I have read of a guy who bought a Jaguar XJ Sport, it was the most he had ever spent on a used car - gleaming, lightly-used and pulled like a train. He ignored a grumbling wheel bearing, planning 'to get round to it soon', but in the meantime, heat and vibration coarsed through the entire front suspension set-up on that corner, chewing up all the rubber and nylon in the bushes, boiling the oil out of them, and causing a load of not-normal metal-to-metal vibration. In short, he did over ￡3,000 of damage, including the labour to put it right! He was told that essentially, only the disc passing through the caliper was keeping the wheel on the car.

All this, because he was scrimping on a bill of less than ￡100 that he was hoping could wait until next month.

Don't drive one more mile other than to have that fixed. Better yet, have a mechanic come to you.

The wheel could fall off. In the meantime it will wobble which could cause handling problems and ruin a front tire which will cost more than a wheel bearing.

The wheel bearing get hot enough to catch the grease on fire (and the can and does happen). It is possible for the wheel to fall off but not likely.

Bearing can seize, or more likely come apart . . . wheel falls off.......thousands of dollars in damage when car hits pavement........flying tire hits and kills someone......whether you survive dependent on what speed you're traveling when it comes off.