When do you call it a “junker”? How many repairs?

[Chris]

Alright guys, so I’m back again (never fixed the original complaint, which I won’t really get into) but I have an 05 Neon SXT (original owner) with 78k miles on it and I’m at a crossroads. I haven’t ever had to repair anything major from 2005 until this year outside of normal W/T (literally just brakes, tires, rotors) and by the end of last year I was having some “major” issues with it.

Basically thumps on / “feeling” the bumps through the steering wheel/foot pedals and somewhat loose steering (somewhat fixed by alignment) but the bluebook on the car last I checked about a year or two ago was something like 3500 in “mint” condition, private sale. So far trying to (granted a chunk of it was for labor) chase down the problem I’ve done 3 out of the 4 motor mounts (helped somewhat), both full control arms (bushings were bad, figured just do the whole thing as it comes with new BJ’s and it was only an extra $50), end-link bushings, both bearings (only paid for one side) and in all reality it hasn’t really improved and just recently started making a “creak” when getting out of the vehicle (most times)/turning of the steering wheel (SOMETIMES) which I’m somewhat narrowing down to struts at this point.

So the dilemma I’m facing, I know that (granted the cost involved lol) once it’s “fixed” it’ll be just as good as I’m used to but I’m already something like $1400 into it this year and by doing what’s most likely going to be both struts ($200/piece as I’d just go the ready-strut approach) and driver-side axle (boot isn’t actually torn but it’s separated from the axle-shaft clip, no clicking yet thankfully). I just don’t know if it’s really worth it to throw an extra $600 into it, adding an additional $80 for an alignment after the struts…

Oh, and as far as the “creaking” which I can easily reproduce/still present feeling of bumps through the wheel/pedals 3 shops all said “we can’t find anything wrong with it” and one of them concluded with “at this point, it’s a 2005 neon… all that’s left is really throwing parts at it to see what it is”…

Thoughts on the whole situation?

Topic

[Its me]

Without getting too philosophical, the value of the car is the value to you…

Allow me to explain… If you have a paid off 2005 car, and that is your basic transportation, and you have no problem driving it (not embarrassed) then you have no car payment… thus if you were to throw another $900 at this and it drives you for a year, then your car only cost you another $150 a month (think of it as a car payment) to get you you where you need to go…

If you buy a newer or new car and have a payment of $300 a month then over that same year,you have spent $3600 for the same service (getting you to and from)…

This is on the mind of most of us budget conscious drivers…. Something to think about…

Personally, from what you have said, I would move the rear wheels to the front and see if anything changes… could be a wheel/tire issue..

-Karl

[Chris]

So, just to keep this (and my overall threads this year) updated I did the Strut and Top Mount (reused the old coil springs since no-one had 2 springs or 2 quick struts in stock around me) and all vibration/feeling in pedals seems to be gone when hitting bumps in the ~20 miles I’ve drove the car around.

The only (for the love of all that is sacred I hope it’s something stupid and not a balljoint) thing left is a creak (rusty door hinge sound) when getting out of the car almost all the time, turning the wheel “slightly” (as in millimeters, almost as if you’re forcing it to make the noise really) and coming to a stop/accelerating from a stop.

I’m trying to think what all is technically “shifting/moving” when doing all of those 3 things considering it’s the exact same noise with all 3 of those things… especially what all is “moving” when getting out of a car?

I won’t list what’s been replaced, but rather what hasn’t been replaced on BOTH sides so far in the past 3 months:

power steering rack
coil springs (as I said, reused them no signs of cracking or any sort of wear)
the actual bushings that hold the sway bar to the frame.

Everything and anything else related to steering or suspension has been replaced so far in the past 3 months. I am taking it to a shop today just to get a “professionals” opinion on the creaking but I don’t expect much as 4 shops didn’t figure out the vibration/feeling in pedals over bumps was because of the struts but we’ll see.

[EricTheCarGuy]

As Toyota Karl pointed out, it’s really up to you what you want to invest, or even IF you want to invest in that vehicle.

Your noise sounds very much like a ball joint issue. In fact, I cover it in this article.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

As for feeling the bumps, you might check your tire pressure. If it’s too high, you’ll feel every bump in the road.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Author]

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