This is my first manual (98 legacy outback), so I don't really know a whole lot. 9 times out of 10 it's really hard to shift into first gear. I've tried double pumping the clutch, and still hardly works. Most often I have to actually turn the car off and it will go into first without an issue. Then with reverse... if the car is running, it only grinds. So it's another instance of having to turn the car off to shift into reverse. Any ideas?