I bought a Ford Focus manual 1.6 TDCi just over 1 year ago and it was just two years old. It has been serviced at Ford dealers at required intervals and about three months ago with about 38000 miles registered noticed a noise from the gearbox. Took it back to the Ford garage who serviced the car for me, and discovered that gearbox fluid was very low and needed a full litre to get to required level. However damage had been done and new gearbox required. This garage and now Ford UK have advised that gearbox fluid levels are not checked on manual cars at these service intervals - only a visual check for obvious leaks. Without taking out gearbox not possible to ascertain where fluid has gone. After discussions, Ford UK have offered £1200 towards cost of new gearbox, approx £1955. I am adament that Ford should pay for new gearbox in full as unreasonable that a gearbox in a modern car should fail after only three years. Have had Ford cars for over 40 years with no gearbox or clutch issues in past so driving style could not be an issue.