We have a 13 Quest and have been noticing a odd clunking sound as soon as putting the vehicle in motion. It never makes the sound when sitting still, in reverse is the most noticeable to me. I did a full brake pads and rotors for all 4 wheels and still hear it. Hear it while driving forward as well, it sounds similar to a loose panel clunking around or the way brakes might creak at a stop light when you let off slightly. I hear it at that time as well some times. Oddly, it seems when getting the car to warm operating temp the sound minimizes may even go away, at least far less noticeable until the next time we back the car out and get started rolling again.

Any thoughts on what I might be hearing?

It could be the pre-cat heat shield.

Thank you far raf, I checked that heat shield and its solid. Been keeping the radio off and I think I've narrowed it down to two different issues. One, I'm getting like a whining sound from something related to the power steering when you first start the car and turn the wheels to back up out of the drive way. This sound seems to go away as the car is warm, so like if you leave the house again while the car is still warm, the sound isn't as squeal-ly.

The other creaking/clunking sound sounds like it is coming more from something to do with the body mounts, engine mounts, or something in the axels or suspension. This sound is heard just about every time the vehicle starts out forward from a stop light or coming up to a full stop. Tied somehow in to weight shift in the vehicle with starting and stopping.

Your description matches a sound we’ve had in our 2012 basically since it was new. While it was under warranty we took it to the dealer a few times for diagnosis, thinking it might be a suspension component or something worn prematurely. They did replace the motor mounts, maybe around 45-60k or so I and seem to remember (or at least imagined) it went away for awhile. But other than that brief interlude it pretty consistently makes a dull but noticeable clunk when starting motion unless you just creep forward. Given this track record and no other issues, now at 140k miles, I’ve learned to ignore it. Hope that helps.