So the car went in to have this looked at yesterday evening.
The problem has been a little worse- on 3 or 4 occasions I have been totally unable to select reverse ( and now first) gears. On 1 occasion, I videoed it as suggested by Exonian.
Only ever occurs first thing in morning, particularly on a cold day. Absolutely no problems otherwise.
Certainly no clutch slipping.
When I took it in yesterday evening, I showed the master technician the video, and explained the issue.
He seemed pretty disinterested, though that may be my perception.
Just had a call back from the dealer. Pretty unsatisfactory really
He says the only thing the master technician can find is that the clutch is heavy. He says the clutch is worn. And the service chap tells me this wouldn't be covered under warranty- it would only cover a clutch for 6 months.
I said I don't accept that the clutch is worn. Why does the problem only occur on cold start? He couldn't answer that.
I've never once needed to replace a clutch on any car I've ever owned- 26 years- and many went into high mileage.
I certainly won't accept that the clutch has worn through misuse.
He suggested I could seek a second opinion from another VW dealer
I think the master technician's findings are nonsense. I suspect he couldn't find a fault, so made something up, knowing that I was expecting something to be found.
I'm off to collect the car now. Would appreciate thoughts on how best to proceed.