The Ford Fiesta is one of the most common cars on the road in Europe. While these are well-engineered, well-built cars, it’s inevitable they will occasionally go wrong. If all the signs are pointing towards gearbox failure, you will want to have a read of this article, as we go through all the things you will need consider when replacing a Ford Fiesta gearbox and how much it might cost you.
Are Ford Fiesta gearboxes prone to failure?
Fiesta gearboxes are no more or no less likely to need replacement than any other model of car (with the exception of the PowerShift automatic gearboxes, over which Ford is engaged in an ongoing court case) – but like anything mechanical, they can go wrong. You may be noticing the symptoms of gearbox failure – clunking when changing gear, failure to engage gear properly, crunching when engaging gear, etc.
Taking a car to the dealer for work is cost prohibitive for most of us, especially if the car isn’t under warranty, so we’re going to run through a few different scenarios in this article, including fitting the gearbox yourself or getting an independent garage or mobile mechanic to do it for you. For complete clarity, in this article we are only going to touch on gearbox replacement costs for the Mark 6 and Mark 7 Ford Fiesta. This covers roughly 2002 to 2018 models.
For clarity, you can see which model you have based on the images below.
Mk6 Fiesta
Mk7 Fiesta
Does your gearbox actually need replacing?
One thing to consider is that you may not need to replace your gearbox if you’re only experiencing minor issues. If you haven’t serviced your gearbox recently, this may be a good place to start. For example, some automatic gearboxes are very sensitive to having the transmission fluid changed at regular intervals, and if you haven’t done this you may be noticing issues. A fluid change may be enough to eliminate any issues you’re experiencing.
Additionally with a manual gearbox it may not actually be the gearbox itself that needs replacing. It could well be the clutch, especially if you notice it starting to slip – or it could even be the flywheel that needs replacing. If you’re not absolutely sure you need a gearbox replacement, it’s worth consulting a good mechanic that you trust. However, if you are sure your gearbox is headed for the scrapyard, there are lots of things you will need to consider.
Manual or automatic
Firstly, whether you’re driving a manual or automatic Ford Fiesta is going to dictate how you source a new gearbox and how much you pay for one. Automatic gearboxes are probably going to be more expensive to source, although they shouldn’t necessarily be more expensive to fit – depending on where you take your car to be worked on and how familiar they are with the Fiesta’s automatic boxes.
Depending on which model of Fiesta you have, you may have a 4-speed true torque converter automatic or a 6-speed PowerShift automatic. Manual gearboxes are generally either 5 or 6 speed across the range.
If you do have a PowerShift gearbox, my advice would be to consult with Ford as it may be the case that your gearbox is under warranty and they may offer you some money towards the repair as a goodwill gesture. As mentioned these are notorious for going wrong and if you have a PowerShift gearbox it’s likely that at some point in its life it will need repairing.
Gearbox replacement cost for a Ford Fiesta
Before we go into the details of sourcing and fitting a new gearbox, let’s look at the cost to replace a Ford Fiesta gearbox. We’ve broken this down by manual and automatic based on every type of gearbox fitted to a Ford Fiesta from 2002 – 2018. If you plan to fit the gearbox yourself you can remove the charge for labour, which we’ve estimated at £50 per hour. Additionally we’ve included the cost for a clutch – of course if you need more than just a clutch – flywheel, master or slave cylinder, etc, your gearbox replacement will cost more.
As I’m sure you can appreciate, there is a wide range of possible costs for this work – however, you should find that in most cases, your costs are roughly similar to what’s quoted here. Additionally I didn’t bother to phone Ford and get quotes for reconditioned gearboxes as very few people with cars such as this should be going down this route – it’s just a waste of money.
Manual Gearboxes
Mk 6 Fiesta
5-speed IB5 manual
Used gearbox cost from a vehicle recycler: £192.50 (eBay)
Reconditioned gearbox cost from a gearbox specialist: £495.00 (eBay)
Clutch kit: £128.69 (Euro Car Parts)
Labour to remove, replace clutch and re-fit gearbox: £400 + VAT (based on 8 hours labour)
Cost to fit by yourself: between £321.19 – £623.69
Cost to fit by a garage: between £721.19 – £1023.69 + VAT
Mk 7 Fiesta
5-speed IB5 manual
Used gearbox cost from a vehicle recycler: £150.00 (eBay)
Reconditioned gearbox cost from a gearbox specialist: £1,150 (Directly from a gearbox specialist)
Clutch kit: £174.89 (Euro Car Parts)
Labour to remove, replace clutch and re-fit gearbox: £400 + VAT (based on 8 hours labour)
Cost to fit by yourself: between £324.89 – £1,324.89
Cost to fit by a garage: between £724.89 – £1724.89 + VAT
6-speed MMT6 manual
Used gearbox cost from a vehicle recycler: £140.00
Reconditioned gearbox cost from a gearbox specialist: £1,100 (directly from a gearbox specialist)
Clutch kit: £174.89 (Euro Car Parts)
Labour to remove, replace clutch and re-fit gearbox: £400 + VAT (based on 8 hours labour)
Cost to fit by yourself: between £314.89 – £1274.89
Cost to fit by a garage: between £714.89 – £1674.89 + VAT
Automatic Gearboxes
Mk6 Fiesta
4-speed 4F27E automatic
Used gearbox cost from a vehicle recycler: £219.99 (eBay)
Reconditioned gearbox cost from a gearbox specialist: Unavailable at time of research
Labour to remove and re-fit gearbox: estimate £400 + VAT (based on 8 hours labour)
Total cost fitted by a garage or mechanic – £619.99 + VAT
Total cost if you fit by yourself – £219.99
Cost to fit by yourself: £219.99
Cost to fit by a garage: £619.99 + VAT
Mk7 Fiesta
6-speed PowerShift DPS6 DCT
Used gearbox cost from a vehicle recycler: Unavailable at time of research
Reconditioned gearbox cost from a gearbox specialist: £1,400
Labour to remove and re-fit gearbox: estimate £400 + VAT (based on 8 hours labour)
Cost to fit by yourself: £1400
Cost to fit by a garage: £1800 + VAT
Please don’t rely on these as an exact costing for your gearbox replacement – this is only meant to be indicative. You may find your gearbox replacement costs more or less than what’s quoted in this article.
Sourcing a gearbox
Realistically, there are only three places you’re going to be able to source a replacement gearbox for your Fiesta, be it manual or automatic. Either you’re going to get one out of a used car from a breakers yard, or on eBay or another reseller, you’re going to get a reconditioned exchange gearbox from a gearbox specialist or you’re going to go to the dealer and get a brand new unit. Let’s look into how you might go about each of these and the pros and cons of both.
Breakers yard
This is by far the cheapest option providing you know what you’re doing. Most cities will have breakers yards, where damaged cars or cars that are going for scrap end up so that people can take parts off them. These are invaluable places, and in all likelihood your local breakers’ yard will have a Fiesta Mk6, 7 or 8 for you to take the gearbox out of. Many breakers’ yards and automotive recycling companies have already taken the gearbox out and will sell it to you as a standalone unit, without you having to actually take it off the donor vehicle.
Places such as Silverlake and Charles Trent actually catalogue their inventory and make it available either on their own websites or on the likes of eBay, so you can shop online without actually going to the yard – but be warned, you’ll likely pay a significant delivery cost as gearboxes are heavy things. Usually you’ll have some idea of the engine that was mated to the gearbox and the kind of mileage the gearbox has done, and most places will even run a VRN or VIN check for you to make sure it’s the correct gearbox for your vehicle.
However – I wouldn’t rely on this, and I’d ensure you get the correct gearbox code and engine code for your vehicle and compare it to any used gearbox you plan to buy, just to make sure. You don’t want to get to the point of fitting the new box and find out you’ve purchased a slightly different variant or something, and you need to return the gearbox.
Additionally you should bear in mind that you have no idea how this gearbox is going to perform or function until you actually install it in the car and take it for a drive. Meaning that it could be worse than your old gearbox – you just don’t know the condition it’s in. Most places will have refund policies or warranties so that if the box is no good, you can either get a refund or get another one, but to be honest if you’re paying someone to fit the gearbox for you, this isn’t a road you want to go down as you’ve wasted a whole load of money on someone’s labour. This is the risk you take when buying a gearbox from a breakers’ yard or vehicle recycler.
Pros
Cons
Reconditioned exchange gearbox
This is what most independent garages will opt for if you book your car in for a gearbox replacement. There are businesses out there that strip down and rebuild old gearboxes. These might have been gearboxes that have failed or have gone in for repair and have been deemed uneconomical for the owner to repair them. These places will strip the gearbox down, identify the issue, clean the gearbox up and then rebuild it back up to the point where it’s essentially no different to a brand new gearbox. Any part that needs to be replaced will be replaced, and these gearboxes will be fully tested before they’re shipped out.
For example, if you booked your car into a garage with gearbox failure, they might tell you that a replacement gearbox is cheaper than repairing your issue, simply because you will pay a significant amount in terms of man-hours to have that repair done. The garage will source you a reconditioned gearbox, and as part of sourcing the reconditioned box, they will send your old gearbox to the supplier – what’s known as an “exchange”. You pay the bill, you get a new gearbox and the supplier gets your old one. They will then strip down and rebuild your gearbox, and if someone else needs a new gearbox they will get your rebuilt old gearbox and their old, broken gearbox will be given to them as an exchange, and so the cycle continues.
This is something to bear in mind, as you will need to make arrangements to send your old gearbox back to the supplier you choose. However, there’s usually provision for doing this after your new box has been fitted. If you don’t, you’ll likely get charged to the value of a new gearbox – as this is how the supplier sources their inventory. Using a reconditioned gearbox like this generally gives you more peace of mind over securing one from a breakers’ yard or vehicle recycler, but isn’t as expensive as a new gearbox from the dealer.
Pros
- A like new gearbox for a lot less money
- Peace of mind – you generally get a better warranty on a reconditioned gearbox than you would with a used one
Cons
- The second most expensive option of the three
- You will need to make arrangements to send your old gearbox back to them, which can be a pain
Brand new from the dealer
This is by far the most expensive option and in all honesty, probably won’t net you a unit that’s any more reliable than a reconditioned gearbox for a significantly higher outlay. However, if you want to, and you feel it’s worth doing, you can contact the dealer and get a replacement brand new unit.
Ford operates through a network of dealers – some of the largest include TrustFord and Evans Halshaw. Each will have a parts department and you’ll need to call them to get hold of a gearbox. They will generally be able to find the correct unit based on your vehicle registration or VIN, and will also be able to deliver it to your door. A new gearbox won’t be an exchange unit, so you won’t have to send your old gearbox anywhere.
Don’t expect the gearbox to be in stock straight away – it could be a few days or weeks before the right unit can be sourced, especially if you have an older model. Also be aware that the dealer is unlikely to have a gearbox for a very old Fiesta in stock – you are likely going to have to wait for a few weeks for one to be sourced and delivered either to you or to the dealership for you to collect it.
Pros
- You will get a manufacturer warranty with a new unit – as you are buying directly from the manufacturer, so if something goes wrong you will have some recourse
- Peace of mind – this is a brand new gearbox from Ford
Cons
- Unnecessarily expensive – you’re very unlikely to notice any difference between a brand new gearbox and a reconditioned one. Expect to pay upwards of £1500 – £2000 vs around £600 – £1000 for a reconditioned unit
Other parts – clutch, master/slave cylinder, flywheel, etc
It kind of goes without saying if you know how to work on cars, but you won’t be able to get any of these other parts used. Whenever you’re changing the gearbox, you’ll want to change the clutch as well; it just makes sense seeing as the gearbox is out. For the sake of £100 for a decent clutch kit from a local motor factors, it’s worth doing.
If your vehicle has a DMF (dual-mass flywheel) you might also need to replace this, especially if there’s any scoring or marking on the flywheel. If your flywheel is cracked anywhere, it’s definitely due for replacement. If your flywheel is a solid flywheel, these are very rarely replaced – so as long as there’s no obvious damage or any high spots, you’ll probably leave this in.
Don’t try and buy a used clutch, or any other part of the hydraulic system. Of course if you did your clutch very recently it might not need replacing, but it’s always a sensible thing to do if the gearbox is out. You can pick up a clutch kit for any vehicle at a good Motor Factors such as Euro Car Parts, GSF or Spartan.
Conclusion
To answer the initial question – a Ford Fiesta gearbox replacement can cost anywhere from around £300 to over £1800. It depends entirely what kind of Fiesta you have, what year it is and what gearbox it has. Generally manuals are more widely available than automatics meaning that manuals are cheaper, and likely you will be able to source a gearbox much easier and your car will be off the road for less time. However, it’s worth shopping around and seeing if you can get a bargain.
Hope this article helped – stay tuned for more!
Check out some more of our Ford Fiesta related articles!
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About the author
Marcus Brown is editor-in-chief of The FatMech and is a mechanic with ten years' experience based in London, UK. Having worked for major dealerships for many years, Marcus now works for a local independent garage and has experience working on nearly every make and model of car. Marcus also has a passion for writing and teaching, which is where the idea for The FatMech came from. In his spare time, Marcus enjoys playing golf, doing home renovations and gardening. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.