Dear Car Talk:

I need your advice. I have a 2006 Honda Odyssey EX-L with a V6 engine. I’ve changed the oil and serviced the vehicle regularly.

During the last few months, I’ve noticed that the engine is a little louder and not as smooth on the highway as it used to be.

During the last service, my mechanic mentioned that the front, rear and side engine mounts are broken and need to be replaced.

The estimated cost for labor and materials is $2,500. He said it needed to be fixed urgently.

My questions are: Does it cost $2,500 to replace the engine mounts and is it urgent? -- Phil

Do you have any bungee cords, Phil?

If three of your mounts are broken, then the answer is yes. If you’re going to keep this van for a while, you should replace them.

There are five engine mounts in this Odyssey. And as the name implies, they hold the engine in place. The engine sits on the car’s subframe, so it won’t fall out of the car in the middle of an intersection, even if all of your mounts break.

But the mounts do hold the engine steady, in its proper position, and keep it from moving and twisting inside the engine compartment when you accelerate. So, if you don’t fix it, you run two risks: One is that you’re putting additional stress on the two remaining mounts and you’re now more likely to break those. And two, you could cost yourself an exhaust system, as the engine twists and the front exhaust pipe doesn’t.

The mounts’ other job is to isolate the engine vibrations from the rest of the car. That explains the increased noise and vibration you’re experiencing. Your engine is rattling around inside the engine compartment.

And that price sounds like it’s in the right ballpark, Phil. You can certainly call around and shop for a better price, but that’s the right order of magnitude.

So, the question really becomes, how long do you want to keep this 2006 Odyssey? You might ask your mechanic if he sees any other major repairs on the horizon for you. Then add up all the work you can expect to do in the next couple of years and decide if you want to do the repairs or embark on a new car shopping odyssey.