I'm not about to run to the dealer to have any of these things checked just yet, but I find them troubling for a BRAND NEW vehicle:
1.) Power Steering Groan/Moan: This has been going on pretty much since the 2nd week of driving. Could be low fluid (haven't checked), could be more. Shouldn't be happening with a BRAND NEW vehicle. Power steering pumps fail after 150,000 miles, not after 1/100 of that.
2.) Single "CLOP" sound when turning the wheel from a stopped position: Sure sounds like a CV-joint noise to me. It only does it ONCE, and usually in the morning after I start the car and turn the wheel to take off. But I think I've ALSO heard it later in the day, too. Although there's no reason to believe the CV boots are damaged, I'll have to get underneath and inspect to be sure. Even if the boot was ripped wide open, the joint wouldn't be failing THIS soon under the conditions the car has been driving in, so my guess is this problem may somehow be related to #1 above.
3.) Vehicle makes a "jelopy-like" sound on start-up: This just started last week and has happened twice now. I turn the key and there is a noise that I can't describe other than to say it's a sound that a jelopy would make. The car starts up, but very sloppily - like a false start. It's a sound that junk cars make when they're started. Kind of like a training-wheels/popping/farting noise. Sorry, don't know how else to describe it...
4.) Transmission seems "soft" to me. Although I haven't noticed it on the tach, the transmission sounds like it 'free-spins' when changing gears. Its gear-changing is very 'wishy-washy'. It's definitely not a crisp-shifting transmisison. Maybe that's just the way it is and maybe it'll last longer that way, but I don't like it. To me, it feels like a transmission destined for failure.
1.) Power Steering Groan/Moan: This has been going on pretty much since the 2nd week of driving. Could be low fluid (haven't checked), could be more. Shouldn't be happening with a BRAND NEW vehicle. Power steering pumps fail after 150,000 miles, not after 1/100 of that.
2.) Single "CLOP" sound when turning the wheel from a stopped position: Sure sounds like a CV-joint noise to me. It only does it ONCE, and usually in the morning after I start the car and turn the wheel to take off. But I think I've ALSO heard it later in the day, too. Although there's no reason to believe the CV boots are damaged, I'll have to get underneath and inspect to be sure. Even if the boot was ripped wide open, the joint wouldn't be failing THIS soon under the conditions the car has been driving in, so my guess is this problem may somehow be related to #1 above.
3.) Vehicle makes a "jelopy-like" sound on start-up: This just started last week and has happened twice now. I turn the key and there is a noise that I can't describe other than to say it's a sound that a jelopy would make. The car starts up, but very sloppily - like a false start. It's a sound that junk cars make when they're started. Kind of like a training-wheels/popping/farting noise. Sorry, don't know how else to describe it...
4.) Transmission seems "soft" to me. Although I haven't noticed it on the tach, the transmission sounds like it 'free-spins' when changing gears. Its gear-changing is very 'wishy-washy'. It's definitely not a crisp-shifting transmisison. Maybe that's just the way it is and maybe it'll last longer that way, but I don't like it. To me, it feels like a transmission destined for failure.