My mothers 62 plate Fiesta does this sometimes and after speaking to the dealer he said it was because Fiestas don't have syncromesh on the reverse gear and sometimes when its not lined up it won't go into reverse.You just put it back into neutral,let the clutch out and then push the clutch back in and you'll find it goes in.Don't know if the dealer is taking BS but the above method does work.

Take it back to the dealer!

I agree, that is the first thing to do. But most cars usually find reverse more easily when they are rolling ever so slightly - does that help? Dipping the clutch once usually works too. Dealer may say it will ride up with wear .... to use the well-worn phrase.

Hello

I have had similar issues, as well as the car actually jumping out of gear while reversing. I have had adjustments and lubrication that did not work, and then the clutch and slave cylinder was replaced as abnormal clutch wear found. Selection is easier but still jumps out of gear, and since clutch replaced reverse gear sometimes does not engage when gear stick pulled as far as it will go, car does not move back and there is a quite grinding noise.

I am told I need to wait 4 to 5 seconds after moving forward, before selecting reverse gear. Surely that is nonsense?

I am told I need to wait 4 to 5 seconds after moving forward, before selecting reverse gear. Surely that is nonsense?

No, if the gears are still spinning from forward motion then trying to engage reverse will cause a crunching noise as turning gears try to engage. A few seconds delay allows gear oil drag to stop everything and allow quiet engagement.

So I have to stop car, wait 4-5 seconds before I select reverse, then put it into car? Not sure thats very progressive with a modern car!

It's simple, don't disengage the forward gear until the car has stopped, keep clutch depressed and select reverse if there are no faults with the clutch then reverse will engage quietly. In the days when cars had no synchromesh on first or reverse to engage first quickly without crunching we always selected second or at least pulled the gear lever against the second gear synchro and then went into first. Those whose Jaguars had Moss gearboxes and could drive properly learnt this and had no problems.