I have a problem. There seems to be significant slop in my drivetrain, especially when I down shift to decelerate then accelerate then decelerate, like in a heave traffic situation. The car seems to "bounce" or rock excessivly, causing me to use the clutch more thaan I like to to. I had it looked at and was told "well the car is 12 years old and this is normal". I thought it would be a motor or tranny mount, or a bushing. I was told that it is a combination of all the bushings being slightly worn. Question: does this sound right? If I was to have some or all the bushings relpced would this help eliminate the problem? The car is a daily driver, and I have had it on the road about a month. This is my first third gen. Thanks a bunch for all your assistance.

 

The trans mount and the torque arm bushing is the first place I'd look.... those can make the whole rear end flop around in the car quite a bit. Then check the rear LCA bushings, or just replace the LCAs, as they are cheap and much easier to just swap than to do all the same labor as swapping and dink around with the bushings too.

Other than that, check your U-joints, and check the rear end for exessive play in the pinion bearings (not likely) or excessive gear backlash (also not real likely).