I bought this car brand new in July, 2010

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
2010 JEEP PATRIOT
24,600 MILES

I bought this car brand new in July, 2010. In 2011 the car started to make a creaking noise every time the car would bounce. I had it checked by my dealer 3 times and they said it was either the struts or the bushings, so they replaced the struts in April 2012. The noise wasn't as apparent after the struts were fixed, but it was occasionally still there. Over the past Winter I didn't hear it a lot, but now that the warm weather has arrived the car sounds like an old creaking jalopy. If it turns out to be the bushings is that a major thing to fix and how expensive?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,871 POSTS

Struts do not squeak. They will clunk rapidly when they get really worn.

There is a tool you might be able to borrow or rent from an auto parts store that borrows them called the "Chassis Ear". It is a set of six microphones, a switch box, and headphones. You clip the microphones to suspect points, then drive around while listening with the headphones. You can move the microphones around to zero in on the source of the noise. Be aware that many mechanics have never seen or even heard of this tool. Suspension and alignment mechanics use it to find rattles, squeaks, and other noises.