Automatic transmission, when starting off it shifts just fine, but when I get to a stop sign I have to come to a full and complete stop then wait a few seconds for the transmission to jerk into first gear. If I try to accelerate before it locks into gear it will rev the engine but does’nt go anywhere. This has been going on for about a month now and once the car has gone a few miles and warmed up, then the downshifting problem gets better. When putting the car in reverse it does’nt seem to completely lock into gear and takes a lot of extra acceleration to get it to move backwards. The fluid looks fine and the car has about 74,000 miles on it.
I have this exact same problem on my '93 fastback. Makes coming from a stop on a hill a real pain up the backside. The only solution that I have been able to find short of a full transmission rebuild is to simply depress the brake pedal and start to rev the engine very slowly for anywhere between two to five seconds. As you do, you’ll start to feel the car want to move forward, at which point you can let off the gas, then let off the brake and -then- proceed to move forward. It’s a tiny bit tricky to wrap your brain around at first, but eventually it just becomes as intuitive an action as driving the car normally. You’re going to want to be careful with how much throttle you use, as too much will just cause you to spin out once you let go of the pedal.