Ok so I have owned my car now for 6 years and it has served me well through 30K miles and 50+ track days with very little money spent on repairs. It has been essentially as reliable and trouble free as my wife's Lexus. I have added track goodies over the years and the suspension was due for replacement earlier this year.
Now at 97K miles on the clock I get a bearing noise from the left rear. After diagnosis on the road we put her up on a lift and find internal trans bearing noise. Rats! This one is not gonna be cheap or easy. I searched options and decided a low mileage dismantler trans was the way to go. Also, while we are in there it's time for a new clutch assy, new flywheel, IMS upgrade, RMS replacement... Cha-ching $$$ Probably $5K when all the work is completed. Making up for lost time I suppose. My repair tech is my new best friend.
FYI my original IMS bearing came out today and was in very good condition. It was clearly not new but the seals were intact on both sides with no obvious bearing play. Not bad for 97K miles.