This issue has been fixed/resolved.
Okay here's the stats:
02 Xi touring
172,409 miles
Replaced F/R diff fluid in the last 5k miles
Unknown maintenance history on transmission
So driving to work today, the car came to a screeching halt - on its own. I went from driving 25 miles an hour to stopped with a little cloud of dust forming behind the rear wheels. Luckily I wasn't driving at highway speeds yet.
The car seemed to lurch to a stop, almost as if I was standing on the brake (I felt sorry for the ppl behind me). So I pulled over to the curb and "parked". As I neared a stop, the car seemed to shake violently and make lots of noise. Put it reverse to "parallel park" and the same thing happens.
No warning lights on the dash. I popped the hood and checked underneath, all the belts were on the pulleys. I don't today and haven't recently seen any fluids under the car. No drive or half shafts laying on the ground. The wheels and brakes weren't hot.
I'm stumped - and as this was over my head I called my indy mechanic. He said he doesn't have any WAGs and it sounds like it could be catastrophic drivetrain failure - diff, trans, shafts, etc.
This issue has been fixed/resolved.