For the past year, I've been dealing with an annoying noise coming from the front passenger side of the car. When turning up or downhill or driving over uneven surfaces and holes, the right passenger side pops. I can't tell exactly where it's coming from, but it sounds almost like the windshield, dash area, or the outside right of the car.

I took the car to a Honda dealer and they said that my right control arm bushing is weather cracked and the left is torn. They claim my front struts are also leaking(?????). They want me to pay for new struts and new bushings, and it's going to cost well over 900 dollars. I'm scheduled to get the parts put on tomorrow. Also, ever since I got my car back from them after they gave me the estimate, the noises have gotten much worse and my fuel economy has gone WAAAY down.

Today I went to a custom muffler and brake shop to get an estimate on an aftermarket exhaust. I had them give me an estimate on the same work Honda was going to do just out of curiosity, but the tech stated that there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my struts and they don't look like they are leaking anything. They did not give at all when he jostled the car.

Now I'm confused. I don't know what to believe. Is the Honda place trying to screw me out of money? I need my car fixed by this weekend because I'm driving to California for a wedding. I do not want to drive through mountains with this noise.

 

From the sound of it, I'd say the dealer is yanking your chain. Don't know how many miles are on your car but I find it hard to believe that an '02 would have worn out bushings. Hell the bushings on my '95 with around 180k miles were perfectly fine before I upgraded them, same with my '99 DD with 135k miles.. It's normal to have some tiny "spider" cracks in your bushings. If your struts were leaking bad enough that they could tell, chances are you would notice it when driving. That side with the bad strut would be very bouncy when going of bumps. You could do the "bounce test" yourself to see if it's ok or not. Just push down hard on each corner of the car and let go. If the car bounces more than 2-3 times, your struts are likely to be worn out.

My best guess at what could be happening is possibly a bad ball joint somewhere, or maybe even a torn axel boot.