So I bought myself a 2007 A3 3.2 Quattro Sport today and really like the look, sound and the way it handles.

The 70 mile drive home was great, until I tried to select reverse, and nothing! To say I was a bit annoyed, would be an understatement. 

After leaving the car for a few hours, I can now select reverse.

All other gears are fine whether hot or cold.

I would also like to mention that the dealer has been helpful and is due to try and get this issue resolved, but not until Monday now.

Is this a known issue? Or could somebody maybe explain why the car may be doing this?

Thanks in advance,

Jaymo

Keep us updated on how you get on with this...be curious to know what the cause is

Can we assume it is an automatic? Have you checked the oil level?

Sorry Cliffcoggin. I forgot to mention. It's a manual box. 

As well as reverse being temperamental. The other gears aren't so great either. 2nd to 3rd can very easily result in 2nd to 1st. 3rd to 4th ends up being 3rd to 2nd. And 4th to 5th is an odd one, as the revs go UP, which would indicate to me that a lower gear had been selected, even though the stick is in the 5th gear position. 5th to 6th seems to be fine. 

And also, pulling away in 1st is laboured with high revs. I'm thinking the clutch is on its way out.

Anyway, the car is being picked up tomorrow by the dealer who sold it to me, as I've only had it for 2 days. Hopefully the issues will be resolved. 

Agreed about the clutch, but I reckon the selector linkage also has one or more collapsed bushes.

Cliffcoggin. You were pretty much spot on. It was a linkage issue with the gearbox. The reason that I thought the clutch was slipping, was due to the fact I was selecting what I thought was 1st gear, when in actual fact I was inadvertently selecting 3rd, hence why the car was pulling away so sluggishly. I'll be picking the car up tomorrow, so should be a huge difference.