I bought a Polo GTI (2001 model) privately in May ?06 the gearbox and clutch failed in Feb ?07. I took my car to my local garage who fitted a refurbed box and new clutch supplied by another garage in Warrington.
This box was ok until August ?07 when it started whining, so I took the car directly to the garage who replaced the box under warranty. I was never happy with the noise that came from this new box, but the garage assured me that there was nothing wrong with it. By April ?08 the noise from the box worsened to a stage where the garage accepted that something wasn?t right. This time they told me that they were stopping supplying gearboxes for my partical model of car and so could only refurb the existing box.
The box still whinned a little in 5th sometimes so I took it back again only to be told that final drive ratio on this box was very close to being straight cut, similar to the boxes on rally cars so that was the cause of the noise and nothing to worry about. I thought this sounded like a load of bull but hey he was the expert.
The box failed again 2 days ago, so this time I took it to a local transmission specialist. I spoke to him today and he told me that?
There should be a 0.1 - 0.2 difference between the 4th and 5th gear ratios, but the difference between 4th and 5th in my box was only 0.01. Because of this the box was running excessively hot in 5th gear and the oil had been burnt off through the breather, the lack of oil had then caused the failure.
I explained the history of the box and he said most likely with it being warranty work the garage had just used the 5th gear from another model Polo (probably the diesel version, he thinks) and not ordered the correct part for my GTI.
I contacted the garage and told them what the new specialist told me and they said that the law concerning refurbs states the difference between gears can be no less than 10%. And that they would only fit parts that were lawful.
I cant help but think that the garage cut corners to save money on the warranty repair by using an incorrect part when rebuilding my box. But how can I prove this and get them to pay up at least something towards my £840 bill.
Any help appreciated, sorry for the essay.
{as you're making an allegation against the garage, their name as been removed from your post, as per this forum's no naming/shaming policy - DD}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/02/2009 at 16:30
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I strongly suggest you talk to a solicitor. The sale of goods act states that goods must be fit for purpose. In your case with such a history of problems you 'may' be in a position to sue the gearbox supplier. It may be a good idea to get your local transmission specialist to give you an official written report on the failure. This will help your case. Ask him to give you an estimate for the repairs and send a copy of the estimate, plus the report to the garage asking them to pay for the repairs.
Hope this helps
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/02/2009 at 16:29
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The cost of a solicitor will soon add up to more than a replacement box. I would try the Small Claims Court or treat it as an expensive lesson abut the lack of skilled "technicians" these days. A second hand alternative may be a feasible alternative if it happens again and you still have the fight left in you.
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