Its my GF's Polo, it was driven down from Leeds by her father on Sunday and about 70 miles down the M1 it popped out of 5th at 70mph. He managed to get it back in again and kept on going, however after stopping at some services he couldn't get the gear back at all. All the others have been working fine and I have managed to drive it into work today.

Any ideas what could have caused this to happen, and more importantly how much it could cost to get fixed!

Its a 1992 Kreg Polo Genesis (facelifted Mk2 as shown on Wikipedia!) and has just over 88,000 on the clock. I have absolutely no idea what could be involved and I am just trying to get more knowledgeable so I can guess if the quotes I will be collecting are reasonable given the parts and amount of work which might be required.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to give!

If he was able to get 5th gear back, it might just be a problem with the gearlinkage. Worth having a check underneath the car first - a Haynes manual's handy here.

Alternatively if it is a failed gearbox, I'd get a secondhand unit - I paid £450 to get a rare G40 'box rebuilt after 5th gear failure, whereas the 'box used in the Genesis can be picked up secondhand for £50 or less. Just make sure you put the right amount of the correct gearbox oil in any secondhand 'box.

If he was able to get 5th gear back, it might just be a problem with the gearlinkage. Worth having a check underneath the car first - a Haynes manual's handy here.

Alternatively if it is a failed gearbox, I'd get a secondhand unit - I paid £450 to get a rare G40 'box rebuilt after 5th gear failure, whereas the 'box used in the Genesis can be picked up secondhand for £50 or less. Just make sure you put the right amount of the correct gearbox oil in any secondhand 'box.

Thanks for the quick reply, I have absolutely no idea about cars unfortunately. Although I would like to learn, I just don't have the time. I do have a Haynes manual for the car, however I think I might leave the fix for this to someone who knows more than I do! Hopefully it won't be anything more than the gearchange linkage though.

Well I took it in for a quick look-see yesterday. The guy pulled a small part off the gearbox (a seal or something similar) said it looked like it was leaking and it smelt very heavily of burnt oil. I saw some sort of liquid on the gearbox case while it was up on the ramp. He put some oil in the gearbox and took it for a test drive and mentioned he heard no whining from the other gears.

From what I understand, the damage was caused because of the leak and subsequent loss of oil. When it goes in on Tuesday for a couple of days he is going to have a look and see if 5th can economically be repaired. If it can't then he recommended a new/reconditioned gearbox. Any idea how much work is involved in swapping gearboxes and how much it should cost? I don't want to be taken for a ride here!

I wouldn't even think about repairing the box, because a second hand replacement will be cheap and easy to come by. Your best bet if crawling about under an old VW isn't your idea of fun is to have a look at the for sales on here for anyone breaking a car near you, or failing that, ring round the local car dismantlers. All Mk2 and Mk3 boxes are interchangable, but you'll be wanting one out of a car with the same engine as yours (either 1.05 or 1.3 litre, single point injection). Don't bother with a 4 speed as 5 speeds are plentiful.

It shouldn't be an issue, but make sure the speedo has the same 4 digit number in the middle of the dial, just above the needle spindle, otherwise your speedo won't read right.

A scrapper will charge £20-30 for a box at the most, so long as you take it out, £50 upwards if they do. Make sure the gears select before they take it out, and that the milage on the car isn't too high.

A garage will probably want 2-3 hours labour to change it over, and would probably recommend a new clutch while the box is out (which I'd go with, unless the clutch has been done recently).

I wouldn't even think about repairing the box, because a second hand replacement will be cheap and easy to come by. Your best bet if crawling about under an old VW isn't your idea of fun is to have a look at the for sales on here for anyone breaking a car near you, or failing that, ring round the local car dismantlers. All Mk2 and Mk3 boxes are interchangable, but you'll be wanting one out of a car with the same engine as yours (either 1.05 or 1.3 litre, single point injection). Don't bother with a 4 speed as 5 speeds are plentiful.

It shouldn't be an issue, but make sure the speedo has the same 4 digit number in the middle of the dial, just above the needle spindle, otherwise your speedo won't read right.

A scrapper will charge £20-30 for a box at the most, so long as you take it out, £50 upwards if they do. Make sure the gears select before they take it out, and that the milage on the car isn't too high.

A garage will probably want 2-3 hours labour to change it over, and would probably recommend a new clutch while the box is out (which I'd go with, unless the clutch has been done recently).

Brilliant, cheers for that.