Originally Posted by
IndyKiwi
The dealership did advise that I had a bent front strut.
Hmmm...a bent strut? I'm not calling BS, but I would want a second opinion. Is there some place that will check your alignment for free...or a nominal charge? My brother lives in Carmel and he has had pretty good experiences at Indy Tire.
If you really do need a strut...you are correct. There are no aftermarket struts available. Your best bet would be to find a wrecked Mirage in a salvage yard and grab the entire strut/spring assembly (also known as a "loaded" strut). That would bolt in with minimal effort. I see these on eBay for $140. With 50K+ miles on your car, consider replacing both front struts if one is bad.
There are camber adjustments that your front end may need...but they can't be done without using special bolts and some extra labor time. Maybe the dealer tech doesn't want to deal with it?!? In any case, after they replaced your rear axle, they should have put the car on the alignment machine to verify the repair and given you an alignment printout. If they didn't, I would seek out another shop who will check the alignment (on all 4 wheels) AND give you a printout of exactly what your numbers look like.
You don't really want to put $400 worth of new tires on any car (especially a Mirage) without knowing if all 4 wheels are properly aligned.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)