96 jetta

i recently got a 96 jetta. the vehicle drives great in every gear (manual) with no slippage and will go into reverse it just won't back up. Was told that it might be a linkage problem. not sure if it would be worth the trouble to fix if it eed a new tranny.

Get under the car (engine off) and have someone shift it into reverse. Watch what moves and after they let go, push the bar to make sure it's fully in gear. Let the car down, start it with the clutch pushed and see if the reverse works. If not, you'ld probably be better off getting a trans from a junk yard than fixing it yourself. It's been a few years since I looked inside my transmission and it wasn't too complicated, but I remember that it was very difficult to find parts.