A creak-free, clunk-free economy car at 140k miles: A fool's pursuit?

Mitchell wrote: Am I sounding dramatic?

Sorry if I sounded preachy...been "discussing" with the niece about her car choices and her script is usually a rant about how her car is falling apart and not worth fixing. I also have a sore spot when someone has an expensive list of parts to fix a problem without knowing what the problem is! I'm a check the cheap stuff first kinda guy. Just a couple of my hot buttons.

Later posts answer my concerns.

I did have an experience where the replacement ball joints had a smaller taper bolt into the knuckle. Part numbers were correct but didn't address a change from early to later models...one size fits all! Had to take all my ball joints and a micrometer with me to the parts store to get the right size. No way were my pinch bolts going to hold tight. They felt tight when I wiggled them but driving slapped them around noisily.

Again I apologize for attacking your motives and talent. I was responding as I would to a drama queen,hidden agenda, dumbass because I have had a lot of practice lately.

Bruce

No worries. If I had a second vehicle and/or a garage, it wouldn't be an issue. Rather than posting, I would just be crawling under the car. As it stands, my nearest workspace is a pay by the hour DIY garage 30 miles away, so planning for the worst is an easy path to fall into.

Project Finesse parts acquisition is complete: f/r struts and springs, ball joints, end links, tie rod ends, hardware, and exhaust gaskets (hey, they were cheap and I'll already be under the car).

Just need to schedule garage time and an alignment for next week. Hoping that this will all take care of the creaking and occasional shimmying in straights that I have experienced.

Valve cover gasket and plugs were changed this weekend. No other starting issues since last week, and one less thing to worry about.

2011 Elantra has 200K, no clunks at all, so far I have replaced the rear shocks..

DrBoost wrote: That's one of the reasons I chose a 99 Golf TDI for my economy commuter. It currently has 275,000 miles and no creaks, clunks, or groans. The car is not perfect, but it still feels very tight, it's quiet, and returns 53 mpg on the highway. I won't even start to talk about the horrible, terrible, horrendously poorly engineered Focus I had.

Have to Echo this my base model 2000 Jetta TDI was super quiet no clunks no rattles and cruised down the road in 5th at 80+ with no issue. Well I did have one clunk once it was a bushing on a swaybar but was only on speed bumps and was an easy fix

Also I doubt you are in Socal/San Diego but if you needed some garage space to do this you could use mine.

clutchsmoke wrote: My '97 Civic would be random noise free if the previous owner hadn't removed the entire interior behind the front seats "because racecar". I saved it from it's ricer status. Sometimes I wish I hadn't because he is a complete and utter hack at repairing anything.

Any Honda's newer than 1996 are incredibly rattle/clunk free.

Even my 1993 sedan was amazing considering it was rusting apart and was worth $300. By far an amazing car for a person who need cheap transportation and the ability to haul 4 comfortably!

I've got one annoying clunk on my 2000 integra with 135k on it. Probably my fault as I've replaced all the suspension components, just can't locate that clunk as it is difficult to replicate and only happens at under 30mph speeds.

My 2012 Mazda 3 has about 85k on it right now, and it's starting to have a few minor issues.

There's something up with the front end, because I'm getting a bad vibration from the front of the car at speed and especially under braking. I'm suspecting the brakes to be the culprit, because my last WRX did the same exact thing with the same brand of brakes (Centric rotors and Stop Tech pads). They are also starting to squeal. They have only 20k on them.

I have been putting off replacing a motor mount that has been creaking and squeaking for about 10k miles now, but that will get replaced this spring. The rest of the suspension seems to be tight and clunk free.

Otherwise it's been a good car, but in this class, you can't expect cars to be bank vault quiet. Before all that crap happened, it was quieter going down the road than my WRX's were.

HiTempguy wrote:

clutchsmoke wrote: My '97 Civic would be random noise free if the previous owner hadn't removed the entire interior behind the front seats "because racecar". I saved it from it's ricer status. Sometimes I wish I hadn't because he is a complete and utter hack at repairing anything.

Any Honda's newer than 1996 are incredibly rattle/clunk free. Even my 1993 sedan was amazing considering it was rusting apart and was worth $300. By far an amazing car for a person who need cheap transportation and the ability to haul 4 comfortably!

My old EG hatchbacks were rattletraps, but my 207k mile 2000 Civic DX sedan is still pretty quiet. It was super solid at 140k. The suspension is starting to wear out (Koni STR/Tein S.Tech with 60k on it), but it's still livable. Replacing the car in the next 6 months, though.

Jaynen wrote:

DrBoost wrote: That's one of the reasons I chose a 99 Golf TDI for my economy commuter. It currently has 275,000 miles and no creaks, clunks, or groans. The car is not perfect, but it still feels very tight, it's quiet, and returns 53 mpg on the highway. I won't even start to talk about the horrible, terrible, horrendously poorly engineered Focus I had.

Also I doubt you are in Socal/San Diego but if you needed some garage space to do this you could use mine.

I'm in Los Angeles... Say, what's your favorite beverage? Will trade beer/Scotch for garage time.

3/4 done with the job. Removing the rear springs defeated two spring compressors and made me question life, the universe, and everything. It required disconnecting the sway bar, disconnecting the LCA, and a lot of brute hammering.

When I got to the front end, the ball joints were just loose enough to move within the LCA. These are aftermarket lower arms that have bolt-in ball joints rather than riveted like OEM Ford. The only way to feel this was to have the LCA disconnected from the knuckle; otherwise, the other bits wouldn't allow the wheel assembly to move by hand or hammer. Here's hoping that the clunk is behind me.

Woo! Back on the road, and nary a clunk to be heard. Rides so much better, too. Looks like a monster truck compared to it ride height with the outgoing struts.

I always celebrate a finished job with food, and today calls for Thai.

Mitchell wrote: Woo! Back on the road, and nary a clunk to be heard. Rides so much better, too. Looks like a monster truck compared to it ride height with the outgoing struts. I always celebrate a finished job with food, and today calls for Thai.

Excellent news! Glad you were successful, and it sounds like you are having fun driving the car again!

I'm about to take it on a celebratory cruise of Mullholland drive. The road is prett rough, so I look forward to running its length without sounding like the car is falling apart.