# Motor Mount on car from auction **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [August 25, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645 "2007-08-25T17:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HrtBrknnStpid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7c8e57/32.png) [@HrtBrknnStpid](https://community.cartalk.com/u/HrtBrknnStpid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645/1 "2007-08-25T17:41:14Z")
Hello people I have a question about motor mounts. I just bought a car(2002 Nissan Altima with 155000 miles on it) from a dealer auction a couple of days ago and I noticed when I changed gears (is that the correct terminology for an automatic?)after like a second there is a thump in near the right front wheel. I took the car to a mechanic and he said the motor mounts were worn and they needed replacing. Another person I talked to said that a car that age shouldn’t have motor mount problems unless it’d been in an accident (The carfax report does not indicate any accidents but it was owned by a dealer for an awful long time). So is it true that my car might have been in an accident thereby causing the motor mounts to be messed up OR is it not a motor mount problem at all and something more serious. P.S: If there was a problem with the car that was found out by the auction house’s arbitration team, does the dealer who purchased it get a discount? ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645/2 "2007-08-26T03:30:48Z")
Since no one has responded, I will add that CarFax should not get all of your faith. It is frequently wrong. Your friend is also wrong about a bad mount only being caused by an accident. A mount can go bad for any number of reasons; hard driving, environmental (road salt/chemicals,), etc. At that mileage it’s entirely possible a mount could have given away just for the heck of it. I have no idea if the mount is the problem or not. You might set the park brake, place the trans in DRIVE, and rev the engine a few times. If you see what appears to be an abnormally large amount of movement in the engine then it’s possible a mount is bad. Often other mounts will fail if one bad one is ignored. Hope some of that helps. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645/3 "2007-08-26T03:31:48Z")
I can’t answer your question about the auction house as there are so many of them and policies vary so much. ---
**Author:** ![shadetree123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@shadetree123](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadetree123)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645/4 "2007-08-26T16:19:18Z")
Motor mounts usually involve metal plates bonded to a block of rubber. You said this car sat for a long time at the dealer. Probably outside. You can expect all rubber items to fade from weather. I recently bought a 92 taurus with 32k miles on it from my grandmother’s estate. It was her last lifeline to the freedom she had enjoyed. She would not allow it to be sold, so it sat for a long time. We started it periodically and took care of the engine. But with regular driveing now, all the hoses, belts, CV axles and MOTOR MOUNTS have had to be replaced. But now it drives like a new car. ---
**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/motor-mount-on-car-from-auction/3645/5 "2007-08-26T18:11:35Z")
There may be a worn CV-joint on the right side. Motor and tranny mounts can wear from motion. Most get dried up bushings, get hard and start to fall apart but they shouldn’t in 5 years. Maybe in a real arid climate they might.