The wife has a 2005 Chevy Tahoe with about 75000 miles on it.  Last week it started making a whining noise so we took it into the shop to be looked at (no dealer).  First he said the pinon bearing had taken a crap, not a biggy.  However after getting it apart he said the whole differential is hosed.  The diff has several options making it more expensive, one of which is some sort of brake assist which is completely locked, making it impossible to take the axles off to replace internals. About $2400 ($1900 used parts, plus labor) to fix.  He said it must have had the wrong fluid in it, which his shop topped off a while back.      

Is is even worth fixing?  Cost reasonable?  Cheaper fix?  He said he put it all back together, it might quiet down for a while before it gets worse.  The biggest thing that pisses me off is we had planned on trading it in shortly for a Honda Pilot, hate to dump all the money into it.

better trade it!  I kind of thought chevy fixed the rear end problem by 2005 on their light trucks.  Sounds like a lot for a rear end, but I don't know what brake assist is?

Never heard of the brake assist. You could get a whole new one from a junk yard. Thats always the easier and cheaper way than repairing it.

reassemble it, fill it with lucas oil treatment to get the whine to go away and trade it off.

SW

The 1900 estimate for parts is a used one.  Mechanic filled it will Lucas already.  Haven't driven it to see if whine has stopped.  I supposed if nothing else I have a hammer and could remove the brake assist...

get a junkyard unit and be done with it.  A few hundred dollars at best.

Cash for Clunkers?

DIY,  Get one from the junkyard and make use of the tools.    Sound to me like this brake assist he speaks of is actually the type of limited slip setup they use,  and yes the wrong fluid will fubar it.

Been busy around here, but the wife was cleaning out the Tahoe to see if we can at least trade the damn thing in.  While cleaning she found a receipt from a month ago.  On that receipt it states the same place we took it to had changed the pinion bearing seal and refilled the differential oil.  Now I am kind of pissed, I know for sure who put in the wrong fluid, the same people that told me it was eff'd.  I drove over to talk to the shop, I got the same guy that I had spoken with before.  I explained to him he had previously told me that someone had put in the wrong oil and just a few months ago they had done said work.  At which point he became a real ass "Well, you don't know why it went bad, that rear end is a bad design and it just happens."  When I spoke with him last week he was a little snide about it, suggesting I should be careful where I get my car worked on.  I guess he is right.  

Now I am pissed, mainly because he was an ass about it.  I am waiting for the owners to come in tomorrow so I can see if they have a different attitude.  Any suggestions besides taking it to a dealer and getting a second opinion?  Any luck with Better Business Bureau maybe?

That's a tough one.  Small claims might be your best bet.

ETA:  Too bad you didn't get him to write a repair order the first time detailing the 'issue'.

Yeah, it is.  He made a smartass remark I should have someone else look at it and get their opinion.  Doing that tomorrow.  The bad part for him was it was in front of about 6 other customers.  I was calm, cool and collected about it, maybe the owners will have a better view of things.