personally if the mechanic noticed it in the first place,then he wouldve told you in his humble opinion how serious he thought it would be,if he thought it was totally u.s then he wouldve recommended that you have it changed straight away? how concernd was he? i have a m8 who does all of my repairs and in the past when hes found things wrong,i allways ask does it need changing straight away,he normally says it could be ok for xxxx ammount of miles(his opinion AS HES THE EXPERT)that then gives me time to find funds to cover the repair we all come on here to glean info for various problems we incounter,lets keep it SWEET.