My 2005 Volkswagen Touran developed an intermittent but persistent fault with the automatic gearbox. The car would randomly drop into limp home mode (third gear). On the dash all the gear lights were flashing. When the engine was switched off and re-started it would be fine and then repeat this soon after. I took my car into my local Volkswagen garage for a £70 diagnosis, which came up with 'faulty' gearbox, and their only solution was a replacement gearbox at a cost of £4600.

The car has been regularly serviced (by my local independent garage) and has only 47,000 miles on the clock. The Volkswagen dealer was not remotely sympathetic, suggesting that if we had failed to change the transmission fluid at a mere 40,000 miles then that could explain the failure. From the internet it is clear that this problem is not a rarity and I feel that on a car with such low mileage VW should accept some sort of responsibility. Have you heard of this before?