First Gear Problems

[dave]

I have a 2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i with a manual transmission and I was wondering if anyone has had the same problem I do. Sometimes when I drive down relatively steep hills that are gravel or snow covered my car will pop out of gear from 1st to neutral. It doesn't matter if I shift into 1st while moving slow or coming to a stop first. This has never been a problem on paved roads, but since I ski and mountain bike all the time, I'm on both snow and gravel roads a lot, and then it becomes a problem.

I've taken my car to the subaru mechanics several times for this and they keep failing to fix it, and my car continues to shift into neutral while I try to descend hills slowly.

Any advice would be super appreciated :)

[Guero]

If they cant fix it after 3 tries tell them to put a WRX transmission in it.

[AWD>FWD]

Hmm, that's interesting... not a common Subaru issue, although this happens to other cars if they have bent shift linkage/fork or worn out syncros.

Just outta curiosity, do you have a habit of downshifting into 1st while moving?