In April 2008 my son bought a 2005 Ford Focus 1.6, 5-door automatic from Car Giant. The car had a recorded mileage of 30,000 and was ex-Motability with a service history. Since then the car has been driven a further 6,000 miles. Around 14 days ago, problems were encountered with the gearbox and the car was taken to an independent workshop. The workshop (at no charge) diagnosed a shattered 4th gear and quoted £1,500 + VAT to replace the gearbox with a, presumably reconditioned, unit covered by a 2 year warranty. Meanwhile, my son had been advised to speak to Ford directly to see if the company might be willing to contribute to the costs of the new gearbox – given the car’s age and mileage. My son spoke to the Ford Customer Relations Centre. He was told that under no circumstances would Ford consider any contribution unless the car was first inspected by a Ford dealer. My son’s wife then drove it to a Ford garage in Alperton, where she was quoted £150 to diagnose the problem. She was advised that if a replacement gearbox was required, the likely cost for the work would be £2,500. Whilst the car was at the Alperton garage a further telephone call was made to Ford when they were told that the company would not help because the car was by then 50 months old and the company’s “goodwill contribution” period expires after 44 months. There was no alternative other than to return the car to the first garage for the work to be carried out last week. If my daughter-in-law had been told it would not be covered she would never have taken it to the Ford garage. Of greater significance to your readers than Ford’s customer care is the quality of their cars. A gearbox should surely be of sufficient fitness for purpose and of satisfactory quality to enable it to safely endure an average of less than 10,000 miles each year over a four-year period.