FishTailing

[Asus08]

Not sure if Fishtailing is the correct term but that is what the problem feels like.

When hitting any uneven part of the road such as man hole cover or any uneven patch of road with the nearside, the rear of the Aygo appears to jump slightly towards the nearside. It feels more apparent when steering towards the nearside. It makes the car feel quite uncomfortable & unsafe to drive especially in the wet when it becomes more noticeable.

I mentioned the issue after first purchasing the car new & was told that it was down to their being little weight at the rear & was normal, I mentioned once again last week at its service & again it was dismissed, even though I mentioned it felt unsafe.

I'm just wondering if anybody on the forums has any thoughts on what the issue might be & if this is indeed an inherent issue with the Aygo.

[Heidfirst]

afaik there is no inherent issue  like that with the Aygo/C1/108 - if there was you would see many reports of it given the nos. sold.

Being a light, short wheelbase it will be change direction more quickly than a heavier, longer wheelbase. What tyres & condition?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Fishtailing is where the rear of the car moves to one side or the other.

Think what you're experiencing is where the rear wheels lose contact with the road surface momentarily when they hit an imperfection in the road surface, probably due to the low weight and the fact the car is quite stiffly sprung. I've noticed this occasionally on other cars we've had, and don't think it is anything to be concerned over. The car is front wheel drive, so the powered wheels aren't losing traction. 

What tyre pressures are you running with? If the tyres are above the recommended pressures, this may accentuate the issue.

[mickburkesnr]

I've only had the rear of it step out of line going around a roundabout in the wet, but nothing like what you've said. 

[Asus08]

Thanks for your replies.

The tyres are the original tyres that were supplied from new & are still in a good condition, the vehicle has only done 16000 miles. I am running with a tyre pressure of 33psi as stated on the door pillar & I was told that this was checked during the service on their calibrated pressure gauge.

The description of the wheels momentarily losing contact with the road is a good description, when this happens the rear seems to jump slightly in the direction of the road camber. It can feel quite unnerving if traveling at 60mph or so on a dual carriageway etc.

I voiced my concern with my Toyota dealership who promised to check over when doing the service & mot & also do a test drive. When collecting the vehicle I was told everything appeared fine with the mechanical side & the car had performed exactly the same as any other Aygo during the test drive. Only later when I had a look at the Dashcam footage that had been running in the car did I discover that the car had never left the dealership for any test drive. I'm stuck now as I no longer trust the dealership & don't know who to get to check out the issue.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Asus08
Spelling mistake

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think this is more a characteristic of a short wheelbase, light, stiffly sprung car. As I said earlier we've noticed it occasionally in other cars we've had (eg  Mazda 2, etc). Are the roads in your area in especially poor condition as this may increase the frequency you experience this. 

[Asus08]

17 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

I think this is more a characteristic of a short wheelbase, light, stiffly sprung car. As I said earlier we've noticed it occasionally in other cars we've had (eg  Mazda 2, etc). Are the roads in your area in especially poor condition as this may increase the frequency you experience this. 

I wouldn't say that the roads are any worse in my area than any other parts of the country, it only takes a small imperfection to the nearside of the road to make the car twitch. A manhole cover on a wet day will shift the car towards the nearside.

If this is down to the characteristics of this size of car then would it not be the case that all Toyota Aygo's behave in this manner or is it just down to bad luck that I have one that was incorrectly setup during manufacture.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Your options would be:

a) return to your dealer, explain that the car wasn't test driven during the service as no footage of the test drive was recorded by the Dashcam, and request that a technician accompanies you on a test drive to see whether the issue manifests itself during the test drive.

b) take it to another dealer

c) raise the issue with Toyota GB.

[Heidfirst]

are you sure that the Dashcam was running during the whole time that it was with the dealer? I believe that quite a lot of garages now disconnect/switch off dashcams whilst they are with them ... Mileometer readings before/after should also have told you if the car was driven.

[Asus08]

58 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

are you sure that the dashcam was running during the whole time that it was with the dealer? I believe that quite a lot of garages now disconnect/switch off dashcams whilst they are with them ... Mileometer readings before/after should also have told you if the car was driven.

The dash cam was running each & everytime that the ignition was switched on & every movement of the vehicle matches up from when I dropped it off until I collected it. It clearly shows the vehicle moving from where I left it into the workshop & then leaving the workshop & parking up in the bay from where I collected it. When I challenged them the following day they backed down & admitted that they hadn't given it a test drive.

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 10/9/2018 at 3:21 PM, Asus08 said:

Only later when I had a look at the dashcam footage that had been running in the car did I discover that the car had never left the dealership for any test drive. I'm stuck now as I no longer trust the dealership & don't know who to get to check out the issue.

 

16 minutes ago, Asus08 said:

The dash cam was running each & everytime that the ignition was switched on & every movement of the vehicle matches up from when I dropped it off until I collected it. It clearly shows the vehicle moving from where I left it into the workshop & then leaving the workshop & parking up in the bay from where I collected it. When I challenged them the following day they backed down & admitted that they hadn't given it a test drive.

Your post of the 9th October made no mention of the fact you did query with the dealer whether the test drive had been done.  

So do we now have the full story or are there some further details which have been left out?

[Asus08]

3 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

 

Your post of the 9th October made no mention of the fact you did query with the dealer whether the test drive had been done.  

So do we now have the full story or are there some further details which have been left out?

The point of this thread was only to gain any information from other Aygo owners regarding the handling issues that I am experiencing.

It was not a witch hunt against my Toyota dealer as that is a separate issue & is completely irrelevant to this thread. Heidfirst raised the question regarding the operation of the Dashcam & I merely confirmed that the Dashcam was running & this was substantiated the following day by the dealership.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I haven't suggested that it is a witch hunt against your dealer.

However one would expect to have the full story behind the issue, and this includes the fact that you had already raised the issue with the dealer of the test drive not being done, and the dealer admitting it hadn't, rather than you misleading the forum in thinking that the dealer had been dishonest in not finally admitting the test drive hadn't been done..

The only person who appears to want to discredit the dealer appears to be you.

Again, are there any other details which have been missed?

Aside from that your best option seems to be to contact the dealer again, and arrange for a technician to accompany you on a drive to see whether you both experience the issue.