Well I've been speaking to the dealers again and they were, as always, helpful. Can't fault their willing. I am going there one day this week with my wife's car, the Service Manager and I will then come back to my house with me driving his mechanically-identical-to-mine car. He will then drive my car from cold, which is when it is very unwilling to actually come out of first gear once moving. Once warmed a bit that fault is better but there will still be plenty of baulking and crunching into second gear. The Sales Manager is looking into finding me a replacement car, in the event we can agree that mine is not the same as his Service Manager's. Money may change hands if it is a younger example etc and I have no issues with that if needs be. As you guys are suggesting (and it seems highly likely now I have a new gearbox), suspicions are falling on the clutch, I think specifically a hydraulics issue such as air in the system. That kind of thing might explain the inconsistencies with the gearchange. I am also becoming a bit suspicious that the car may have had a front-end impact before I bought it (panel gaps not consistent), the repair of which may have left something not as it should be. Anyway, that's jumping ahead so I will take them up on the offer to drive their's/they drive mine and see where we go. I'll let you know how it goes but many thanks to all for now.

Many thanks heliosuk. Yes, it is very difficult to prove definitively that there is a fault rather than it being a characteristic. In my defence, I actually spent over 15 years in the motor trade and drove 1000's of cars in that time, not one car 'beat' me. That is why I have given the car and myself time to gel but it's just not working. I cannot accept that a gearbox should baulk and let out a fair old crunch when trying to change gear and the clutch is pressed to the floor. In addition, the three others I have driven are completely different, I just cannot get the garage to agree! The other fact is that reading on Hyundai forums I am not the only person to have had issues, though there are not hundreds of us for sure. The garage are being most helpful, to be honest I can't fault them but I think your suggestion of getting them to demonstrate a similar car is the next step. If I feel the same way after that then would you suggest and AA/RAC report and/or what other moves next?

First post, been doing a bit of research and this seems like a well-frequented and knowledgeable place so here I am! On 27th November I bought from a Hyundai franchised dealer (and paid for by cheque) a Hyundai i30 Diesel which first registered in January 2010. It had then 1900 miles and was an ex-Hyundai 'staff car'. I test-drove the car and noticed nothing untoward, or at least having driven my previous car 6 years must have overlooked any issue I had with the gearchange as down to unfamiliarity. I sold my old car privately, waiting until all that snow passed, so didn't collect the Hyundai until 19th January 2011. From the outset I found the gearchange difficult from 1st to 2nd, especially when cold though the car had a poor gearchange in general. There were other issues too including pitting on the 'plastic chrome' wheel inserts and noise from the suspension. I tolerated it all a while, waiting to see if the gearchange would come good (or I would learn to drive around it) but by early February I had contacted the service department of the supplying dealer and booked it in. I had no intention of rejecting the car as I thought it could be fixed and was otherwise very happy. On 15th February I wrote the Sales Manager a letter and outlined the problems, telling him that the car was coming back on 21st February (the earliest they could give me a loan car) and I was returning it under the Sale Of Goods Act on the basis that the car would be repaired else replaced. I dropped the car off on 21st February and to be honest then lose track of the dates. The garage had decided to replace the gearbox under warranty but the gearbox was on back-order and took around a month to arrive. I had the loan car only a few days and told them to collect it as I would use my wife's car due to £750 insurance excess!!! So towards the end of March the car returned with a new gearbox but the suspension and wheel parts were still on back-order. I quickly found the gearchange no better but stupidly put nothing in writing, I agreed for them to look at it again when the car returned for the suspension and wheel parts. Time passed and I chased them two or three times before around mid-May the parts arrived and they collected the car. They had it a few days under my instructions to drive it as required in order to diagnose the gearbox issue. Despite that, they decided there is nothing wrong with the gearchange and returned the car to me no better. So there we stand, they know I am still not satisfied and ahve agreed to look again but I'm fed up of it all now. My step-father has a similar car, as have two work colleuges and quick drives in those three cars reveal a totally different gearchange to that of mine. I have no idea how the garage can think mine normal! So, a long read later, what should I do now? What are my rights as at 10th June having used the car for around 2600 miles (1000 of which was in the first 2 weeks)? I look forward to some opinions and advice, many thanks.