The gearbox failed on my Octavia Vrs yesterday on my way home from Gatwick and now I can only use the even numbers, although it does still drive in these, just with LOTS of grinding/bearing noises...

 

Emailed the mechanic I use last night to ask if he could offer a few options and he's come back just now with a few possibilities:

 

1. 2nd hand box from eBay which I'm free to purchase myself and he would fit

 

2. 2nd hand box from eBay/trade/scrapyard which he sources, purchases with a guarantee and fits

 

-Both options circa £800 all in and come with 3 month warranty at best

 

3. Remove my box that's done 180K and may be filled with spaghetti, send it off to be reconditioned (if it can be) and he fits

 

-Circa £1K all in and comes with 12 month warranty

 

 

What would you do: 1, 2 or 3? Or none of the above?

 

Scrapping it really isn't an option as I'm too heavily invested in the vehicle to lose all the money I've poured into it recently instead of buying another one. Also, I'm quite fond of it really.

 

Depends how much peace of mind you need.

 

When I had a box rebuilt the company quoted a set price to either rebuild my box or supply a reconditioned casing with new innards if necessary.

 

In the end my gearbox casing had damage inside so I needed a reconditioned box. The gearbox company supplied this to the garage. Came with a 12 month warranty.

 

Buying a second hand box can be risky and as you say will at best come with just 3 months warranty.

 

Phil

Always use someone who will supply and install. If the two tasks are separated, the 'blame game' will start if something goes wrong.

I would go down the reconditioned gearbox route. That way there is less chance of ending up with a duff gearbox and it need removing again which you would have to pay for. Also if you plan to keep it the 12 month peace of mind that comes with a warranty will be useful.

If you ask the garage to source the gearbox then the responsibility lies with them.

 

When ours was being done we had a couple of problems (they put the wrong gear set in so it was stupidly low geared- 70mph was over 3000rpm!) the garage took the box off and did all the dealing with the company. I think they billed the gearbox specialist for having to remove the box and re-fit again.

 

Phil

Old box off eBay with 3 month warranty. The quality of refurbed ones is always sketchy unless you know who's doing the refurb. They often use lower quality parts than OEM fitted bearings etc. (Usually a bearing that collapses that causes the failure.)

The 312mm brakes I fitted came from a write-off with 108 miles on the clock ....

I would avoid the source yourself option unless you get a deal like I did.

Even skoda/vw only offer a 3 month 6000mile warranty

If it was my car id remove the box & get a gearbox specialist to strip it & access the damage & see what new parts are required & what the cost will be,i wouldnt fit a unknown condition secondhand unit. You may need to factor in a new flywheel (if needed) & a clutch kit to whilst the box is out. 

The clutch and dmf are less than 5000 miles old, the turbo is 2000 miles old and I was kinda hoping that the box would make it beyond Xmas before that tell take vibration got worse. Alas. It's a good job I'm a multi multi millionaire.....????

The offer for the recon is that it's removed and sent away, they strip it, assess it and decide if it's viable to recon the unit. If it's not viable (i.e. made of Brie) then they send it back to me and I get to make a coffee grinder out of it and still have to find another box from somewhere.

Like has been said, the unknown quantity of a 2nd hand 'box is a concern so this will probably be a fallback plan now. It's good to have varied input though, cheers guys.

Have just emailed yer man and asked him to pop over when he can and whip it out. Rather luckily (depending on how you view it) I'm flying to Nigeria on Friday for 10 days so won't need it whilst it's being sorted.

Sent using my Breville Sandwich Toaster...

3

I would go with 3 too. Then any probs and it's all down to them

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