6 speed gear box replaced with 5 speed

Flyboy152

anna_conda wrote: »

Well, I have complained to them, and they told me that they'd done it because they thought I'd have less trouble with the 5 speed! In fact the person I spoke to was awful and decided he didn't need to speak to people like me! Very intimidating. Spoke to trading standards and am writing letter today.

Really wish I'd kept my 10 year old banger that I traded in!

This wasn't a Volkswagen dealership was it?

boyse7en

rodenal wrote: »

The kit car reference doesn't make sense to me - you match the box to a well matched diff and the ratios are taken care of

Wouldn't work as changing the diff alters all the gears - so in the example of the Pinto-engined kit car if you changed the diff to make first gear 'longer' it would make fifth gear useless, as the speed required to keep the engine within its powerband would be far higher than is practical.

The best thing to do is to get a custom made 'box with a longer first gear, and a shorter fifth gear (as in a Westfield/Tiger etc type car, top speed is limited by wind resistance)

anna_conda

Not a dealership - this is what they say

'We are a fully approved VW autherised (sic) repair centre for servicing work, warranty work and parts.'

And they sell second hand cars, mainly VW and Audi.

skiddlydiddly

It might cause problems when you come to selling it on, I would be put off by a 6 speed car having the wrong box on, it would make me wonder what else is wrong with it.
Also, Strider is right about the gear ratios-it will affect the acceleration and economy.I have a car with custom gear ratios which needed some work doing on it so I put a standard box back on.It doesn't produce the same revs at the same speeds and it affects performance.Also know people who have extremely low ratio boxes(top out around 125mph) and the difference in acceleration is massive compared to standard boxes.

Flyboy152

anna_conda wrote: »

Not a dealership - this is what they say

'We are a fully approved VW autherised (sic) repair centre for servicing work, warranty work and parts.'

And they sell second hand cars, mainly VW and Audi.

Then this is another level of inquiry for you. Volkswagen are very territorial when it comes to their reputation and they don't like their authorised repairers peeing off their customers. But you also need to keep up with trading standards and if you have no joy there, you will need to take them to the small claims court.

anna_conda

Thanks so much Flyboy, that's very useful.

So, I've spoken to trading standards and letter to garage is written - goes by recorded delivery tomorrow. I've told them to only contact me by letter - don't want to risk speaking to them again!

Bought it on my credit card, so contacted bank re: Section 75, and they were very helpful and sending me stuff to tell me what to do next.

Think I'll also drop an e-mail to VW now.

Ideally I want all my money back as I certainly don't trust the garage to put it right.

You've all been really helpful, thanks again.

cyclonebri1

attila_ wrote: »

Cant believe i read this...thought it was a joke?!

Surely as soon as u drove away u notices it would have accelerated differently?

Every gear is different...not just a case of not having 6th. I have a pd engined vw with 6 speed and one with 5 both same bhp...they are completely different

Yerp i read it as a joke too, stuff it to them bloke:mad:;)

anna_conda

Well, I phoned VW customer care (well done to Flyboy!) and they are setting up their own investigation too. Told them that I didn't trust the garage to fix it now.

Feeling quite confident I'll get something done.

bigjl

A 2005 Golf diesel is certainky not a cheap car where this kind of think may be done to keep an old knocker on the road.

Though i would always go Skoda or Seat.

Hammyman

Strider590 wrote: »

I'll use an example, Ford's old type 9 gearbox has a very low ratio 1st gear, the reason for this was being mated to the Ford Pinto engine in the old Sierra, this engine had a lot of low down torque and combination of torque and low first gear ratio made pulling off with heavy loads (or towing) much easier.

I've owned Ford Capris which had the type 9 decades before the Sierra was even thought of. I'm quite au fait with those and the Pintos thankyou.

Take that gearbox and put it into a 600kg kitcar with a race tuned kent/x-flow and that first gear becomes a complete joke.... You find you have to "short shift" into 2nd else you'll be bouncing the valves and sitting in a cloud of tyre smoke not going very far.

Wrong. It depends significantly on the diff ratio.

In production vehicles, the gearbox and engine are very carefully matched and it cost millions of £ to do so.

<walks off shaking head>

Really it doesn't. £50 on a dyno will tell you where the peak torque and BHP are. You can work out the gearing to get the best in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea if you're told the wheel diameter.