You haven't said what speed you were doing when you tried to select 1st gear.
Don't forget 1st won't have synchromesh. So if you try to select it above (say) 4mph you will find resistance. That unwillingness to select may be even more pronounced with the car's parts being new and not yet bedded in.
If you are having a problem selecting 1st whilst stationary - are you putting the clutch down far enough. If the clutch doesn't travel all the way to the floor gear selection may be more difficult. Might be worth checking the seat is not too far back, this can add to the short clutch movement.
I'm not sure about there being no synchromesh on 1st gear - I thought all cars have had synchro on all forward gears since the 1960's!
From my experience most front wheel drive cars I've owned over the years do have 1st & reverse gear selection 'issues' from time to time - i.e. not wanting to into gear first time. I've always put it down to the gear linkage associated with front wheel drive - and the position of the moon.
If it's more than the ocassional baulking, you should probably get it checked out.
havent yet crunched any gears, dooccasionallyget resistance when changing up to 3rd, but can feel it before releasing the clutch and can select it properly
Overall I think the gearbox is excellent. My 19 year old son is also finding it easy to use as well.
(once my car had done 1500 miles, I felt it was Ok to start to let him use the car)
When pulling away from stationary, I do get a sort of judder/clunk. I thought it was simply the fact that I'm not used to the clutch - it has a really high biting point compared to my old Polo, and I think I need to get my feet sorted out, but it's happened since I first had the car.
No problems for me selecting gears. I drove our Lupo last night for the first time since getting the Up! and I found the gears on that much harder to select. The Up! is lovely and smooth
You don't have synchro on first gear or reverse, synchro helps a gear engage when the gears are moving by aligning the teeth. Obviously you shouldn't be selecting first when the car is moving if you're crawling then your best in second.
But to answer your question no I don't have any issues selecting gears. Occasionally I get a little chink selecting reverse but that's to be expected
From time to time, it can require a bit of a push to get the stick in place. Not often enough to be an issue, and it might be improving, or be user error, I haven't really paid attention.
The main reason has got to be misuse of the clutch. If it doesn't feel as if it is going in easily enough when stationary then push the clutch right down a second time. (because you didn't do so the first time). You shouldn't put the gear in first when moving, as previously stated if it is moving then stick it in second.
It's a bit like a computer, Depends on the operator.
Sorry to labour the point, but according to Skoda (whose brochure is far more informative than VW's), the Citigo gearbox is fully synchronised and that includes 1st gear - precisely so that you don't have to stop completely before engaging first gear. OK, so perhaps it was the 1980's before it became universal, but I remember British Leyland making a big thing about the introduction of gearboxes with synchro on 1st gear.
Going back to the original query, unless there is a serious fault, it's likely to something that just happens sometimes like Markmod1 suggested - I seem to remember it happening occasionally with every front wheel drive car I've had, regardless of make/model.
I never noticed any issues going into first on the test drive... as an unconventional manual driver (as I have driven autos for so many years), find myself coasting a lot, so often come to a halt in neutral! at that point, selecting first is easy...
I don't find selecting first a problem as long as the car is stationary. Trying to select first when you are trundling to a stop, at a give way say, is a different story; there is a significant amount of resistance, which is not unexpected.
I do find that the first to second change baulks a bit if rushed. This is not uncommon either with most of the cars I've owned being the same, to a greater or lesser degree (my old Renault Clio would hardly go in to second when it was colder in the winter).
Reverse gear is normally the awkward one. It sometimes takes a second go, after releasing the clutch and starting again, to get it working properly. And it's been a pig at times with the StreetKa, crunching even on the second go. I'll be glad to see the back of it very soon. I'm not very impressed with Frords.
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