Transmission/transaxle issue?

I had the car towed back to my house. Is there a few test i can do to determine where the failure is? It is a 2003 so i wont be inclined to put 1000's into it for repair. Thank you.

Yes, raise one of the wheels up, and turn that wheel. Please...PLEASE use jackstands. Have someone watch the axle whIle you manually turn the tire. The axle all the way to the transmission should turn without feeling chunky or grindy. Do the same with the other side. If the axles turn all the way to the transmission on both sides, the transmission has internal damage, probably the differential. If the axles don't rotate with the wheels, all the way to the transmission, then that axle has failed.

Ok. Both axles freely rotate all the way imto the transmission so, based your comment it sounds like a differential issue and a big repair.

That sounds right... The bad thing is labor, so if you can find a nice used unit with a warranty, you can get away a lot cheaper than a rebuild.