Help needed getting frustrated!!!

[sam]

So I need a bit of help from everyone here.

I brought a 2003 (4th Gen) 3litre B4 sedan in November last year from a large well know car dealer in lower hut.

All was good for the first 2 weeks then it started making a clunking noise coming from the front end when coming to a stop and on slow take offs. Took the car back to said dealer and wanted the noise fixed. A day in the shop they said they couldn’t hear anything. Ok whatever then. ???

Noise was slowly getting worse so took it back in to get looked at again. They still couldn’t hear any noise coming from the front end. But they said the check everything in the front end tightened everything up lubed everything that needed lubing and gave the car back. The noise was gone for less than a week and then it came back

Took it back a before xmas to get fixed and they finally heard the noise after they had 4 guys in the car and one got out of the back and they heard it. They narrowed it down to the Top Hats on the Bilstein shock. After pulling them out the found that previous owner had had the bushings changed in the shocks and when the previous mechanic did it he didn’t align the Top Hats right and just bolted everything back together which ballsed it all up.

So they tried getting replacements but no luck before xmas so machined temp Top Hats up and sent me one my way. All was good and fine felt like a new car. But of course only being a temp fix the noise came back. So the get new Bilstein Top Hats sent over from Japan (three weeks later) the news ones go in. No noise for a week then on a trip back to Napier low and behold the noise comes back with avengeance and now the steering shakes when breaking from high speed.

Does anybody have any other ideas of what could be wrong/making the noise.

Cheers in advance for any help.

[ADIKT]

Take your car to a 'subaru specialist' and get a third party mechanic to check it over. Once you have obtained their opinion in to what is wrong. Take your car back to car yard and tell them wassup

[ODB]

question, was your car accident damaged on import from japan?

Sounds like something is slightly off with geometry possibly. My mrs old familia had the same feeling when pulling up from high speed and I found out that the partner of a friend had imported the car damaged and not disclosed this upon sale.

Was gonna cost us about $1500 on a trade in until I told him if I had to pay $1500 extra I might aswell pay a few hundred in court costs and give him a hiding too.

He paid up and said he was unaware of damage to car when imported - TUI!

[neodowd]

Steering wheel shaking is warped brake discs you can get these machined. Maybe the clunking is the brake pads knocking around in the caliper they sometimes can have a loose fit and knock around.

[Jakee]

If the temporary top hats solved the problem for a while, then that might indicate the problem is the top hats or something in the suspension. Did they replace both or just one side?

[sam]

I am hoping that it wasn’t an accident damaged vehicle. I can’t find anything that says it is so might be lucky on that front.

They checked all the brakes during a service a when it went into get the new Top hats put on and they said they were all sweet.

They replaced both Top hats last time it was in their work shop. It went back in yesterday and they said they heard a noise in the actual shocks so they have sent the shocks up to Aucks to be checked, rebuilt, replaced whatever the place they sent them to (AutoLign I think) recommended. Now I just have to wait 2-3 weeks till I can dive my car again!! Hopefully fixed.