direction when you're going straight on flat, level, smooth pavement? Try this experiment before going to the dealer. If you're still worried, you might have them put it up on a lift and yank at the tie rods, etc.

NB: The country road we live on, and many such "oil & chip" roads, are heavily crowned after many years. This means the road surface has a pronounced convexity, which will make ANY car pull toward the shoulder.

[turboDSG]

we don't have the greatest roads in Southern California but the car always pulls to the right no matter what.. on major freeways.. side streets.. left winding roads etc when you let the wheel go in the center position. Not to mention my GLI never strayed an inch on the exact roads daily in 3 years.

[golf18mike]

The car only does this when the road has a groove where the tire gets stuck in... never in normal conditions does the car pull at all. No other car i've had did this... i'm traveling the same roads as always too. What do Tie Rods do? I know nothing about cars or mechanics sorry.
My previously car was a 2000 Benz S430 and I never had to hold the wheel like this car.
THANK YOU ALL for your input and advice.

[chittychittybangbang]

The car has electric power assist with crosswind correction. Just lightly hold it straight and you'll find the car will actually track pretty straight. You could have felt the car adjusting for drift. It's somewhat alarming on the highway if you're not used to it, it feels like the car is wandering and you may overcorrect and make it worse.

As mentioned before, have dealer check it and if it's OK, give it some time and see if it still feels funny to you after a few weeks.

[mtbsteve]

Glad I am not alone. I have requested an alignmet from early on with mine with no luck. It feels like it pulls to the right slightly and my steering wheel is always turned slightly left. I believe this has more to do with the fact that the steering wheel might have just not been lined up correctly with the wheels or needed an early adjustment which so far VW refuses to do for me. I have just been too busy to push for this but it is documented in the multiple surveys VW performs. I have not hit anything nor have I driven on too many rough roads (mild winter in Mass., few potholes) and most of the really bad roads I drive were paved in the last year before I bought the car.

This car seems to behave slightly worse than any previous cars I have driven when it comes to drifiting away from the crown of the road. I am sure some of this can be fixed by checking and adjusting during an alignment.

Make sure you report it to your dealer and on the multiple surveys you receive from VW, maybe they will cover alignments early in the life of the car.

[racer_41]

Wow, this is really something....lots of MKVI Jetta owners are reporting the same issue!

[Virginia Bill]

Before jumping to conclusions about your car's steering, do the standard check on front end alignment: find a genuinely level stretch of pavement (bearing in mind that well designed roads have a crown so water will run off to the sides, so you straddle the center line), drive the car straight ahead, and (going not too fast), let go of the steering wheel. If the car drifts right or left, you might need a front end alignment. Parking lots are good for this test, though their diagonal lines can be visually confusing.

The sudden jerk which alarmed OP was probably the electric power steering interacting with surface damage on the road. In his second post he mentions the car getting caught in grooves on the road. That's tramlining; some tires resist it more than others.

[mtbsteve]

Update to old thread.

The steering wheel in my car was always turned slightly to the left while driving in a straight line. I had a small pull in the car to the right but not really too bad, not tire wear. I had mentioned it in the various surveys and even at the 60 day check up but I was not willing to do an alignment that I was pretty sure was just an out of line steering wheel.
VW contacted me and after a few conversations decided to give me a free alignment check at my 10k service (or sooner if I wanted) and sent me $100 dealer/VW credit. At my 10k service, techs said that everything I stated was true and was able to use the credit to fix the problem with an alignment.
Lesson: Discuss the issue at every chance so that it is documented and hopefully you have a similar outcome. I just wish they would have tried to rectify the issue sooner since it was noted at the first survey a few days after buying the car.

[2VWatatime]

Don't have the latest (spring 12) book handy, but VW historically (sadly) won't warranty an alignment (other automakers often have 1 warranty alignment in the first 12 M). It's an issue they refuse to address...

[swansonev]

I had a problem with a slight pull to the right when my car was new, and it turned out to be an underinflated tire. I suggest you check the inflation all around before investing in an alignment.

[Wagon05]

So I'm driving home and went thru a road repair road work where the road is uneven. I let go of the wheel to grab a drink of water and the car literally JERKS away from me! I was shocked this happened. Is it the Continental tires or the car steering??? I just came from a Benz and never had this happen so I need to know what happened? I wish I would have requested Michellins but missed it.

Had the same issue with Hankooks - dealer aligned it and it has been perfect since

[RaidV92C]

I likewise had and have the same problem. Mine has Hankooks (not sure that matters). In any case, complained at the 90 day check up (several months ago) and they "realigned" which helped. However, it seems to be still slightly pulling to the right.

[turboDSG]

I had pulling from day one. I brought it up at the 90 day which was really like 3 weeks, because it was pulling pretty hard. They were hesitant to do anything because it wasn't the dealer I got it at but is a mile down the street.

The service advisor did end up putting it down and on the test drive they found it to pull pretty hard as well. They checked the alignment and it was not to specification so they tried to align it a few times and could not get it to spec from VW.

They ended up having the car 3 days.. 2 of which I was provided a rental. They talked to TN and got the car on a frame measuring device and took a series of measurements. Turns out the front control arm was not down all the way at the proper angle from the factory. They unbolted it, dropped it down to spec and were able to align the car 98-99% where it should be according to factory specs.

It is much better but I think it pulls to the right a liiiiitttllllee bit still.


This was a few months ago.