I have a 2002 Honda Civic EX with 85k miles. I recently had my tires rotated and when I received my car back I noticed it began to shake when I accelerate from 40-50pmh. Once I reach 50mph or so it stops. When I drive under 40 it is fine. I feel the shaking in the steering wheel. It is subtle, but something I have never experienced on this car. It just doesn’t feel right.
When I called they said it was bc I didn’t rotate my tires frequently enough. My tires are just over a year old and are rotated when I got the Honda oil change every 5k miles.
They said they rotated the tires back and it is still making the noise & it is the struts. They had told me it needed new struts when I got the oil change.
What is wrong? Could I really need new struts? This is a Honda. Seriously.
BTW-This is national chain repair shop and I feel they are notorious for up-sells. I am seeking a 2nd opinion, but am just annoyed.
Since your Civic is nearly 10 years old I would recommend that you find an independent mechanic and have the struts checked out. Another possibilty is that some weights may have been knocked off during the tire rotation. A second opinion is warranted here and I see you already know that. Avoid the chain repair shops as well as the chain oil changes places in the future. Horror stories from those places are well documented.
Have your tires rebalanced and inspected for damage, defect or uneven wear at a tire shop…
“What is wrong? Could I really need new struts? This is a Honda. Seriously.”
That’s funny…
“What is wrong? Could I really need new struts? This is a Honda. Seriously.”
Oh right - there’s that old “Honda magic dust” - they probably forgot to sprinkle it on yours at the factory. Or maybe yours came off the line during that brief fairy strike of ought-1. There were chronic magic dust shortages at the time.
Sorry - its just that people have these really weird ideas about the “Honda mystique.” Its a complex machine with lots of different parts. Its 8 years old and has driven the equivalent of around the globe a few times. The Honda name does not mean that you won’t have to do major maintenance and repairs - just like with every other car. But if it makes you feel any better I got almost 250K out of a pair of struts on a Ford Escort. Maybe you should have bought a Ford instead.
Anyway, your real problem is probably being at this tire chain. Not only will they upsell but long ago I was actually given reason to believe that one near me was actually engaging in some mild sabotage - I kid you not.
Find a local, independent front end/alignment shop and take it to them. There are a lot of things that can give this kind of symptom and you need someone competent at a place you can trust.
Offhand, sounds like a tire balance problem but your post is a bit hazy. An out of balance tire rotated to the front will be more noticeable and can cause a steering wheel shake.
The hazy part to me is your referring to this shake and then refer to a problem as noise.
Shake can be a tire balance problem, noise could be struts so you might clarify that.
It’s also possible for an aged strut to fail or weaken if the vehicle was raised on a lift that allowed the wheels to hang and extend the suspension to the maximum. And no, this does not mean “they ruined your struts”. Age caused the inevitable.
You’re also under the impression that because your car has a Honda badge on the tail end that it’s impervious to mechanical failure. Sorry, they break just like everything else and if the struts are bad that’s not a sign of a bad car; they’re a normal wear and tear item. In this case, 85k miles and 9 years could very well mean they were due.