I recently testdrove a 2001 car (16000 miles on the clock) , and I noticed a slight issue, just wanted to know whether it was normal or not.

On the whole the gearbox seemed fine, apart from when going from 2nd to 3rd it seems to 'catch' slightly. It doesent crunch or grind at all , its just not as smooth as going into any of the other gears. The car was cold and I only did a few miles,so I was wondering whether its something that they all do, or whether it goes away once its all warmed up.

 

The short answer is Yes, this is quite common.

The longer answer (probably more than you wanted to know) is as follows:

SHIFTING
A large number of owners have reported either a notchy feeling or actual grinding when shifting in the lower gears since the car was introduced. Others report it is the smoothest shifter ever.
Soon after it

 

Thanks for the excellent quick response, so basically its pretty normal and does not indicate that there is a specific problem with this particular car.

I think I'll buy it then, I was just a bit worried that after reading numerous threads on here about busted boxes, that this car had a box that was on the way out.