Toyota Corolla Altis Gearbox Overhaul: A Full Rebuild Plus a Torn CV Joint and Oil Leak Sorted

The owner brought in a Toyota Corolla Altis with a gearbox that was not shifting the way it should. After a check we confirmed it needed an overhaul. The owner was honest with us: the car has a few more years to run before it is scrapped, so the work had to be sensible and priced fairly.

The ask was clear. Sort the gearbox properly so the car drives normally again, and while it was up on the lift, check anything else that needed attention. That is exactly when a couple of other issues turned up.

We confirmed the gearbox fault first, then put the car up and checked the rest of it while it was on the lift.

The gearbox needed a full overhaul. On the front driveshaft, one of the CV joint boots had split and grease had thrown out, which means the joint runs dry and wears. We also found an engine oil leak. None of these fix themselves, and a split CV boot in particular only gets worse the longer it runs.

We showed the owner each issue, explained which were urgent and which could wait, and quoted firmly before starting. The owner chose to do the gearbox overhaul, the CV joint and the oil leak together in one visit.

We did the work properly and in one visit.

• Removed the gearbox, stripped it down and overhauled it with all the internal consumables.
• Replaced the torn front driveshaft boot and the CV joint.
• Traced and fixed the engine oil leak.
• Refilled with the correct fluids and test ran the car before handover.

We kept the owner updated through the job. Because the gearbox had to come out, be overhauled and tested, the work took the time it needed. The car drives properly again, and the full gearbox overhaul carries a 2 year / 40,000km warranty. The CV joint and oil leak repairs were done to the same standard.

On this Corolla Altis the gearbox overhaul came to around $2,180 before GST with a 2 year / 40,000km warranty. The owner also chose to replace the torn CV joint boot, around $280 with the CV joint, and fix the oil leak in the same visit, bringing the visit to around $3,400 in total.

What moves the price is what we find once the gearbox is open, and whether extra jobs like the CV joint are done together. Doing related repairs in one visit saves a second round of labour. We check first, then quote each item clearly so the owner decides what to do.

This Toyota Corolla Altis (Gearbox overhaul) was handled at 1 Car Service, an independent workshop in Sin Ming AutoCity, Singapore. The work is backed by our 2-year, 40,000km warranty. We hold a 4.9★ rating from 1,775+ Google reviews.