Fabia Heavy Gear Change 1st to 2nd

Hello , I'm a newbie looking for help.

My wife has a 2001 Fabia 1.4Mpi with 28,000 miles, which I just bought from a non Skoda dealer (he's a Main Opel dealer). Changing gear from 1st to 2nd is heavy,and needs a firm hand. This is far less slick than on my 2006 Octavia 1.9Tdi, and my wife is starting to complain about it ( need I say more).

The car has a 12 month Network Q warranty, but before I bring it back to the dealer, I wanted to see if this was common, as I have no doubt that the dealer will say that there isn't a problem. Also the rear doors leak, which I believe is a common problem. How do I fix this ?

Thanks for your help, I just bought a 1.9 Tdi Octavia, and now I'm a solid Skoda convert !