I don't live far from Dandenong, so I thought that I might try Amberley Auto's.
I can do a basic service, but anything more then that and I've got no idea.
The front end has some sort of issue at the moment. I'm getting a lot of feedback through the steering wheel. There's a bit of vibration, but more worrying is the fact that the wheel wants to move on its own, particularly at low speed. I had my hands off the wheel the other day, after just changing lanes and it literally moved to the right, moved to the left and then straightened itself. The car didn't deviate at all whilst this was happening. Only took seconds. My wife actually said to me, "why is it doing that". I told her "don't worry, like me, the car got issues". (She now thinks that the car is as disturbed as I am. hahaha). When cruising at high speed I'm also getting vibration. During acceleration, when the weight has transferred to the rear, I don't seem to have any problem. There aren’t any odd noises that I’ve noticed.
I don't know if it's just that I'm not used to driving an AWD, but it tends to feel like the car has more control over what's happening then I do. The whole front end just feels like it needs tightening up or something. The steering should be more direct, more precise then it is. I know that there are a lot of factors that go into making the thing drive well and the tyres that are on it are a cheap brand. It also looks like the old owner has rubbed them up against a gutter a few times (no rash on the rims though). Perhaps they've just bent something a little?
I'm thinking that I'll take it to Pedders and get one of their $14, 28-point safety checks and see what that tells me. Hell of a lot cheaper then having a mechanic trying to trouble shoot the problem!
Any thoughts?