Kangoo starting rough gearbox

Sounds frustrating! I have the same model Kangoo, and I had a similar issue a while back. The engine wouldn't start sometimes, and the gear changes were rough when it did. I wonder if it could be related to the neutral position sensor or even the gear linkage itself? Worth checking those before you panic too much. Does it feel like it's struggling to 'find' the gears?

That's really helpful! When you say neutral position sensor, is that something I could check myself, or is it best left to someone who knows what they're doing? And how would I even begin to look at the gear linkage? I am not very experienced in these matter, any help is appreciated!

Honestly, if you're not confident, I'd strongly suggest taking it to a workshop. My problem ended up being a defective control unit, which I believe is a somewhat common issue on these. It was causing all sorts of weirdness with the transmission and preventing the engine from starting sometimes because it thought it wasn't in Park. Cost me around 1000€ to get sorted. I’d say get it scanned for error codes and then go from there. Hopefully yours is something simpler, but it does sound awfully familiar.

Right, that's what I feared. Thanks so much for your help! I have made an appointment with my mechanic. I will mention the control unit issue and hopefully he can diagnose it quickly. It's a relief to have some idea of what might be going on before I take it in. Fingers crossed it won't cost me too much!