"He's just a child!" trans axle problems already?

Can you imagine paying out $5000 for repairs, and finding the problem still there.

John (Britprius)

 

The stealer would eventually find the problem and rotate the tires back or make up some BS story about the tire blowing on a road test and "eat" the cost. The differences between a tire noise and a transaxle or wheel bearing are subtle but discernable by a trained ear. In my line of work, I once had a dealer claim that a noise came from the transaxle, only to find out that it was a broken piece of inner fenderwell rubbing on the tire at speed. Getting a noise after a rotation screams for a re-rotation and tire inspection prior to giving such a large estimate for repair.