Hi,
I have a 2006 FEH (front wheel drive) that has a little over 80k km (50k miles). Great car and so far no problems. Have been taking it into a non-dealership local garage since the warranty ended for regular oil change and maintenance checks. Last check-up the mechanic said that both the control arm bushings and the inner tie rod ends needed to be replaced. Does this sound normal at my mileage? I haven't noticed any problems with strange noises or steering issues. Would a mechanic notice something wrong during a routine inspection without driving my vehicle? I realize that replacing a worn part before something worse happens is a good policy and am ok with having this work done, but it's not cheap and I'm curious if other owners had these parts replaced at this mileage? The garage quoted about $600 for the parts and labour, plus an alignment.
Cheers,
Mark

 

I always ask to see it and you can tell when there's slop in the tie rod ends. If you have the tools you can do the work yourself and just pay for the alignment. A repair manual is a good thing to have also along with a youtube video. If its something I'm not familiar with a second or third opinion also helps.

 

I don't believe anything stealerships or shops tell me without seeing proof of the issue. Most of my non-mechanically inclined friends have been taken for these types of 'repairs' when in fact nothing was done or replaced because there was nothing wrong in the first place. Barring some kind of defect, unless your vehicle has seen some hard use or accident I would say that mileage is low for that type of problem.

 

Mine has 67,000 miles and I have replaced both front wheel bearings, all tie rod ends, both ABS tone rings have failed and replaced the sway bar links four times. If you have a clunk problem, I'd look at the sway bar links first.