Ok as many of you know I’m having a big problem with my rear tyres. If you don’t they are extremely work on the inside and I actually need some new ones now. My car is nearly 10 month old and has done 10k and I also don’t drive like a tool, so as you can see, its quite baffling as to how tyres can be scrubbing on the back. (you cant track the back of a fiesta in case you didn’t know). Swapped them over a few weeks ago and but the back tyres on the front and vise versa. Anyways in the garage it went today (they gave me a lovely little Ka with the coolest glove box ever. Although I’m not sure why it had a cassette player as I didn’t think you could buy cassettes anymore. I also has trouble with these windy handles on the door, apparently they put your window up and down, ive never had any dealing of these handles before?? - ok I’m piss taking about not knowing the window winder handles im just trying to make you laugh as at this moment I am very mad). Anyways I go back in just before to pick it up and they tell me its been tracked and this should stop the wheels scrubbing - you cant track the back wheels I hear you say - indeed so did I at this point. I know, I tracked the front wheels says the mechanic. Well what use is that to me? it’s the back that’s at fault. Anyways he goes onto say that the front ones are the ones that have scrubbed and the tracking will have sorted it out. I’m sure he could see steam coming out of my ears at this point as I’d told him when I took it in that the wheels had been swapped - the problem tyres he was seeing on the front had actually come off the rear. I have told them this so many times its unbelievable. Then they try telling me tracking the front will sort the back out (not sure about this?), also to try putting an extra 2lb in each tyre, and a whole load of other things. I tell them I am quite annoyed and that I don’t believe they have done a good enough job and that tracking isn’t what it came in for (the best bit about the tracking is yet to come), he says there is nothing they can do about it as the laser alignment says all is correct (yes im fuming) I say that “has it possibly entered your head that it has nothing to do with tracking and it could be a different problem altogether” and you know what answer I got? He said he didn’t know what else he could do as the laser aligment was correct. Argh!! Ok and the best bit. He said I could take it to another garage for a second opnion but it would probably cost more that what I’m charging you. What?! Its under guarantee ffs! But apparently this is classed as wear and tear (another ford loop hole) but when I finally find out that it is not a wear and tear problem I will go mad. Any ways I get the invoice and they said they would waiver it as I bought it there (oh goody). Anyways I get home and look at the invoice and its complete crap and so bad. It sayts 1. Laser wheel alignment and then the price and then 2. Courtesy car cover £5 (it’s a deposit you have to pay for the insurance or something) anyways. 1, I’d already paid for the courtesy car, I ain’t paying again. And 2, they had to take it to an ATS garage for the alignment as they don’t have the facilities there. Now I know for a fact ATS does this for free. So it didn’t cost them anything. Secondly they drove MY car there, used MY petrol and had the frigging cheek to have A/C on full blast and change my Cd’s around. (they had the cd player on so loud when I started it up I nearly weed myself ) FFS!!!!!! So it didn’t cost them sweet FA to get my wheels aligned (yes I know I would have to pay a labour cost) I would have been so mad if they had made me pay. I know its been hot today but I have the feeling they swanned around in my car all afternoon acting like they owned it! Ok so top and bottom is I might as well not have gone today cos we are no better off. Im definitely going somewhere else for an opinion. I need 2 new tyres very soon . And when some garage finally comes up trumps and find the really problem I’m going to go back to ford all guns blazing and make them refund my tyre costs. I’m quite calm now I’ve got that all in the open.

And... relaaaaaaaax

Trust me 99.9% of all Ford dealerships are exactly the same.

I confirm what u two say, my dealer is just the same said they done the job but didn't do anything and drive around miles after miles using all my petrol W@*ker!

Hi Amanda,

Sorry to hear that you are still having trouble with your rear tires wear. If I had an advice to give you it would be to swap front / rear wheels again before you wear out your 2 good tires on the back as you know that's where the problem is. This might save you from changing all 4 tires and just get away with the 2 ones which are already worn.

Also, could you post some pictures of your rear tires and also some information about your driving habits - I'm not trying saying it's not being driven correctly but be aware that loading the car heavily will have an effect on camber and that in this case the manual specifies much higher rear tires pressures (i.e. when negative camber is at its highest). It could also be possible that the pressure in the back wheels is adjusted for heavy load but that the car is being driven not loaded. This might have the same impact on wear.

Also, are BOTH wheels wearing the same or different? Internal tyre wear at the back can be caused by "toe out" or excessive "negative camber". It is true that alignment cannot be adjusted at the back on the Fiesta but it nevertheless can be measured. What can't be measured (usually) is the camber, but if the camber is incorrect chances are that it is only on one wheel and therefore they should wear differently.

Also, is your car lowered?

>

Hi Amanda,

Sorry to hear about the problems your having with your ST and your local Ford dealership. If you would like to send me any pictures of the tyres etc then I can send them to my mate who works at my local Ford Dealership. There servicing department is excellent and I've never heard anyone complain about them.

I have had probs with my rear tyres as well, but with heavey wearing on the outside of the tyres and not the inside! my tyres pressure is 9/10 time sopt on as a check this very regularly, from what people have told me its the camber at the rear which cause the problem, it is a pain in the ass and soon as u say to ford about this then they automactially think its down to tracking!

also after a year of owning the car tracking is not cover under the warnentty!

Didn't the old Focus ST170s suffer with this??
I think it was down to the large wheel/tyres wearing out the rear-wheel bearings?
You should get a Ford technitian to look at the car but make sure you put the tyres back on the back.
You can't blame what the dealer thought as the wear was on the front tyres.
DEMAND they investigate why you have premature and uneven tyre wear on the rear, that they fix it and replace the tyres. do NOT buy new tyres as the same will happen to them.

hi, thanks. i will get pictures when its daylight, looking at the back of the car, the left wheel (passenger) at the back is the worst but the right (drivers) one is slowly catching up! you may be corect about the tyres being for heavy load as im not exactly the biggest person in the world i weigh about 7 1/2 stone so no doubt the car can't feel my weight and thinks its driving itself!

If you take a look at Elite Direct's website they give an explanation on tyre wear and possible causes...

http://www.elite-design.co.uk/ > Wheel Alignment> Alignment Faults

http://www.elitedirect.com/Wheel_alignment-stuff/alignment_p3.html

OMG...Please paragraph that text.

i was in one so i really couldnt be arsed with grammar. just concentrate hard!