hello there,I bought ex-demo Ceed in February this year. Excellent car in every single respect except same problem as you. 3rd 4th and fifth gears areOK but 1st to 2nd is very notchy and for me a real problem. On motorway journeys car is fine but had to do long journey through central London recently and got in a long traffic jams. By the time I got home my hand and left arm were completely numb. Also I often have drivers honking and gesticulating behind at lights as I try to get into 2nd! Only done 7000 miles whenI bought the car and it was immaculate and had superb equipment. Its so frustrating and disappointing since everything else about the car is great. How did I miss it when I bought the car? I worked out that I purchased it in an open rural area and in the ten minutes that I drove it I probably only used the 1st to 2nd once! Funny though, did lot of research before buying this car but no one ever said anything about a poor gear change! Even the critics in newspapers and magazines and Which? never mentioned anything about a poor gearbox only all the positives. Like you I have reached the decision that I have made a mistake and probably an expensive one. But hope it still works out for you.