VW gearboxes made of plasticene now?

Just checked oil, and yes, you've guessed, a chewed up roller plus a fair amount of swarf came out too. Looks just like the first roller 18 months ago. Although I accept that there might be more than one bearing of similar size in the box, it does look as if the "repair" has failed.

Ham-fisted driver?

It could be there's some other fault that's putting more stress than expected on that particular area or an oil problem. Bits of bearing going about in the gearbox for ages isn't going do a lot of good in general.

Thanks for the constructive reply.

It's actually a serious suggestion.

Yes, there have been issues with that box, but to have it happen twice would suggest there may be other factors involved.

Steve didn't mean to offend... and I agree with SteveH that it's a possibility. Lupo SDIs are not known to chew gearboxes.

It is also possible that the last repair was not done properly, however, I will try to check on my daughter's driving style. To date though, whenever I have been with her, I have not noticed anything which might lead to this sort of failure. (My wife got through a clutch in 15k once, she used the pedal as a footrest - not any more though). The guy who did the repair has been mending gearboxes for 30 years, and told me he had had a lot of VW boxes in with this bearing failure. He gave the impression that it was a well-known weak point. I doubt if there have been many failures of SDI boxes, as there are very few Lupo SDIs about anyway. But I keep reading on various fori about other recent VW gearbox failures. Normally the bearing, so it must be a weak point. It is also difficult to work out how a bad driving style can knock out a mainshaft bearing in 10k miles. The cage has clearly disintegrated as I found a loose roller in the bottom of the box.

I often rest my foot on the clutch, i know you're not meant to but I must do it lightly because i never have premature failure.

On to the OP - id suggest either the repairs were done badly (box not properly stripped and cleaned) or there is a fault in the housings/machinings.

My thoughts too. Been offered a box from a scrapyard with 60 days warranty for £125, so will go for that. Just don't trust the current box anymore. If that bearing has gone twice now, it may well no longer be repairable.

Perhaps this person who fixes things twice is a bit suspect?

My thinking too, but as it was last fixed 18 months ago, not much chance of redress. In any case I would have doubts about the box being repairable if the same bearing has gone twice.

After I had an accident and couldn't walk for a bit, my wife had to drive me round. Noticing how she rode the clutch at every light or junction, I bought her an automatic, and she's driven them ever since!