Hmm, I've been experiencing an intermittent 'grating' noise from under the bonnet in front of the passenger seat for the last couple of months. It's a kind of mild grating noise and is only noticeable at low speeds when the gear is engaged (i.e. it ceases if I depress the clutch). I especially notice it as the clutch reaches the biting point when changing gear.

I took it to a local garage recently and he reckons it could be a faulty bearing in the gearbox. Now, I'm no expert, but that sounds expensive. Would I be right in thinking this is going to involve them having to disassemble a load of stuff to remove the gearbox so they can inspect it?

Most regular garages don't do gearboxes, so it's going to require a specialist. As I can only find two in my area in the Yellow Pages, I reckon the prices will be sky high. I have no idea what ballpark figure is reasonable to expect, so was wondering whether anybody could advise before I phone them and the local Skoda Dealer to get it sorted?

Typically, my used approved warrantly expired six weeks ago! Pooh!

You don't tell us what car you have

Can't really help with a diagnosis but someone with more technical knowledge will surely be along to advise as there a number of less drastic, less expensive possibilities.

In terms of a repair, I had an Ibiza 1.4mpi gearbox stripped and the bearings replaced for

Sorry, bit of a lapse in concentration there. I have a 2001 (Y) registration Fabia 1.9TDi. Thanks for the rough ideas above. Bummer, it does look expensive. Anything above