Grinding coming from shifter, especially when downshifting

[vibinout06]

Ok so this has me really stumped. I know what a gear grind sounds like. I had a 19' Veloster turbo w/ a 6 speed manual for a couple years and for some reason it would grind third once every 100 shifts. It's a terrible, heart aching, bone chilling noise that you'll never confuse with something else.

So my 06' vibe gt makes a faintish grinding noise, and it sounds like it's coming from the shifter/ shifter base area. This is not a loud noise whatsoever, not like a transmission gear grind would sound like from my experience. I hear it most often downshifting into 4th gear, and sometimes downshifting into 3rd. So it seems like the higher the revs I'm shifting at, makes this more likely to happen. I haven't heard the noise come from any other gear. If stereo is loud enough I won't hear it at all, but I'll feel it in the shifter.

I've tried researching to see if others had a similar problem but I haven't had any luck, so now I've resorted back to you guys. Thanks for your time, I appreciate any comments or questions.

[vibinout06]

I can try and post an audio file somewhere if that helps. I don't think it's possible over this site.

[SeattleJeremy]

Sounds like the 3/4 gear synchro's are going out. This is not a common issue on the Toyota 6-speed transmissions.

How many miles on the transmission? Have you regularly changed the gear fluid?

[vibinout06]

I purchased this car just about a month ago with 216k miles. I've yet to check the gear fluid, but I'll make sure I get on that asap!

[vibinout06]

The last owner changed the fluid only a few times based on records. Last one was done in 2020.