V40 being bossed around

[James77]

HI,
For some years now our V40 had exhibited odd behaviour that is difficult to explain. It's like the steering wheel gets caught in ruts in the road and steering can't cope can't cope so feels like the car wants to continue on it's course and you need to bring it back rather than it skipping over the road imperfections. It's an odd sensation and MoT/Service sees not fault but I've never driven any car like it. I'm sure it wasn't like that in 2016 when we bought new. Could it be tyres (Toyo Proxes currently) tread caught in grooves in the road, the chassis, or R Design setup?
Just a very odd sensation.

[Simmy]

this is called tramlining it can happen on the nearside lane on the motorways its caused by the ruts caused by hgv s v70 suffer with this problem a lot but it can happen anywhere the road surface is bad.

[Thassos]

In my experience, some tyres (front) when they get close to their wear limit can also do this, if say one wheel is over painted lines on the road you get the car weaving slightly without any steering wheel movement.. might be the brand of tyres youre using, but if they have good tread say 5-6mm plus then less likely. the other thing that can do this is worn wishbone bushes on the front, depending on your mot tester its a bit subjective as done with a pry bar, so is a comparison with how a low mileage car would be.. not sure on the design of the front suspension on the v40 though.. what size/profile are the tyres?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by James77

HI,
For some years now our V40 had exhibited odd behaviour that is difficult to explain. It's like the steering wheel gets caught in ruts in the road and steering can't cope can't cope so feels like the car wants to continue on it's course and you need to bring it back rather than it skipping over the road imperfections. It's an odd sensation and MoT/Service sees not fault but I've never driven any car like it. I'm sure it wasn't like that in 2016 when we bought new. Could it be tyres (Toyo Proxes currently) tread caught in grooves in the road, the chassis, or R Design setup?
Just a very odd sensation.

It could be tramlining, as simmy mentioned.

You could have worn control arm bushings, which can also cause a wayward feeling whilst driving. Or, you may need an alignment. Some tyres can cause this problem, especially if low on tread.