My car desperately needs new rear bushings. It makes a horrible groaning sound when I accelerate from a dead stop and also when I decelerate to a stop. My understanding is that what I'm hearing is the rear axle chafing against the chassis because the bushings aren't doing their job. If I continue to drive the car like this, will I be doing irreversible damage?

I've taken on what you might call a minimalist approach to maintenance and repair as my car has gotten older and the miles have ran up (340k now). I still change the oil every 3k and make sure that other essential maintenance is done. Right now I have the bushings to deal with as well as a dead blower motor. Since neither affect the car's driveability, I'm not sure that I want to spend the dough. On the other hand, the car is in very good physical condition, and the engine still runs strong (as strong as an original B23 w/340k can run anyway) so I guess I have no excuse.