I look at wheel bearing as being a maintenance item. I don't expect a car to be maintenance free for 100,000 miles. If you want a maintenance free car, trade it in every 36,000 miles (GM would love that). I look to trade a car in when maintenance costs exceed payment costs for a new car. That was why I traded my Buick in for the HHR. The AC repairs were costing me more than it should, but the other mechanics (engine, transmission etc) worked like a champ. A faulty AC in Florida is a no no. I had that car for seven years and over 100,000 miles.

 

A maintenance item, I suppose-for the Delta body. My 1995 Buick Riviera had over 165,000 miles on all original wheel bearings... no slop in them what-so-ever. Ran beautiful too. Didn't even leak oil. I maintained it meticulously.

If they last over 165,000 miles (all 4 mind you)-they are not a maintenance item.

The dumbest thing I ever did was trade that Riv in on my Cobalt SS. I got a new higher paying job and wanted to pamper myself with a little performance. That came back to bite me in the ass. I still see her around here and there. Makes me sick.

 

I had mine change out under warranty when I had my 2007 HHR...thankfully both of them croaked before 100k :)


Goose

 

I had two wheel bearings replaced under warranty. One in front and one in back. The front bearing affected the brake rotors and only when I had them cut (within spec) did my brake shimmy (present since I bought my HHR used) finally go away. I presume that the warranty was "improved" in 2010 to eliminate wheel bearing coverage because they are known to fail excessively and the GM bean-counters wanted the significant cost to be borne by the customer instead. 2006 was before the 100K warranty, so only GM-certified used cars were covered (and 5 years has passed now, anyway).