Nothing like paying Volkswagen $300 to replace a wheel bearing that was supposedly the cause of the steering wheel shaking only to find it is still doing it. I am not amused.
We had the car in on Friday to have a new tire put on and were told one wheel bearing was in need of replacement and it should correct the issue. We brought the car to the dealership last night and picked it up after work today. Joe took it on the highway to test it out and it’s acting exactly the same!
I really don’t want to see those people again, but what else can we do? This needs to be fixed or we won’t be driving 4+ hours to Wisconsin in two weeks or driving out to Florida, and I really really don’t want to fly, not just because I’m afraid, but because I cannot possibly pack light enough for the airline’s requirements. Plus I do not want to deal with a nasty smelly rental car.
I hope VW stops being so stupid and fixes the problem. I’ve been scoping out the VW forums and it looks like it’s a simple case of tires not properly balanced and/or the car in need of an alignment. But why suggest that when they can go for the big guns and get $300 out of us, right? Grrr!!!
Weird. Every rental car I’ve ever been in has had the “new car smell.” Hope your car turns out OK! Driving has its advantages over flying, in that you can take with you whatever you want. But then flying is great too because you can save so much time that would have been spent on the road. I’m going on a road trip myself soon… heading down to Disneyland on October 1-5. It’s about a 6-8 hour drive, depending on horrible LA traffic once you hit southern CA. We’re taking my little Honda Civic to save on gas. I’ve never driven my little car that far before!
Funny that you mention the stinky rental car, and then Kristi said hers have always been new smelling. EVERY single rental car I’ve ever rented has been practically new – the most recent only had 6 miles on it. However, any time I’ve had a rental car in Florida they’ve ALWAYS been stinky! They were always humid and stinky, and no matter how tightly you closed the doors and windows, there always seemed to be dead flies in the very back.
Wow, just curious what rental car company you have used in the past? I rent at least 5x per year from Enterprise & the cars have always been super clean inside & out and have never smelled bad. Plus they are mostly all non-smoking now, I think you have to request a smoking car if you want one.
How long will your trip to Florida take by car? What interesting places have you decided to stop and see along the way?
Add my two cents on rental cars: I can guarantee you that in the last 16 months I have been in rental cars DOZENS more times, in more cities and states, than everyone else commenting here combined. And I’ve yet to get a “smelly” one. You definitely have to request a “non-smoking” car.
I guess I can’t blame you about not being able to pack light enough for the airlines’ requirements, considering it’s your wedding and all. I travel a lot, and I bet you could pack light enough if you really tried, but if you don’t have to – and it’s your wedding – then you don’t have to put yourself through it. But I agree that flying would save you time you could be spending having fun in Florida instead of driving.
The only times I’ve had a shimmying steering wheel, it’s been a bad alignment. I hope you get it fixed with a minimum of hassle!