On the last day I had my maxima on the road before I left for school I started to hear a grinding noise that sounded like it was coming from underneath the back of the engine. The car runs, but there is still a loud grinding and if you look at the front two wheels, the bottom of the wheels are tilted. Someone mentioned cv joint to me, but I don't know if that could be it. Any ideas on what this could be, if it is fixable, and about how much it would cost?

 

could be alignment check that... cv joints can cause that as well.

 

When you say tilted outward, do you mean as in the top of the tire is out farther than the bottoms, or the front is out farther than the back? You could have some shot ball joints or tie rods. Depending on which way the tire is outward.