I work at Smyth Parts Plus in Cincinnati and i just had a guy come in with a similar issue yesterday on a Corolla. He bought a brand new starter, like not a reman'd one, less then a month ago and he only gets the spinning bendix. My computer tells me my location has an identical brand new one on the shelf but for ****s and giggles, we test that one too. New out of the box and off the shelf, that one had did not extend also but just spun really fast. I offered to go get a different brand one for him but because he was in a hurry, he went onto the next nearest location that showed a TYC branded starter. That's the first time i have ever had that issue come up where it wasn't a re-manufactured starter that failed so soon but maybe you and him both got a bad one?