Hi. I went to put my car into first gear today and was to...

Hello, my name is \*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* I will be helping you with your question today. I've been working on VWs for over 30 years now, so I should be able to help you through this. Please understand that some of my suggestions may require special diagnostic tools and equipment that many home mechanics may not have, but are often required. So, first thing I'd like to say is that if the car is driving normally, 1st gear is easy to select, then the possibility that you did any catastrophic damage is very low. If you want to be 100% sure, you can have a garage perform a gear oil change, and strain the existing oil in the gearbox through a paint strainer to check for any metal fragments. However, I think if the car is driving and shifting normally, if it were my own car, I'd feel good about just driving it with peace of mind.

Hi Jason. Thank you for your help. Yes, it shifts perfectly and even slips nicely into first while rolling slowly in neutral. No noise or vibration coming from the gearbox in any gear. I bought it second hand with 50k KMs on it and the gearbox failed recently. I just replaced it with a reconditioned one as well as the clutch a week ago at great expense.. The VW specialist was amazed as he said he has never had a mk7 gearbox fail. The previous owner must have had no idea how to drive. It drives perfectly and is no different than when I picked it up last week. Will the clutch be ok?

The clutch is actually the "weak" point with these, but that gear grind that happened will not affect clutch life. One thing I do strongly recommend for 1st gear longevity on these. Don't shift down into first while rolling. Wait until you're stopped.

Ok. I will make sure to stop first before going into first gear. I have only ever done it just before completely stopping when I am really just crawling along. Definitely will stop now that I know. It has always slipped smoothly in so hopefully no damage done. The box is only a week old so have only done it maybe a dozen times coming to a stop at the lights. To be honest, it was not the brief gear grind that alarmed me. It was the bang when it popped back into neutral. Really unerving.

Understood, but I'm sure it's still in good working order. Again, you can always have the gearbox oil changed and inspected to be sure.

Thank you mate. You have put my mind at ease. Cheers \*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* advice about first. Have a great day.

Many thanks also!