I purchased a 2005 impreza wrx sl today with the ppp prodrive performance back, on the way home I was being followed by my other half and she said it looked like the wheel was wobbling?

Does anyone know what may be the cause of this? I checked the obvious like wheel bolts which seemed to be fine to me and not loose, being my first impreza I'm not sure what to check first? My thought was maybe where bearing?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated

Many thanks,
Rob

 

The wheel could simply be bent! Any signs of an impact?

 

Maybe, I might change it over with the other side and see if it any different if she follows me again.

It didn't feel out of the ordinary when driving, no steering wheel wobble or anything although I did notice the gear stick had a bit of vibration is this normal?

Just seems strange if its doing it but not noticing anything when driving it, I may tak it to get the wheels balanced and see if they are ok I'm sure they could tell if the wheel is buckled or bent then?

 

Is the offending wheel on the back?? You most likely wouldn't feel it through the steering then. Yeah, the tyre guys would see it straight away on the balancing machine.

A dodgy tyre might be the culprit too. Now I'm just gonna throw this out there, why don't you (dare I say it) let the wife drive it and you follow?

 

 

The car does seem a little bouncy when driving at slow speeds and some corners you car hear the tyres give a little squeal

 

No pix of the car yet Rob?

 

Wanting to put sti bumpers and spoiler on. Totally standard at the moment apart from the PPP pack, if I'm honest my leon felt like a quicker/faster car lol

 

Good starting point, The front bumper just looks like a standard wrx one that has at some point had the STi winglets on it but have been removed.

 

FFS, get those pics down, you are CLEARLY parked on a no parking zone and the police do look in on this site........

 

It's over my grandads drive way

 

Is that where they clip onto then?

May have to take a look and see about re adding them lol

What's the actual differences in the front wrx and sti bumpers? Apart from the winglets and fog covers

 

Ok guys now I have had a good look around it today I think I'm pretty certain it has been involved in an accident at some point in its life!

Noticed a slit ripple dent across the side of the roof on the driver side between the front and back door

The doors on the passenger side shut very nice and easily with the windows fitting snug, where as the driver side doors are harder to close, it seems like the window is hitting the seal first as the passenger side you can close them slowly and gently and pretty much without force you can hear the click on the,door where it gets the latch

On the driver side I noticed the rear window doesn't fit up into the seal as it should do like the pass side, and the front door seems like the glass hits the seal before the door clicks on the latch, you need to give it a little more force than the other side to just hit the latch

Also a little similar to with the rear driver side door, if the window is open it shuts better and smoother

And believe it or not this is th same side that has the rear wheel wobble

But now its down to trying to figure out what is actually damaged and causing the wheel to wobble or look like its wobbling!

:-(

 

If you bought it from a dealer i'd be taking it back!

 

Debating about this! But just purchased tax for it, and don't have enough cash to put in for petrol to take it back at the moment...

 

They have said to get the fault with the wheel fixed and send them the receipt fort it

 

Stuff that, if you got from a dealer they have to give your money back if they have mislead you about the condition of the car. If the doors and roof are rippled/don't fit well I'd say you've got a lot more issues than just a wobbly wheel. That's why they've said the would pay to fix the wheel cos they know its a pup. Sorry for being negative but you def should get your cash back.

 

The doors aren't rippled, its the driver side part of the roof the top side part?

Looks like it has a,couple of imperfection marks like it has been repaired

I can force them to give the cash back? And I just paid £154 to tax the vehicle it will cost me maybe another £80 to take the car back there?

 

Might not be an option but i'd suggest getting a data check done, seeing what that comes back as.
I would really advise taking it back to the dealer who sold it and ask them to explain the damage/faults. They may be genuinely unaware of it. Or they may not... Either way, it needs checking and fixing that kind of wheel
Wobble and tyre squealing isn't a good sign and at the least will cause a hefty tyre bill not to mention it might not be the safest thing to drive ( it may be fine, not wanting to alarm you but it's best to check ).

Not sure where you are but if you're west yorks based I'll happily have a scan if you want a second opinion.

 

I've spoken to them and they said they don't accept returns of vehicles and that they have offered warranty in the car and to get the damage or fault repaired that is affecting the wheel

Thing is I have to pay for it and then pass the receipt back to them to claim the cash back as that's how the warranty works, yet. Have no idea where to start and no doubt it will cost a fortune as I have no idea what it may be

Thanks Oranges but I'm down in Kent

 

Just to make everyone aware of these guys they are East Anglia Cars based in Bedford/Bedfordshire

I found the car via Autotrader they also have their own website www.eastangliacars.co.uk

 

That's sounds well dodgy, I'd get on to citizens advice cos when you buy a car from a second hand car place you get 2 weeks to get your cash back if they have not described/sold the car in a truthful way. My mate bought a 350z from the midlands and it had a blown head gasket or something cos by the time he got it home it was smokin like a bonfire. He thought he was screwed but he checked with citizens advice and managed to take the car back. If you have a warranty then surely it's their job to pay and fix it. Otherwise tell them your gona take it to Subaru and they can pay a few grand to get it fixed. If the doors don't line up great surely it means the whole car is twisted. They sound like a right bunch of jokers. My sympathies mate

 

Not 100% but I'm not sure if a dealer can't say they won't accept a car back if it's not as advertised, e.g. Accident damaged etc... Im sure someone will know though. Just done a data check on the reg and it's clean, 3 owners, not a write off, not scrapped etc. That's not to say it's not had a bump, just not an insurance write off. Looks like you'll have to go with the warranty thing, if it were me if make sure the warranty will 100% pay before getting any work done etc though. Hopefully it's just a knackered wheel

 

Ask here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk

The dealer won't have a leg to stand on. Trading Standards may also be interested. They can't say they 'don't accept returns'. As a dealership, they have an awful lot of legislation to comply with, not least of which is the Sale of Goods Act.

 

Thanks for doing a double check, I did do one myself as I said before I purchased the car and it was HPI clear etc but yes as you say there is nothing saying it has never had a undeclared bump and had it repaired privately etc

I'm going to do a thorough investigation at the weekend and see what I can see, Also I'm taking my wheels to a local friend of mine who is going to check them all and make sure they are all balanced and not buckled etc

Also I been advised to check the axle nut as apparently this may have a similar effect?


Hopefully things aren't as bad as they seem... I also found a thread that explains and shows how to adjust the window to get it to fit correctly

Thank you all

 

That website was created by the Razsor dept of Autotrader so if it turns out to be a damaged repaired vehicle make sure you contact them and let them know they are advertising such vehicles.

 

No worries buddy, I hope you get it all sorted and hopefully it'll turn out to be something simple.

What's the paint like on the quarter with the wheel wobble?

 

The only way to tell for sure if its bent is to have it on a jig.

i would inform the dealer that you think its accident damaged to buy yourself some more time for investigations.

 

You need to start having all conversations via a written form, email or letter etc, send them an email outlining the beleived faults and get their consent to take it to a garage to get it checked over.

Honestly how some people dont know their rights is unbelievable.

If it is crash damaged send it straight back to them for a full refund, but make sure you document everything, photos, letters, conversations, when, where how and why, the works

 

Ok guys on the plus side after I got home from work today I jacked the car up gave the wheel a good wiggle and nothing felt to be loose at all

I then swapped the wheel over and put it onto the front of the car and my partner followed me and said the wheel on the back looked fine and that it was now the front one that looked like it was wobbling

I only went at low speeds and could feel the steering giving a little vibrate left to right so my thoughts are that the wheel is buckled? I've spoken to the car place and they are going to try and sort a wheel out for me

Also regarding the windows not fitting correctly, I think the rear driver one may be loose as I gripped it with my hands earlier and was ale to give it s little tug up and towards the right so I think I may have the door cards off and take a look at it as it seemed to line up a whole lot better after I done this although I could move it back down a little by hand so maybe something is worn