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Manual gearbox issues

14K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  mustangboy1944 
#1 ·
Had our new Arona for about a week now. It is the FR with the 115bhp engine and noticed the gearbox is a bit notchy. Had test driven a couple of Arona's before ordering and did not notice same issue. When occasionally selecting first gear it does not always fully engage and have to put back into neutral and re-engage. Just wondering if anyone else has had same issue. One thing that I look for in a car is a nice smooth gearbox where gearchange is smooth and soft and so far this has not been the case with this particular car.
 
#2 ·
Doesn't sound 100% correct, would get dealer to look at under warranty

Possibilities include clutch not depressing properly (catching on pivot), clutch fluid low or slave cylinder faulty, or gear-linkage misaligned, faulty gear selector which is catching. If just happening on one gear would guess it is selector alignment
 
#4 ·
I have the same spec Arona. Initially my gearbox was decidedly "notchy", but now with 2K miles on the clock has settled down considerably and is now perfecly smooth changing both up and down the box. One thing I did find initially is that the clutch has to be depressed to its fullest extent to make gear changes, but maybe that was just different to my previous vehicle. I'm not conscious now of any effort or specific actions to ensure a smooth change.
 
#7 ·
Took car into my dealer and went out for drive with mechanic. Typically nothing happened until we got back to garage and then the mechanic felt it trying to get first gear. They did full testing including checking gearbox oil and then diagnosed that the gear selector mechanism required adjusting to meet the correct specification. Seems a lot better now they have done that but don't know how it can leave the factory if it was not set correctly.
 
#8 ·
Seems to be increasingly the case that patchy manufacturing quality control assumes that the end-user will identify and rectify the problems that should have been identified and sorted at the factory. A false economy really. It's ok that any faults are covered by warranty but not good for Seat's image or purchaser's blood pressure. Hope it's all sorted now though.
 
#9 ·
MotorMan said:
Seems to be increasingly the case that patchy manufacturing quality control assumes that the end-user will identify and rectify the problems that should have been identified and sorted at the factory. A false economy really. It's ok that any faults are covered by warranty but not good for Seat's image or purchaser's blood pressure. Hope it's all sorted now though.
Motor Man, you say it's a false economy. Can you back that up.
I worked in an industry that purchased many timber doors and windows. We noticed a sudden increase in complaints and rectification work needed. The manufacturer had cut 'Quality Control' staff by over 90%. This left them with complaints on about 15% of items. These they fixed under warranty. The cost of these repairs/replacement was a fraction of the savings in quality control staff costs. So, for them, it was a huge money saver. Could the same apply here?
 
#10 ·
number6 said:
MotorMan said:
Seems to be increasingly the case that patchy manufacturing quality control assumes that the end-user will identify and rectify the problems that should have been identified and sorted at the factory. A false economy really. It's ok that any faults are covered by warranty but not good for Seat's image or purchaser's blood pressure. Hope it's all sorted now though.
Motor Man, you say it's a false economy. Can you back that up.
I worked in an industry that purchased many timber doors and windows. We noticed a sudden increase in complaints and rectification work needed. The manufacturer had cut 'Quality Control' staff by over 90%. This left them with complaints on about 15% of items. These they fixed under warranty. The cost of these repairs/replacement was a fraction of the savings in quality control staff costs. So, for them, it was a huge money saver. Could the same apply here?
It may have been cheaper to fix shoddy doors out in the field, but you also have to figure out how much business they lost by customers preferring a supplier whose products work as specified first time. Only the most relaxed of builders would put up indefinitely with having to go back to their own clients to rectify faults, warranty or no.
 
#11 ·
DomesticExtremist said:
number6 said:
MotorMan said:
Seems to be increasingly the case that patchy manufacturing quality control assumes that the end-user will identify and rectify the problems that should have been identified and sorted at the factory. A false economy really. It's ok that any faults are covered by warranty but not good for Seat's image or purchaser's blood pressure. Hope it's all sorted now though.
Motor Man, you say it's a false economy. Can you back that up.
I worked in an industry that purchased many timber doors and windows. We noticed a sudden increase in complaints and rectification work needed. The manufacturer had cut 'Quality Control' staff by over 90%. This left them with complaints on about 15% of items. These they fixed under warranty. The cost of these repairs/replacement was a fraction of the savings in quality control staff costs. So, for them, it was a huge money saver. Could the same apply here?
It may have been cheaper to fix shoddy doors out in the field, but you also have to figure out how much business they lost by customers preferring a supplier whose products work as specified first time. Only the most relaxed of builders would put up indefinitely with having to go back to their own clients to rectify faults, warranty or no.
They remained as market leaders and made more profit! They were/are "JELD-WEN are the UK's largest manufacturer of quality timber interior and exterior doors, windows and stairs". https://www.jeld-wen.co.uk/
 
#13 ·
DomesticExtremist said:
Then again Microsoft is 'market leader' in PC OS - that doesn't mean their product is the best...
(How they got to that position is another story, not one of competitive product superiority, mind you).
I was simply replying to your comment about it being a 'false economy'. It may not be the case and yes, like Microsoft the products were not superior. Unfortunately, in today's business world companies can supply poor products, dominate the market and make millions.
I suspect that it would cost Seat more to ensure product reliability and superiority than it does, currently, to fix these manufacturing faults but until Seat are unable to sell their cars, in a competitive market, they will almost certainly continue in the same vein.
Not how I (or probably, you) think industries should work but short of refusing to buy the marque, there is little that we can do.
 
#15 ·
Same issue as Stapehillarona 115bhp engine 6 speed gearbox notchy going from 1st to second gear, if you hesitate before engaging second it goes in smoothly but in normal driving gear change i get that notchy snatch feel, I have taken the car in twice to my Seat dealer and on both occasions the mechanic has come back No fault found so i was clad to here that someone else has had a similar issue.
 
#16 ·
Steve.J said:
Same issue as Stapehillarona 115bhp engine 6 speed gearbox notchy going from 1st to second gear, if you hesitate before engaging second it goes in smoothly but in normal driving gear change i get that notchy snatch feel, I have taken the car in twice to my Seat dealer and on both occasions the mechanic has come back No fault found so i was clad to here that someone else has had a similar issue.
I'm probably showing my age now, but when I was learning to drive, my instructor taught me to always pause in neutral when changing gear. (Probably due to the fact that syncromesh was not on all gears!). I still do the pause to this day!
 
#19 ·
I'm also having issues with my gearbox, when i go into 6th it decided to tell me that im in third and go straight to the red line, untill i press the clutch in and wait till the revs go to idle then it says im in sixth and works. I can also put the car into sixth with no clutch but it wont stall. It just grinds majourly. Oh and it decided to pop out of sixth gear randomly after being in it perfectly fine. Apart from that the car is brill.
 
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