yes, anyways your buddy needs to get a service advisor for the interim in case he runs into any issues and looks like he already has so he can get the most out of whats left under his powertrain warranty.

For me if my car doesnt feel right or something is bothering the crap out of me I get an oil change and let my service guy know whats wrong.

Seriously the last 2 1/2 years I've owned this car I've had my transmission replaced, 2 lower motor mounts replaced & the dreaded blowout of my rear timing gasket happen 2 months ago rig ( $4000 repair ) All covered under powertrain except my motor mounts ( used my extended warranty for this )

So tell him to go asap.

 

could be a wheel alignment issue or bad bushings. Does the car pull to one side when driving? is there wobbling of the steering wheel? I was in a similar situation, my bushings were torn and I would a thumping noise at a certain RPM, the side that was affected ate up the inside tire tread.

 

just take the damn car to the dealer to have it inspected. powertrain warranty is 5yrs 60K miles. trying to describe the noise and its symptoms isn't going to help. no one here is physically standing next to your friends ride to give an accurate analysis of what is wrong. you may have a bad timing adjuster for all we know.