To sell or to scrap

Octafish

Lestratcaster said:

ICBM said:

Lestratcaster said:

On my way to a gig last night in Brighton my gearbox went in my VW Polo 2000. I'm amazed how I made it from Junction 11 on the M25 all the way to near Brighton Pier!! The whining noise started back at junction 11 and I struggled to get over 60 mph without it over revving. I just about got by on 50mph to play the show. But it got really hard to change gears at one point the gear stick came off!! Shifting into 1st/2nd or any gear almost never happened and obvs if you're in gear you can't shift.

Are you absolutely sure it's not the clutch? A gearbox can't slip like that as far as I know - if the engine is over-revving but the car isn't going fast then the clutch is slipping. A gearbox either works, or the teeth strip - or it jumps out of gear - and you go nowhere. A faulty clutch also makes it hard to change gear.

Feel free to correct me if this is no longer the case...

The clutch was changed in 2015 (same year I bought the car) and its a hydraulic cable. The gear stick even came off when I tried to change, really hard to shift it. When the RAC were called out the bloke said that the oil that came from the gear box had leaked out underneath. Maybe the two are linked so I would have needed to replace both.

The oil leaking out of the gearbox makes it sound like a gearbox failure of some sort. The issue with some VW gearboxes throwing the diff pin usually results in broken bits inside the box and oil everywhere including leaking onto the clutch/flywheel causing it to slip. A failed oil seal could could also cause the clutch to slip, but would not usually make it hard to change gear.

The gear lever coming off is probably because you had to use a lot of force? Gear levers in front wheel drive cars are usually not directly connected into the gearbox, they are connected via some linkage rods or cables so the gearstick coiming off in your hand would be due to the linkages failing/breaking.

If you could do the work yourself it would be worth sticking a scrapyard box on. However, that not being an option you're in a bit of tough situation as you face spending a wedge on your current car or taking a risk on several grand on a car that could well start costing you money. Bear in mind a lot cars have things such as clutches, cv joints, suspension etc that need replacing around the 80000-100000 mile mark which probably includes a lot of cars in the £1000-2000 price bracket.

Lestratcaster

Yes quite possibly, being stuck at lights with aggressive drivers behind you beeping to get a move on probably made me use more force than I had to!

Lestratcaster

*UPDATE*

Stuck the motor on Gumtree and within an hour someone has offered £100 cash for it and is collecting tonight.

Relieved to be shot of it to be honest.

holnrew

What you gonna get?

Lestratcaster

If you look at my other thread "new car suggestions" I bought a Ford Fiesta Climate 2007 1.4 zetec.

Anyone got any tips when meeting this guy tonight, he sounded a little bit dodgy on the phone lol.

Nitefly

Turn all the notes the same way up, and count the cash before you give him the keys!

*edit* I once sold a 2-litre Capri to a dodgy guy who gave me £250 in cash.  Two days later I had the Old Bill at the door - it had been used in a robbery!

Lestratcaster

Haha it was near enough pitch black when he handed me the notes but they look legit. He works for a recovery service so mainly picking it up for parts I presume.

Now I'm rid all I need to do it declare it sorn (off the road) and notify the DVLA I'm no longer the registered keeper? He filled out the motor trader part of the form, normally its the green part if its a private seller but this one is yellow.