Car would not shift into first gear or into reverse from a stop - slight rolling required as if the synchromesh was broken or something (I know it does no have that), or if the clutch cable was not adjusted properly (does not have this either, its hydraulic).

Car out of 3 yr warranty, but only 39K miles on it.

Took it to my local shop, Tomas Tuning, to confirm and then fix the problem. Not driver error, clutch plates in great shape.

They were surprised to find a broken spring INSIDE the pressure plate, snapped through, which was causing the problem. $2500 , 1300 in parts (excessive too, nothing reusable) to replace a 10$ spring.

Car was purchased new 9/28/2012, missed the powertrain warranty.

Car is on its 4th water pump, which VW did pay for in 9/1/2017

It was impossible to engage first or reverse. When trying to go into those gears, the gearshift lever would offer resistance and the car would creep forward or backward (depending on the desired gear selection). I could easily start off in 2nd gear, but I think this would eventually lead to a short clutch life and a burnt flywheel.

Unfortunately, to change the clutch slave cylinder, the transmission must be removed. And while you're there, you might as well replace the clutch disk (at least, ~$300 for the stock clutch disk). You might consider changing the flywheel, too, if you've been experiencing this problem for very long. At a very leisurely pace, I did this job in about 5 hours, on the ground in my garage. I found that the job was made easier by removing the front suspension subframe, but you really should use the T10096 subframe location bolts ($20+ each, four required) when disassembling the subframe. Without removing the subframe, I would think that it might be no fun getting the passenger-side drive axle flange "off" around an "ear" on the engine block.