Could be worse.
My car has, over the last few months, developed a noticeable wobble in the front axle, and with winter coming up before too long it was high time to get it looked at. Fortunately, even though the car's original warranty ran out 24,000 miles ago (or 27 days ago - shame that I hit the mileage cap first), the extended warranty covers pretty much any non-consumable/non-wear item (hoses, fluids, tires, etc.), so I dropped it off at the dealership this morning.
Around 10 or so, I got a call back on what they found - the center support bearing for the suspension had gone out, and the tires had gone out of balance and were all chopped up where they hit the inside of the wheel well. The former was covered by the warranty (after a $100 deductible); the latter was not. Fortunately, the tires were only a year and a half old, so I figured I could work out something with the Firestone shop that sold them to me. The dealership took care of the suspension, and then it was off to the tire shop in the afternoon. They took a look at it, and apparently Ford Focuses have a issue with putting too much tension on the tires and pulling them in slightly at the top (negative camber). This is aggravated by the squared corners from the tread to the sides that many tires have these days; they angle in, and that corner starts getting chewed up by the wheel well. The original factory tires and the replacements I got last year? Square corners. New tires were a must, but the guys at Firestone took about $250 - about 45% - off of the price as a "customer satisfaction" discount.
About an hour or so later, I was back on the road with a wobble-free car and around $460 less in the bank than we had in the morning. Still, the costs could have been much worse, and we had buffer in the bank to cover these kinds of things, so I'm counting my blessings where I can. Instead, I'll just be happy to not have that annoying oscillating sound and extra vibration as I drive.
Around 10 or so, I got a call back on what they found - the center support bearing for the suspension had gone out, and the tires had gone out of balance and were all chopped up where they hit the inside of the wheel well. The former was covered by the warranty (after a $100 deductible); the latter was not. Fortunately, the tires were only a year and a half old, so I figured I could work out something with the Firestone shop that sold them to me. The dealership took care of the suspension, and then it was off to the tire shop in the afternoon. They took a look at it, and apparently Ford Focuses have a issue with putting too much tension on the tires and pulling them in slightly at the top (negative camber). This is aggravated by the squared corners from the tread to the sides that many tires have these days; they angle in, and that corner starts getting chewed up by the wheel well. The original factory tires and the replacements I got last year? Square corners. New tires were a must, but the guys at Firestone took about $250 - about 45% - off of the price as a "customer satisfaction" discount.
About an hour or so later, I was back on the road with a wobble-free car and around $460 less in the bank than we had in the morning. Still, the costs could have been much worse, and we had buffer in the bank to cover these kinds of things, so I'm counting my blessings where I can. Instead, I'll just be happy to not have that annoying oscillating sound and extra vibration as I drive.