Electric Power Steering issues

Hey just wondering if anyone has had any issues with their eps. I've been having some serious knocking for a while now and haven't been able to get much movement from my dealer on the issue. Had the car in for an alignment today and they weren't able to align and it and informed me that I would need a new rack and pinion unit. Cost for that is about $1500 with labor through a dealer. I only have 65k miles on my car so it seems like pretty low already have a motor going bad. Also my oil pan gasket is leaking so today has not been a very good day for the Prius.

 

Car has never been in an accident or had any work done to it other than lowering it on htechs. I am the original owner and primary driver. I have let a handful of people drive the car but that was with me in the car.

As for the symptoms, there will be knocking from the engine bay area when going over bumps or changes in pavement. In addition to that, there will be wandering over uneven surfaces and the car will wander in different directions during braking and under throttle. I have 5-10 degrees of play accompanied with knocking once the steering "catches" again. I can take a video but I'm going to go to a different dealer to have them take a look.

 

Also I can feel the play in the suspension when I jack up the car. When the wheels are off the ground, I can move the wheel and hear clacking. Much like if you had a bad tie rod end but the play comes not from the tie rod when I look but inside the casing for the rack and pinon. The passenger side is worse than the driver side.

 

Unfortunately no as each time I brought the car in, I was blown off because my car was modified (Scion tC wheels and lowered) or told I would get a call back and even after following up, no calls back. I alignment specs that show i'm in spec and uneven tire where still occurring though.