Bought New Yaris - Having problem with steering/handling? Is it me or the Car?

[Robbo67]

Hi Everyone,

I'm probably going to sound like a real knob or just a paranoid toyota owner maybe but the steering & handling on my new Yaris is really doing my head in and I really want to check with other Yaris owners is it the car or is it me :)

Firstly we have a 2 year old Corolla which we love and still have. Our other car that I mainly use for work was on it's last legs so I thought I'd spoil myself and get myself a new car. I nearly bought a Getz but there was a promotion going for the 5 door Yaris so I thought for the extra 2 grand & the fixed price servicing & Toyota reputation for reliability I'd buy the Yaris.

Anyway first 1000km no dramas at all. Love the car. Then it went in for it's 1,000km complimentary service at our local toyota dealer (not the dealer where I first bought it though). When I picked up the car they said they completed a general check over & mentioned they adjusted the rear brakes.

Straight away I noticed that the steering wheel was not 100% straight when driving on a flat straight road and off centre. When making a turn the steering wheel didn't return to a straight centre position. The car also liked to drift/veer/wander to the left and I needed to make constant minor steering corrections to keep vehicle moving in a straight line. Also the car tended to want to follow all the ruts & contours in the road, which I believe is called tramlining?

I took the Yaris straight back the next day to the local dealer who did the 1,000 km service and left it with them for the day. They said they road tested it & that there was nothing wrong. They mentioned the steering could have felt different and more noticeable because they would have let the tyre pressure down at the 1000km service. According to the service manager Toyota pump the tyres up pretty high for the trip from Japan to Australia.

The next day I checked the cold tyre pressures and they were pretty low 28psi so I pumped them back up to 32psi as recommended by the service manual. That helped slightly but the steering/handling still didn't feel right.

I took it back to the Toyota dealer where I bought the car and their senior road tester said steering wheel was definitely off centre and they put it in for an alignment. No charge of course !!

This helped a bit but it still doesn't feel quite right. I once again checked the cold tyre pressures and this time they were all pumped up to 40psi. I couldn't believe it. Whilst it seems like they must have completed the alignment the steering wheel is still a notch off centre and it still likes to drift to the left and tramline. Should I be worried there is something else wrong?

The tyres are Dunlop SP10's, my Yaris is 6 weeks old. My corolla doesn't steer/handle like this although I guess the coralla is a much bigger car.

So what I would really like to know from Yaris owners is am I paranoid and just a little overly fussy? Is this just a characteristic of how the Yaris is and something I just need to get used to? Could it be the tyres don't really suit the car? Would buying new tyres and alloy wheels be worth it? Even though Toyota supposedly did an alignment on it would it be worth me taking it to a wheel alignment specialist and have them check the alignment on it and do it again if necessary? Is it a 2 or 4 wheel alignment?

Sorry for all the questions but thanks heaps in advance everyone :)

Edited May 7, 2010 by Robbo67

[Kenneth.]

Hey there!

I don't recall my Yaris having such steering/handling issues when I first had it. If the steering is really crooked, then a wheel alignment is needed. But I see that you've already had that done by your dealer.

I would say 40PSI is way too much. When I was rolling on the stock rim (15") & tyre combo, I always had my fronts set to 34PSI and 32PSI in the rear. The car handled decently.

Since then I've made some upgrades to improve it's handling. This includes, lighter & wider rim (16x7, 5.5kg) & tyre (195/50R16) combo. I've also lowered the car by about 1.5" and installed a Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar. The Yaris with such simple upgrades handles extremely well, turn in is sharp, straights are stable, and overall the car is much more planted. I'm looking into stiffer struts/shocks to replace the OEMs once they wear out. However, I'd say none of these upgrades are necessary if you are just using your Yaris to get from A to B (home to work).

So I would suggest trying the tyre pressures I've suggested first. See if that makes a difference to the way it handles. Also, do you have the alignment values from the last wheel alignment?

Not sure if I was much help, let us know how it goes!

Kenneth

[Robbo67]

So I would suggest trying the tyre pressures I've suggested first. See if that makes a difference to the way it handles. Also, do you have the alignment values from the last wheel alignment?

Not sure if I was much help, let us know how it goes!

Kenneth

Thanks Kenneth for your reply, very helpful. I'll change the tyre pressures tomorrow to what you recommend but I've also got it booked in for a wheel alignment at a Tyre place on Tuesday. The Toyota dealer didn't give me any alignment values from the wheel alignment they did. I wonder whether they keep them on record?

Edited May 8, 2010 by Robbo67

[Lunjiaow]

So I would suggest trying the tyre pressures I've suggested first. See if that makes a difference to the way it handles. Also, do you have the alignment values from the last wheel alignment?

Not sure if I was much help, let us know how it goes!

Kenneth

Thanks Kenneth for your reply, very helpful. I'll change the tyre pressures tomorrow to what you recommend but I've also got it booked in for a wheel alignment at a Tyre place on Tuesday. The Toyota dealer didn't give me any alignment values from the wheel alignment they did. I wonder whether they keep them on record?

Toyota should have gave you a sheet of the correction they did. I suspect they didn't do the wheel alignment. But to be honest, i would take it to a tyre specialist. I know it will cost you for the wheel alignment, but im sure they will give you a decent wheel alignment and a print out.

[Robbo67]

So I would suggest trying the tyre pressures I've suggested first. See if that makes a difference to the way it handles. Also, do you have the alignment values from the last wheel alignment?

Not sure if I was much help, let us know how it goes!

Kenneth

Thanks Kenneth for your reply, very helpful. I'll change the tyre pressures tomorrow to what you recommend but I've also got it booked in for a wheel alignment at a Tyre place on Tuesday. The Toyota dealer didn't give me any alignment values from the wheel alignment they did. I wonder whether they keep them on record?

Toyota should have gave you a sheet of the correction they did. I suspect they didn't do the wheel alignment. But to be honest, i would take it to a tyre specialist. I know it will cost you for the wheel alignment, but im sure they will give you a decent wheel alignment and a print out.

Hey Lunjiaow thanks for your message.

Toyota didn't give me a sheet of the corrections they did. I took the car to Bob Jane here at Browns Plains, QLD and I asked them to check the alignment for me and if it was out to re-do the alignment but if it was ok I was happy to pay for their time and accept that it was just me. They checked the alignment and Bob Jane said all the readings were within spec so the alignment that Toyota did was ok. I got a print out of the readings so it looks like it was just my paranoia and they only charged me $25 for their time. The tramlining was a tyre issue so they also recommended that I put 36psi in the front and 34psi in the rear tyres and I would notice a difference. Funny thing is even though they said the alignment was ok I kinda felt that maybe Bob Jane did adjust the alignment as it seemed better to drive and the wheel was centered properly afterwards. I also adjusted the tyre pressures as recommended and it definitely feels a lot better and more stable to drive. I can now say I'm pretty happy with my Yaris now that I know there is nothing really wrong with it. I also took my two year old "Rolla" in for an alignment and changed the pressures too and it also feels a lot better to drive.

Thanks everyone for your help :)