Self-centering circuit

Hello to each other, I have a tricky question to which I would need an answer as soon as possible! A friend of mine wants to buy an old Audi or Mercedes in the near future, but has his concerns about the circuit. Since he just made his driver’s license everything should work as easily as possible with the first car. Here’s the problem: In the driving school he learned, for example, that when switching from the 2nd to the 3rd gear only the lever has to be pushed out of the 2nd gear, this then automatically jumps into the idling position between 3rd and 4th gear and you now only have to push it straight into the 3rd gear. So if this self-centering did not exist, would be very easy for an untrained driver to switch, especially when switching from 2nd to 3rd gear. The questions are now: 1) Is there this self-centering of the circuit for all new cars? 2) Since when does this self-centering exist and how was it otherwise with previous cars? Thanks already in advance Lt_Paris