Rack and pinion sheared off
 

I've never seen this on any other car before. My girlfriend was leaving my house in her 01 alero and it made a loud clunk noise. I figured it was a tie rod or something cause the steering was wicked clunky. NOPE... i took a look at it this morning and the rack and pinion sheared off the sub frame. Has anyone ever seen this before? Gotta tell ya i'm at a loss. I'm taking a guess, the only way to fix this is replacing the entire subframe, it seems like a pricey and labor intensive job. I considered trying to weld a new mount to it, but quickly reconsidered that idea, too much precision necesary. Would you guys recomend replacing the car? This thing has rot growing everywhere and about 140k.

Sounds like a junkyard victim to me, unless you are willing to do a lot of work on replacing the subframe. you could always try welding, then if it doesn't work, get rid of it.

It was my girlfriends car and the thing is a rot box anyway. I'm not sure her father completely agreed with my diag so he had it towed to a "real" mechanic. He told her father to junk it. A new subframe would be along the lines of giving a fresh coat of paint to a pinto. Way too much work for a car that probably isn't destined for too many more things. Thanks for the response though.

I would junk the car if it has that much rot under it. It will more than likely cost more than the car is worth to fix it.