[Paddy]

Hi all,

Back again for another infrequent uninformed car owner update. Know some of you enjoy diagnosing / knowing the going rate for various services, so here we go.

Hit a pothole a few weeks back and my steering wheel made a bit of a clunk, momentarily was quite the scare. Since then it's just had some additional play and knocks back and forth about an inch left and right with no resistance when driving straight.

Normal mobile mechanic looked it over, knew it was likely the bush / coupler in the steering motor but hadn't replaced it before so recommended to take it to the dealer. Having been warned, and read online, that they may try and just replace the entire thing for a great cost (which was kind of the case in my pervious experience with the ignition coil immobiliser issue) I took it in to a shop that had the problem detailed in a blog on their website.

Attached was the state of mine. Cost was $400. Of course, a bit unfortunate to have suffered both of these common issues (steering knock and the immobiliser coil fault) within 12 months of owning the car but that's where the car was in it's life cycle I suppose - both occurring at around 135,000km.

Until next time!

[CraigB]

A little on the pricey side, I've seen several posts on the forum before mentioning several shops in the eastern states will do the coupling for around $250, which is identical to what JAX tyres here in Perth had quoted me if I ever needed it done.

[cturem]

Hey there. What shop did you end up going to for the repair?
I've had steering issues for a while now. Initially the dealer said it was the bush coupler in the steering column. I brought it in to get that fixed, then they said that wasn't it and that it was the steering column. So they allegedly replaced the lower part of the steering column. Surprise surprise, that wasn't it and they wanted to charge an arm and a leg to replace the upper part of the steering column with a secondhand part. No thanks. I didn't do enough research beforehand and made the mistake of trusting the dealer.
It's been quite a while now and the steering is worse, so I really need to get it checked out and could use a recommendation of a reputable repair shop in Sydney, preferably in the south/southwest.
Thanks!