Rack or in need of power steering flush.

 

 

Lack of fluid change interval before you got it.

 

 

 

Tou have bad A Arm bushings! Happened to my daughter's max and sure enough her bushing was totally deteriorated on the passenger side.

 

 

It's 10 years old, likely well over 100k miles Unless it came with a dealer warranty, like a 90 day 1000 mile if you buy from us, or other used car incentive from the dealership/lot, this is likely all on you. That said, is it possible a fluid flush will fix the problem? Sure, if they misdiagnosed your problem to begin with and went with the higher priced repair, then yeah, it's possible. Only way to know is to get a second opinion and/or try it. But I'm pretty sure a fluid swap is part of the rack replacement anyway, so if they see problems with the rack, it's likely not going to go away with a fluid swap. The part itself is over $300, plus their markup, then labor, plus the fluid change (follow up with them and make sure that's the case), it's not a awful price to be honest.

That said, lesson learned right? Older used cars may be cheap up front, but in the cost of keeping a high mileage car on the road typically marry up with the same price you would pay for a lower mileage car with some warrantee, even if you had to add the coverage after the fact. It's a gamble sure, some extended plans are expensive, but when you add up 2-3 repairs like this one, the warrantee pays for itself.

 

 

Glad they're taking care of you!