Thread: Front end noise

We have a '07 Limited and really like the car. It only has 27K miles and we bought it new. I've been noticing a slight ''clunking'' coming from the left front wheel area when I drive slowly over rough pavement. I took it to the dealer and the service tech asked me to ride with him since he couldn't hear it. So we went for a ride through the dealerships parking lots and I told him to slow down and he heard it then. So back into the service area it went and a little while later the service manager came out and said they replaced a upper ball joint, but the noise was still there. They put my old ball joint back in and said they didn't have a replacement strut which they now think that's where the noise is occuring. So now I have to take it back on the 15th to get that replaced.
When I brought the car home I noticed there was dirt on the A pillar cloth and the sun visor also. The tech was wearing a hat and I guess it was dirty and that dirt ended up inside our car.
Am I being overly picky about this dirt thing ? I'm not saying anything to the service advisor since they're a good dealership. I also noticed the tech didn't cover the seat when he drove the car either.

Regarding the noise, I finally had my front struts replaced at about 45k miles (2006 Azera bot new) and when the noise came back about 8k miles later, they replaced a "strut insulator" and that pretty much cleared it up.

Re: the dirt, I'd casually mention it to the service adviser in the hope that they'd make a general announcement to the maintenance staff to be more careful. Then I'd attack it with some Formula 409 if it was obvious enough. I have a full detail done on my car annually, runs me about $200, takes about 5 hours and the guy runs through Q-Tips to get the small stuff. It keeps the car looking good and helps me maintain my practice of keeping a car "forever."

Also note the thread, "Azera Suspension Noise"...

http://www.azeraforum.com/thread-694.html

Thanks for the follow-up and the link to the other thread. I should have done a search before posting. At least I know now it's a common problem. Wonder why the service advisor didn't know this when I brought it in ?

There was a 2006 model year Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) which may also have applied to the 2007:

TSB -07-50-007

I had a list of several TSB's and a link to a passworded service site, but alas, my old computer crashed and I hadn't backed up this data...

Here's a site for the 2007 Azera Limited, listing at least some TSBs:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/tsb.html?year=2007&make=&model=&styleId=100800758& engCode=6VNAG3.8&transCode=AUTOMATIC&mileage=27000 &zip=34275&type=tsb

I made another appointment and took the car in today to get the strut replaced. In the morning before I left I pushed down on the left front fender and heard the clunking so I knew it was in the suspension somewhere. I got to the dealership at 9:00 and was out by 12:00. When I got home I tried the pushing on the fender and the noise was gone. The service advisor said that they checked the alignment and everything was good.
We were thinking about getting a new Azera since this one has some good value with just 28K miles, but looking at the 2011 models, they're the same as what we have. So since the car has the good warranty package, we're going to keep it.

I keep a car "forever" (new 1977 Accord expired at 20 years with 328,000 miles, 1-year-old used 1990 Accord with 28,000 miles sold in 2008 with 245,000 miles) and I have high hopes for a like experience with this 2006 bot-new Azera, although being retired, I put barely 13,000 miles on in a given year, so maybe another 12-14 years?...

The Azera is my wifes car and she loves it. She is still working and I'm retired and have her hand-me-down '02 Camry SE. We bought the Camry new and it has 62K on it and is still like a new car. It has the stiffer suspension which I like and I plan on keeping as long as I can. When she decided to buy a new car, another Camry was her choice until we tried talking to the sales people. At that time the Camry was riding the crest of popularity and the dealers didn't want to deal at all. Her sister bought a Santa Fe and liked it and that's what my wife thought she would buy until she saw the Azera. Neither of us knew the Hyundai line and never knew there was a sedan in that size. So after that it was just a matter of her finding the color she wanted and it followed us home.

Originally Posted by Gamle-ged

... I had a list of several TSB's and a link to a passworded service site, but alas, my old computer crashed and I hadn't backed up this data...

Might give a try at http://www.hyundaitechinfo.com/ , the official Hyundai Service Website... a ton of useful info there. OTOH, the full set of shop manuals only runs about $170. (at least that's what the dealer charged me in 2007), and I figure that's well worth it, to at least know what the dealer techs are supposed to be doing with our Azera, if / when I choose not to perform a specific procedure myself, in my shop at home.

And... yeah, our Azera is the "wife's car" too, but it's frequently also the one that takes us on road trips. (Wifey's not real 'big' on long travels in my early VW diesel, even with its fuel efficiency being double that of the Azera on the highway. Something about "comfort", I think she said!)

I kind of got sidetracked in my last post and didn't get to say what I started out to say. I would say it would highly unusual of someone in this area of the USA to get the amount of miles out of a car like some of you do. I'm in western Pennsylvania about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh and although the winters aren't that terrible, the amount of salt, anti skid, sand and others chemicals the states and municipalities put down on the roads is rediculous. Folks don't want to leave any earlier or drive any slower when the snow comes down and demand the roads be just wet. I have a good friend that has his own mechanical auto repair shop and it's just amazing to see the undercarriages of some of these cars. He's forever replacing brake lines, gas lines and drums and rotors that are attacked by all the salt on the roads. It's not unusual to see 10 year old cars with the rocker panels full of holes or completely missing. Pennsylvania has a once-a-year state safety inspection and it's a good thing they do. So to see a car with over 250K miles here is very unusual and the majority of times it's on a car that is constantly on the go and is not that old. They don't call this corridor from Cleveland to New York the Rust Belt just as a tourist come on.