Hoser

As I was driving home last night, I felt a 'thunk'. The car then started 'jerking' while it was moving. It felt like the wheels were turning then locking up.

I went to the dealer this morning. They said it was the spider gear. He asked if I still had a warranty and I said no. It turned out I had an extended warranty that expires on the 17th of January. I was told the price would've been around $2500 if I had to pay for it myself. I'll have to pay the deductable ($50), so for once I come out ahead. The service guy said I should consider this my Christmas present. I'd have to agree with him.

At least I got all my Christmas shopping done yesterday. I get a rental vehicle, but I'll have to wait until Monday. There's a five day limit on the rental, so I hope they have the work done within that time. Unfortunately there's only four working days next week, so I hope they work fast.

CynJon

I had never been an extended vehicle warranty fan, until I moved to Hawaii. We bought our van new, so the warranty was fairly cheap then, around $700. We never used the factory warranty AT ALL. When we moved to Hawaii, stuff started to go wrong. The A/C Compressor went out, both front hub assemblies failed, the front windshield wiper assembly failed, and the rear brake cylinders started leaking. I'm a mechanically competent guy, and I could have most of these problems myself, but the parts alone are outrageous, especially if you have to ship them from the mainland. Our total in deductibles has been $200, with the total bills from the above incidents coming to a little under $4000. So I figure I'm $3100 ahead, PLUS my time that I didn't have to spend working on the vehicle...On the other hand, I didn't pop for the extended warranty on my Jeep...But it's a 2000 with only 13,000 miles on it and I'm only putting about 3000 miles/year on it here so I couldn't justify spending the money on a vehicle that has been totally reliable so far. Time will tell...

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Hoser

I got to the dealer early and was looking at used cars while I was waiting. If I would've had to pay full price for the repairs, I might have decided to get another car. The repairs would've been about half the value of the car. Since I still owe about $1200, it wouldn't have left much for a down payment on another car. I guess I'll keep the car until it finally dies (hopefully some time from now).

TERRIBLETOM

What is the year make and model of the car and is it standard transmission?

Hoser

It's a 1998 Cavalier Z24 with standard transmission.

TERRIBLETOM

My brother had a Cavalier z-24 and had bought it new, although they weren't the same year they have been using basically the same transmissions for years. He had a problem very similar to yours when he first got it and wound up taking the dealer to court and getting all his money back.