Mitsubishi Repair: rattle or loose part noise coming from rear of car, silicone spray, rubber pieces

Question
2001 galent, 4 door, automatic, 4 cylinder         anthony, my car which has less than 50,000 miles on it has developed a rattle type noise in the rear when i go over any kind of bump. from what i can see and shake, the exhaust system seems tight. i can't find any loose objects in the trunk. any help would be appreciated.      thanks, jim

Answer
Jim,
This problem can be caused by dried out suspension bushings.  These bushings are little rubber pieces that go around the ends of the your suspension parts like your sway bar and control arms.  A quick rememdy to test would be to jack up the back of the car, and spray all the bushings liberally with silicone spray.  Once the spray works its way into the rubber, the rattling/creeking noise should go away.  The other possible problem could be worn shocks or coil springs, though being that your car is only about 4 years old, that's rare unless you typically overload your trunk or tow items.  I would recommend you lubricate your bushings first and see if that helps.
Good luck!