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MG MGF Technical - Advice regarding steering needed

With less than a 170 miles on the clock, a new coolant hose and cap for the coolant tank I now need to get the steering sorted.
The car drifts to the left quite a bit when driving and when braking it pulls severly to the side,(usually to the right but not always!) I have already spoken to the dealer who suggested that it might be my driving, but my old F never did this.
Tomorrow I will be speaking to the dealer's manager to try and get this sorted(At the rate things are going wrong I'm seriously thinking about rejecting the car).
In the meantime I would be grateful for any suggestions as to what might be causing the steering problems and whether it is likely to be any easy fix such as tracking.

Thanks

John
John

Hi John,

analysis is nearly impossible without having tried myself.

Though you can try yourself to find out whether the problem relates to the rear or the front suspension.

Test 1.
Change to a low gear (3rd) and go at app 60mph on a free mororway.
- push accelerator hard and release quick and notice whether the car tends to steer anywhere.
The front of the car should *nick* up and down.

Test 2
Change to 5th and go again with 60mph.
- gently increase speed and also gently decrease speed just only with the accelerator.
The cars front should not move up and down while this 2nd test.

When the car steers wierd in the second case then almost the rear suspension has any problem. The small load of torque to the wheels may move the rioght or left or both half axles in non equal manner and this results in self-steering.

@ test 1 problems, both can be involved. Play in any ball joint or rubber bearing at the front or at the rear. As well any difference from front-right to front-left Toe angle change when the front lifts/dives.

Hope this makes sense. Sorry for the simple *german-english*.
At last you may have own experiance when you get back to the dealer and explain the trouble.

Dieter
Dieter K.

John

I had a similar problem with my Y-reg 1.8i. It constantly steered to the left. It took my dealer 5 months to fix. Eventually coming down to a complete 4-wheel geometry set-up which finally fixed the steering problem.

I also have a break drift but to the left. They have never fixed this and I live with it....
Kevin

4-wheel alignment's got to be the first thing. And yes, they are often supplied wrongly set up when you buy 'em new. Mine was!
David Bainbridge

With just 170 miles on the clock am I presuming the car is brand new? If so did you get it from a MGR dealer thus with a 1 month no quibble guarantee? Take it back and ask for a full refund straight away.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ACCEPT ANY REPAIRS,THIS WILL INVALIDATE ANY REJECTION OF THE CAR.
Take the car keys back to the dealer along with a letter explaining why you are rejecting the goods. DO NOT drive the car after the rejection notice.
If you bought the car under finance then you have to contact the finance company and notify them of rejection and stating why. You will have to then deal with the finance company under the 'sale of goods act' for breach of contract.
Rejection of a car is not always straight forward, I should know, I rejected a new car in 1999 and it didn't get to court until summer this year. If you reject the car and take out a court case against MGR/finance company then be prepared to spend thousands in legal fees, if you loose thenyou will have to pay their fees too.
But try to avoid courts altogether if you can, look again at your 1 month no quibble MGR guarantee and use it if you qualify.
Good luck but if you need to know anything else about car rejection then let me know.

kind regards
bryan
B4 LGW

Over here in sunny Carracus ( I hope I get home next week!!)
bryan

After 3 years of pulling to the left mine has finally been fixed just before warranty expired by fitting a whole new steering rack. Does the steering wheel sit off centre when stopped or if braking slowly, lift your hands off the wheel; my steering wheel pulled to the left all the time at slow speeds, dealer verified steering column problem by removing EPAS fuse and driving it without that, apparently this shows if the problem is due to steering rack or not. My car had had 4 new tyres, brakes checked, new ball joints and two 4 wheel geometry set ups before finally being cured. But with your problems at only 170 miles I would be inclined to reject the car ...

Carolyn
V476 GNM
Carolyn

Thank you for your advice and/or comments.

I telephoned MGR this morning to get more information about their 30 day no quibble guarantee, only to be told that this was withdrawn last January.
According to MGR, any problems with the car is strictly between me and the dealer and if I reject the car it would have to be under existing consumer legislation. So my next call will be to trading standards.

John
John

John,
How old is the car? Have you had any repairs carried out on it by the dealer since you bought it?
Trading Standards can only advise you, they will not take any action against the dealer.To reject the car you must immediately return it to the dealer and hand over the keys, if they refuse to take them then leave them on the desk.Contact a good solicitor for further advice.
Remember that the Sale of Goods Act states that goods must be supplied free of defects, even minor ones at the point of sale.
When you buy new you expect new and trouble free motoring without worry for a 'reasonable'amount of time. Your experiences with this new car seem pretty worrying to me. Pay for an independant inspector to look at the car-this will strenghten your case 10fold.
But you must do this immediately-consumers have lost their right to reject because they have held on to the good for too long, some have lost their cases after just 8 days.
If you decided to reject then do not let the dealer make you believe that they have the right to repair the car under warranty, this is totally irrelevant to your rights of rejection.
A cheaper way of getting the problem sorted out is to put your car onto their forecourt with a big notice inside the windscreen stating something likeŽ' bought this car new for XXXprice, lasted just 170 miles'. That should do the trick!
Rejecting a car is not as straight forward as you think, you will not be able to use the car until the matter is solved and this can take months or even years inwhich time the car can deteriate and lose a lot of value plus you will have to find use of another car.
Good luck and I hope for a quick settlement.

Bryan
B4 LGW
bryan

This thread was discussed between 08/12/2002 and 10/12/2002

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