Hi everybody, I gotta quick question regarding my 2002 Accord. I just got an oil change, and the technician noticed that my Accord's "tie rod ends need replacement" and that the "bushings are torn".

Since I know next to nothing about cars, I was just wondering how urgent this repair is? If it's a safety issue, I'll take care of it immediately, but if I'm able to put it off for a while, that would be great since I'm currently unemployed. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

If they really need replacing then yes it is a safety issue. If one or both tie rod ends fail then you will suffer a loss of control of the vehicle as the wheel and tire will become detached from the steering.

If you have access to a floor jack you can check the condition of them by jacking the car up and checking for side-to-side play with the car off and wheel straight. If there's side-to-side slop then the tie rod ends are likely in need of replacement.

 

The tie rods have boots to protect the precision internal surfaces from the elements. The tech may have just mis-spoken when calling them bushings. Once the boots have torn dirt will get in and can cause the joints to wear out more quickly. Since they don't know how long the boot has been torn, most techs are trained to look for it out of caution. It's an easy upsell too... But they should also check for play in the joints like Aradin has mentioned.

The joints are a safety critical part of the car. The urgency of replacement is going to depend on the existence of play in the joints. All four should be replaced at the same time (2 inner and two outer) including new boots on the inner joints (included on the outers) and an alignment also needs to be done. The sooner it can be afforded the better, but if there is no noticeable play that buys you a little more time to put it off.

 

Thanks so much Aradin and hondamark35. Your replies are incredibly helpful! 👍