Geo Prism. PLEASE tell your friends and whomever that car names ARE proper names. Please capitalize all proper names. Is your name Kelvin or "kelvin?" From what I know as to kids writing here they normally do not know much as to cars and "struts" means shock absorbers. Struts are an integral part that has springs and the shock absorber together as one unit. If you car has four or two that is for you to find out. In any case, these parts that work 100% of the time the vehicle is in motion are replaced by miles. That happens to be every 50,000 to 60,000 miles and that translates to every four to five years. This 20 years old vehicle with an estimated 240,000 miles should be on its fifth set of struts/shocks.

If it needs it, you'd know instantly by the bouncy ride, tire wear, and even worse than usual handling. Don't bother to replace them, as replacement will cost considerably more than your ancient, basic econobox deathtrap car is worth. The time has come to retire your 20-year-old Geo, lol. Those things were terrible cars even when new.

its a low cost economy car. it has a toyota powertrain. if you treat it well it will run and be economical for years and hundreds of thousands of miles. if you have noise on washboard surface or low speed bumps, i find the clunking is the tail of each spring. the top or first turn of each one will be rusted, trim it off.about the final inch or so. reuse your old struts. and i agree with mark on this one. but its "jounce" , and 1 and a half times. if this car has noises they often get misdiagnosed by novices and strut salesmen. what a waste. if your car is old and worn this will quiet it while you shop for a newer one. we used to get these questions at the dealership.

the answer was if its not leaking shock oil, and it passes a jounce test, ignore the strut salesmen. on ones where new parts had been ordered, we put them on and compared, no measurable difference. drives very well before or after. but these cars were low mileage at the time.

here let me help, its 20 yrs old prolly still running oem and rides like a buckboard wagon missing 1 wheel and has another egg shaped wheel. very noisy, feel every little bump in the road, etc.

i do my shocks every 2 yrs or so as needed.

Pretty much like shocks. Push down on fender real hard, and release quick. More than 1 bounce, change 'em.