2003 sxt 76,000 miles
dealer stated that the front end bushings need replaced. 650 dollars.
took car to another mech, and he stated front end was fine, so i had him do
the rear passenger strut ,or what ever it is called, it needed replaced as it "clunked" over bumps in road.
after i returned to pick up car, mech. stated that the front end did in deed need its bushings replaced.
he stated that it is a design flaw in that the bushings are now verticle vs. horizontal as in previous neons?
he stated GM is having the same probs.
i am curious as to any info you all could give me regarding this.
it was about 4 months ago that i was told the above info.
the car's steering does not wander at all.
tks in advance
R

 

Could be they are starting to wear out. If you are gonna replace them might be time to go urethane. Summit sell Rrothane kits for the control arms. Not so much a design flaw as a design compromise. Trying to make it soft and cushy for your woman's tushy.

 

follow up question.

what symptoms does one look/listen for, when
bushings are worn out? also, what damage can be
done to the car by running on worn out bushings?
tks again
r

 

this is a common thing that happens with all late model neons and pt cruisers, i do them all the time at work, i would suggest getting uerethane bushings from energy suspension if you don't want to have to keep doing them all the time.

also...the way you can tell if they are bad is by putting the car on a lift, or jacking your car up so the control arm can hang all the way down and look at the rear bushing(this is the one that goes out) iff the rubber portion is hanging out of the metal sleeve that is pressed into the control arm, then it is bad....hope this has helped to shed some light on the subject