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Uneven rear tyre wear
#1
OK here goes . .
I'm aware I'm not alone (by a long way!) in experiencing rapid and uneven rear tyre wear on a new model Berlingo, it's proving a little frustrating so I thought I'd share our experiences in the hope that it may be of interest to anyone else, and especially in the hope of reading about anyone having a positive outcome such that subsequent rear tyres have worn unevenly and lasted well.

Here then is our story:
We brought our MK3 Multispace XTR 110 HDi new in september 2009 as it seemed to us to be pretty much the perfect vehicle for our varied needs. It now has 25K miles on the clock and has gone into the dealer today for it's second service and to investigate the suspension again.

From new we soon became aware of a pronounced rattle on rough surfaces; at the first service the dealer fitted new heavy duty rear shock absorbers under warrantee - which made no difference whatsoever, it still rattled. They will investigate this further this week and tell me that there are other possible solutions. It's hard to tell if this is from the front or rear so I'm unsure whether or not it might relate to the rear uneven tyre wear.

At around 20K miles I was concerned to see that the rear tyres were badly worn with around 1mm of tread around the outside edge while 4mm or so remained on the inner edges - with the passenger side tyre slightly worse than the driver's side.

The dealer took the vehicle in for checking of the geometry and pronounced it to be 'within specifications', yet was unable to tell me what those specs were or what figures had been measured on our vehicle.
I accepted this at the time as being an unpleasant and unanticipated feature of the car, and from talking to other people and searching the internet it became apparent that a lot of other owners are experiencing this and that a lot of them are just putting up with it.

The more I thought about it the less I liked it - surely Citroen would not knowingly design the suspension such that it wears out rear tyres faster than any other front wheel drive car we have experienced in 30 years driving?! The other problem is that at that wear rate it will cost close to £600 every 12 to 18 months on tyres alone at our current mileage. This all seemed pretty unreasonable so I rang the dealer again - they were aware of the uneven wear issue but very reluctant to have the car in for any work, as apparently their experience from talking to other dealers was that they didn't feel that there was anything they could do that was guaranteed to solve the problem.

At this stage the car had done 4.5K on the new rear tyres and already they were showing measurably uneven wear, so I rang Citroen UK in Slough, to be told categorically that the car should NOT wear out rear tyres unevenly; that the dealer must follow all the tests requested by Citroen's technical department and then go on from there. Another call to the dealer, and while they are reluctant and not confident of success they will go through the required tests while the vehicle is in this week.

Watch this space . . . .










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#2
interesting, at 14k I have no signs yet of this problem, but am aware of the suspension problem, I believe it is to do with the suspension bit [ not sure what] being an inch too short as it was used of another vehical and not specifically made for the berlingo....hence the problems. Think someone on here told us that.At my first service they said if I was still not happy with rattle in suspension to take it back [havent done that yet]
Pete
2010 artic silver VTR with EXTRAS.......Confusedunny:
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#3
Well it's back from the dealer . . . and this time they decided the rear suspension settings were indeed 'out of specification'.

They have repositioned the rear subframe (apparently it has some scope for movement and adjustment around it's mounting points to get the alignment within spec . . so I shall watch with interest to see what this set of tyres do . . . . .
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#4
(19-05-2011, 10:38 PM)Woodrat Wrote:  Well it's back from the dealer . . . and this time they decided the rear suspension settings were indeed 'out of specification'.
They have repositioned the rear subframe . .

Well yes, that's fine and hope they cure it this time BUT who has to keep shelling out for new sets of tyres due to the defect.

Just wondering if you have any comeback on Citroen for compensation for monies spent on tyres due to their defective chassis/suspension alignment.....worth trying to claim I suppose

Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI '54 reg Mediterranean Blue
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#5
(20-05-2011, 08:02 AM)andy-womble Wrote:  Well yes, that's fine and hope they cure it this time BUT who has to keep shelling out for new sets of tyres due to the defect.

Just wondering if you have any comeback on Citroen for compensation for monies spent on tyres due to their defective chassis/suspension alignment.....worth trying to claim I suppose

The rather mixed message I got from the service manager was "I'm confident that hopefully this will cure the uneven tyre wear"! I don't think he's holding his breath, and neither am I but I'd love to be proved wrong. We shall see in the next few thousand miles I guess.

When I first contacted Citroen about heavy tyre wear I sent the receipt for the first new set of rear tyres to Slough with a very polite suggestion that they might like to make a goodwill contribution. Not surprisingly I had not a dicky bird back from them about that.
Maybe I should try again and point out that as there was a defect a contribution might be even more appropriate.
In fairness the dealer has given me a discount voucher towards the next service!

Then again, life is short and I have more fun things to do . . .

Sadly, I can't somehow see this car doing the ultra reliable and trouble free 150 to 200K miles with minimal running costs that previous big diesel Peugout's and Citroen's have for us. Again, I'd love to be proved wrong . . . .
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#6
I kinda hope your wrong cause my plans all depend upon this one lasting a long time especially after spending so much on it [well to me] Could have bought my other want....a land rover......[ just mpg put me off that].
Considered a 90 or 110 as one option , or a rebuilt early 70`s model with no tax......liked that idea, just didnt fancy bouncing all over going on dual carriageway journeys.
Pete
2010 artic silver VTR with EXTRAS.......Confusedunny:
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#7
Im sorry to hear what you have went thorugh.

I had a V70 a while back and it was never out the dealer due to diffrent warranty issues the car cost me a lot of money due to loss of earnings, i tried to claim them back from the dealer and Volvo in Marlow but got no where. I went to a lawyer that wrote a few letters saying that under the consumer whatever you call it rights they should pay back my loss of earnings. To make a long story short and after 4 months of fighting it was either taking them to court or handing back the car when i could to the finance company so i handed back the car as it was going to cost a lot more to take them to court.


I DO MISS MY BERLINGO Heart
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#8
Hi Woodrat, Glad to hear that Citroen are are at last admitting that uneven tyre wear is a fault and doing something about it!
Interesting to hear about rear suspension/sub frame faults.

My Lingo was not worked on by the dealer but sent on to somewhere else by Citroen for repair then returned to the dealer so they could not give me any details as to what had been done to it.
Reshimmed was suggested by my local tyre dealers Manager, so perhaps that was not the case?

Have now covered about 12,000 miles without any repeat
tracking/uneven tyre wear problems, SO FAR!

I did not get any joy either asking about some money back for the three sets of tyres I had to replace either!
But to be fair my last service was done at a discount price!

Wonder if the Peugeot models have the same problems?

Best of luck with your Lingo!

Woodshaper



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#9
[quote='Woodrat' pid='6177' dateline='1305484848']

Hi, As you say, "you are not alone".
The uneven tyre wear to the rear tyres has been a problem from new (May 2009).
The first set showed problems after 5,000 miles, then continued to the point of illegality. At which stage Citroen uk authorised new tyres for free. I,d done 20,000 at this stage, but had rotated the rear tyres withe spare. All three were illegal.
After 40,000 miles I am now back to the same stage, and like a "ground-hog day" phoning Citroen uk, seeing the dealer, who both tell me that they will simply repeat the previous tests. None of which had any effect before, so why would they now?
They try to suggest that its a spring/loading problem.
My view is that the axle is bent! This gives "toe-in" to the rear wheels, hence the wear. I will claim new tyres again and keep pestering them.
Steve
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#10
My 2009 XTR got through a set of tyres at just under 20K miles, rears worn more than the fronts.

According to my local tyre dealer (and the local Citroen service department) this is perfectly normal !

Which is going to work out expensive, set of new Michelin Primacies every couple of years. :brickwall:
Richard

Silver 1.6 HDi XTR
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