I brought in my car for a 4 wheel alignment and oil change at Honda. Couple of hours later I get a call from Honda rep saying my front compliance bushings are wear down and need replacing, he quoted me about $500 for both side and $99 bucks for an alignment. I decided to pass on it since it was a lot of money, and driving the car I didn't feel like it was driving weird.

What are some of the symptoms of a bad front compliance bushing? Is it safe to drive with then torn/worn out?

I found online store for a complete lower control arms for about $50 each. the LCA comes with both bushings. My question are how compared to the OEM one? And how hard it is to replace the LCA?

For the bushings replacement I do not have access to a hydraulic press so I have no way of getting the bushing out and pressed back in.

Seems like every time I bring my car in for something other than a oil change Honda finds something else wrong with my car.

 

If you found both control arms for $50 @ with the bushings, that's a good deal. As far as conpared to the OEM, since you didn't list specs, it's impossible to know. But as a (retired) ASE Tech, I can say most 3rd part parts meet or exceed OEM. You have to remember that Honda doesn't make rubber parts, they buy them from a 3rd party too

As far as replacing them, it's been awhile since I had my 04 on stands, and don't remember. You don't need any special tools, but if you do it at home be prepared to curse as you try to loosen 10+ year old bolts and nuts. Also remember that the LCA is mounted to the strut/spring, so you need a way to deal with the spring wanting to fight you.

As far as them being safe or not, without seeing them, I can't say. Are they 'worn' or 'worn out'?. I wouldn't be surprised, or care about a little bit of small cracking, what I'd look for were large cracking in the rubber or separation. At that point the car will want to wander on the road as the wheels will not have a solid point on the car to maintain alignment.

 

I decide to keep driving on it for now and save a bit of cash and let Honda replace it later. I have not notice any unstableness while driving, going over speed bumps at slow speed does produce a creaking noise but i figure it is a 8 year old car.

 

Assuming that the compliance bushings on your civic behave just like they do on other Honda vehicles, you won't necessarily notice any pulling or vibration. On my wife's 2004 Pilot, we were made aware by the dealer of the need for new compliance bushings due to the wearing of the inside edge of the front wheels--it was worn so bad that steel cords were exposed and had to replace both front tires as a result. They also wanted $500 or so to happily replace them for me.

I found aftermarket replacements for the LCA, which included all three new bushings for about $100 each and did it myself at home. I had to buy a Honda-specific ball-joint separation tool, but otherwise had all the tools already. No PICKLE FORKS...

Anyway, I just had my 2005 HAH in for timing belt replacement at 205xxx miles and the dealer again told me about needing new compliance bushings for this car. When I changed the oil, I took a look for the uneven wear and found it on the front passenger side tire. So, I guess I'll be performing the surgery again soon.

So, for your Civic, take a look at your front tires for excess wear on the inside edge--catch it before you need new tires... Good luck!