The inner CV joint is breaking but the boot is not ripped. They were replaced when first bought it and lasted for around a year, but we had a shorter commute then. The second set went out about the same time as the wheel bearings, so we replaced them all within about a week timeframe. That set lasted a few months, then we heard the clunking and felt vibrations again, sure enough it was the axles. Had a mechanic replace them to make sure we were doing it right. Those lasted about a month, then the timing belt broke and we took it to the mechanic again, after he fixed we drove it home and the next day it was shaking violently on the freeway and clunking again. Took it in, he swapped out the axles for a "better" quality and those lasted another month! We just replaced those ourselves the first week of October and we're starting to hear the thumping again. I'm not sure if there is anything else on the car that could put stress on the axle and cause it to break, or if it's just the quality of the parts.