Alan Harding wrote...

It cost us £300 yesterday, for new rear bearings, drums,
and near-side stub axle. The bearings had collapsed so
badly on the passenger side that the axle was badly damaged
- I was scared when I saw the mechanic move the wheel with
the car on the ramp; he could move it every way but off, a
couple of centimetres each way.

It probably collapsed while we were coming back from London
on Sunday - fuel consumption went up a lot, too, as you
might expect. 200 miles on that, and I need a Valium
thinking about it now.

The bearings were was just out of warranty. The garage were
***** with their warranty insurers - they tried hard
to get something for me but couldn't get a penny. They did
let me have a free car-wash sponge, though, so that's
Wynne's excuse for not cleaning the car gone.

I hate car problems. For me, it's not so much the expense,
it's the waiting for them to be properly fixed. I will say
that with a problem like yours, Joe would probably have taken
the day off from work to fix it. His car has a broken strut.
Every time he goes over a bump, there's a horrible rattle. He
says he'll get around to fixing it sometime. Sorry about the
warranty. They do try to get out of paying, if at all
possible.