Bearing noise/warranty issue

[AZViking]

So, after the whole transmission issue with our Neon, we thought we should take the Vibe to the mechanic for a checkup (droning noise from front left wheel). Bad bearing = $364 parts & labor.We had an extended warranty through the Nissan dealer we bought it from in AZ. The problem was, I gave the Pontiac dealer the wrong phone number (apparently, the numbers on the card I was given were for Nissan warranty so they tried telling Pontiac that I had to take the car to a Nissan dealer for service... ) So, after playing phone tag with the warranty people, I found the right number. Now, it'll be $50 instead of $364!

[Wolfman213]

Sux about the bearing but that's awesome that you got it for $50 instead of $364!!

[AZViking]

I was ready to drop the policy if they were going to turn it into a Nissan-only warranty. About 100 miles after the factory warranty expired, the serpentine belt tensioner went out. I think that was going to be about $200+ to replace, but the extended warranty covered that, too. We have about 5,800 miles left on the extended warranty (expires either June 2010 or 94,400 miles = 60,000 mile extended warranty)

[lovemyraffe]

With the money you saved on your bearing, you can now buy me new tires!

[AZViking]

Well, I'm an idiot I've been driving around with a worn out wheel bearing for well over a year because I thought it was tire noise based on comments on here about the Fuzion HRI 'road noise'. It started making the sound the day I got the new tires.At first, it would mske the sound constantly, only going away when turning or on a curved road. Then, after an allignment last summer, it would be quiet on the road and rumble in the curves.Now it's a completely different car. The only sound I hear is the engine and the stereo, no noise coming from the road.I was wrong about the miles, there are 83,000 on the vibe. So, we have a little over 11,000 miles on the extended warranty. If nothing else happens between now and next June, I think I'll just make a list of random things to fix (burned out head unit bulb, broken int. trim piece, etc.) and just have them fix whatever is going to be covered under the warranty.

[AZViking]

Update... well, apparently a new front left wheel bearing equates to about 3-4 mpg increase. Drove the Vibe to Minneapolis this weekend and finally got the car up to 30mpg (haven't been that high in a long time) It's nice being able to drive from point A (Sioux Falls, SD) to point B (Bloomington, MN) on one tank of gas.