Hi, I've got a 2007 Golf 1.9 TDI with 18000 miles on the clock. The car was serviced in February 2010 by the local Volkswagen dealership - no problem identified.

I recently lent the car to a friend for a few weeks and they commented on the crunchiness when using second gear - no problems with any other gears. Since being told, I'm now conscious of the issue and am a bit concerned about whether it could be a major problem.

From looking at the internet I've noticed a number of posts on this subject and comments that the problem can be as a result of mineral transmission oil being used in the gearbox, which the synchromesh doesn't like when cold. I've noticed a number of suggestions about replacing the oil with fully synthetic.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I'm concerned incase this crunching is a sign of major problems and given the car has done less than 20K miles you wouldn't expect such issues. Obviously I don't want to be having to shell out to have the gearbox dismantled only to be told there wasn't a problem.

Any comments on this would be much appreciated.