I just bought an '03 Montero Sport in July that had 30k on it, since then I have put 4k miles on it and it's been to the shop three times. I don't want to sound **** but when you spend $20 grand on a rig that is only two and a half years old it's still fairly new. The first time I took it in was for the front end vibrating at highway speeds and for a humm that came from the front which wasn't the engine or road noise (I had the tires rotated and balanced before taking it in), the response from the dealer was that the vibration was normal and that I would have to bring it back the following week because they couldn't find the humm but it was something that the mechanic wanted to look into. The next week I dropped the car off for the second time and around 5pm I call them to find out what is going on and they say that evrything is fine, the humm is normal. The last time I took it in was for a clanking noise in the front end at low speeds when the steering wheel was turned or the brakes were applied, the dealership had it for two days and said that they had a Mits. Rep. look into it, all of this BS to have them tell me that with the amount of miles it has the suspension is a little worn and the noise is normal. I do most of the work on my cars so I know a little about them but this is just confusing. I have a '94 Galant that has 180k on it and the suspenion didn't make any noise until just recently, I can't believe that a car that only has 34k on it and is fairly new has more problems that are normal than my '94 Galant which I paid a hell of alot less for.

Has anyone else had any of these problems and if so did you get them resolved?

Sorry about the griping but I'm a little frustrated.

Thanks,
nick

 

You should be comparing your truck to another Montero Sport truck instead of a car. Regardless of the mileage of each of your vehicles- they will never be comparable to one another in ride quality, etc. My suggestion is to bring your truck back to the dealership and spend some time roadtesting with them to help them confirm the complaint. If they feel that it is normal- have them take you on a spin with another model that's on the lot just to demonstate. At least then you will get some satisfaction with their findings. If you can't get your vehicle to act up in a timely manner in front of the service tech, don't expect them to spend too much time hunting for it.

Joel, CA

 

Joel, This isn't about the dealership not finding the problem and fixing it, it's about the fact that they have found an issue with the vehicle and had me leave the car after hearing the noise because they thought it was a problem and for them to have my car for 8hrs to tell me that it is normal.

Here is a better comparison for you; I also have a 1987 Toyota 4Runner that has a 4" lift with 33" tires which are taller and wider than that on the Montero and the 4Runner doesn't vibrate at highway speeds and I can turn the steering wheel all day long and it doesn't make any noise, because it shouldn't, becasue that is normal.

Nick

 

Vibration at highway speeds is almost always tires out of balance. Surprisingly, a lot of shops screw up balancing. Your car will be more sensitive to vibration if the suspension is worn, but yours should not be worn with such low mileage. Have you lubed all the fittings? There are a lot of fittings to lube in the suspension. If that does not work, go to another front end shop. The dealer clearly does not want to deal with you.

 

There are also some tires that will just wobble at higher speeds no matter how many times you balance them. I have heard this about toyo open country A/T's. Are they factory or aftermarket tires? Is there uniform wear on your tires? Tires will give you a lot of info just by looking at treadwear.