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Hi all. My mother in Law has recently bought a frontera but it seems to have a problem. When driving on straights it feels like it is sliding about, like the back end is sliding on ice and the steering feels very odd, she says it feels like it will not make it round corners as the steering feels like it is not happening! Sometimes though it is all fine. She has taken it back to the garage where she bought it and they say it is ok and that they are just a bit wobbly due to being a 4x4! I have sat in the back as a passenger and it felt very odd and unsafe, very slidey indeed! Any ideas folks, oh its a 1997 if that changes anything. Cheers
I had a very similar problem in my car. It turned out it was as simple as needing some more air in the back tyres. Worth a try at least
Tyre pressures is the 1st check then you looking for worn out bushes and broken trailing arms ball joints etc. Get underneath and have some one bounce and rock the suspension and worn or broken parts should quickly become apparent.
Garage that sold it in claiming there's nothing wrong with it shocker!
Get a basic check on the suspension to check for wear (or put it through an MOT if you want to prove its not roadworthy and try to get a refund/repair)
If everything comes back fine, get a 4 wheel alignment done. I had it done on my Mondeo as the back of the car was very unsettled, it would skip sideways on bumps and manholes and would wander badly when crossing the camber of the road to overtake. It also had unusual tyre wear on the rear tyres. I paid around £60 for four wheel alignment including the adjustments, as suspected the rear camber was wrong and it drove like a new car immediately after leaving the garage. Not all cars have adjustable rear geometry but its common on larger cars and 4x4's. 4 wheel alignment is head and shoulders above a simple tracking check which wouldn't pick up any problems other than the front wheels pointing in different directions.
http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/ (prices vary)
Tell them you are not happy and get them to agree *in writing* to pay for any repairs that your own independent test finds faults with. Of course if it is okay as they say, then it won't cost them a penny.
Many years ago I had a long-wheelbase Frontera as a company car.
It wore its tyres very quickly, and the next set.
I got the garage to check the tracking and it turned out that the chassis was actually out-of-line, from new...
I must admit I drove one once and it was the most hateful car I have ever driven. It was quite new, someone from work's company car, but it terrified me. It's handling was worse than my brother's ancient LWB ex-army hacked up Landy.
suspension and all linkage + tracking it should go in a staright line whether a 4x4 or not
Do an online search for isuzu rodeo (same vehicle) in the states, this should turn up the problems they had out there, down to tyre choice.
They had major lawsuits against GM as some were in major collisions and were also known to roll over.
Don't want to worry you at all!
I would check its not stuck in four wheel drive ! Thats not unknown on frontera , oh and I work for a vauxhall garage so we see a few of these. Also rear shocks worn out make them very undriveable too.
Cheers for all your answers, she is going to take it back to the garage when they open but we will have a look at some of the things suggested first.