Automatic? Do you use the handbrake?

[v_forty]

Almost all previous cars I've owned have had manual gearboxes - the one exception was a C30, but that was still fitted with a traditional hand brake.

My current car, a 2009 XC90, has a foot pedal activated brake, and pull-handle to release. I think because of this, we're not in the habit of using the handbrake everytime we stop or park.

I'm curious - do others use the foot-hand-brake, or just put it in Park and leave it?

And if you so put it in park, if parking on a slope, do you turn the engine off before letting the foot brake off - then await what my kids call, The Lurch?

Seriously though, is relying just on the gearbox to hold the car going to cause any issues?

[john.wigley]

Firstly, 'v_forty', it is a legal requirement to set the handbrake when parking on a public road in any car - be it automatic or manual. The insurance implications alone if the car rolled away and caused an accident, and it could be shown that the brake had not been set, don't bear thinking about.

That said, I would tend to use the handbrake anyway, (and we have had only autos for 30 years now) not only for safety, but also to prevent it seizing in the 'off' position. The brake design on most Volvo models (drum in disc) can be problematic if neglected.

I try not to allow the pawl to stop the car, although on rare occasions it may roll forward taking up the slack, especially if parking on a steep slope. I understand that doing so places a greater load on it for which it was designed, and in extreme cases may result in it breaking. In that event, internal damage necessitating major gearbox repairs will inevitably ensure. Handbrake shoes are much cheaper to replace than major transmission repairs!

Regards, John.

[4x4]

The parking (hand) brake should be used every time, if not it can seize and will be an MOT failure. When you just leave the vehicle in Park you are putting a lot of tension on the parking pawl which can break and would be expensive to repair

Procedure for using the parking brake:

1. Bring vehicle to a halt with foot brake
2. Put gearbox into Neutral whilst holding the foot brake on
3. Apply the parking brake
4. Release the foot brake, the vehicle may move forward or backwards a couple of inches as the parking brake takes up the slack which is perfectly normal
5. Only once the car has stopped and the parking brake holding should the gear lever be moved to the Park position

[Simmy]

use the handbrake dont rely on a small gearbox component to hold a two and a half ton car if it fails and the car runs away it could end up expensive or even kill or injure some one

[Phil Croxley]

I agree with all of the above. It was a subject for discussion when I was on the Lexus forum. Apart from the added safety aspect, the constantly seizing parking brake was an issue, due solely to lack of use. If a car part is designed to move, move it must!

[EssexExile]

I've been driving automatics since the 70s and rarely use the handbrake. I only use it on steep slopes if I remember!

[Simmy]

why tempt fate for the pull of a handle?

[TimS]

I always apply the EPB (V70). I read somewhere that the locking pawl is mainly intended to prevent the transmission being rotated (by towing, for example) if the engine's not running, since doing this with no oil pressure is very bad for them. There are box-strip videos online, and I wouldn't be happy having that small part being the only thing holding the car.

It also comes down to mechanical sympathy, and I don't pull manual brakes on without pressing the ratchet button. Doing so wouldn't wear the ratchet excessively, but it doesn't seem right.

[Forg]

I'm amazed there are people who don't use the parking brake!

It's like fitting a seatbelt for me, you just do it, you don't question it or consider NOT using it. It's pretty close to being a reflex.

I'm not sure how much I could trust the locking pawl on an automatic. Not long after I started work at my first real job, I was in one of the pool cars & followed a bloke on a motorbike around a corner to find an unexpected traffic-jam ... I had time to stop before the first parked-car, but the guy on the bike dropped it, I guess to controlled-slide into the back of the car rather than slamming into it & being catapaulted over the top or something. Mild panic kicked in so I not only slammed on the brake, I kicked the 'box into Park. The tick-tick-tick noise it made wasn't even very loud, I was worried I'd rooted it, but it was fine (it was the Strayan-built widened version of an early 90's Mr Bishi Galant with the 2.6L Astron-II so it already had about 18 other fatal things wrong with it) ... it was obviously designed so that if some idiot shoved it in park while it was moving, it wouldn't engage the pawl.
Anyhoo ever since then I've kinda wondered what sort of force it might take for the pawl to just let go ... and would parking on a steep hill be enough for some cars?
[oh the bloke on the bike was fine, his bike barely touched the car in front & I was a fair bit short of him, he was properly dressed & it obviously wasn't his first rodeo]

[Kev0607]

I use the handbrake if I'm parked on a hill, but on pure level ground, I don't bother. I guess that's a habit I need to get out of. My car is auto.

My Brother parked his Nissan Primera many years ago on level ground on the drive outside. He applied the handbrake (it was a manual car with a manual handbrake). It was really cold weather at the time and the car was parked up for a few days out in the elements. He jumps into the car one day and found out that the brake had froze in place and he couldn't move the car. It ended up going to the garage and cost a few hundred to sort. He's not a fan of applying handbrakes, only on a hill.

My Volvo S80 has an electronic handbrake. I often wondered what the correct method of disengaging it is, if parked on a hill?

Do you just put it in "Drive" or "Reverse" depending on which way you're parked, tap the accelerator to disengage the handbrake and take off as normal? Or is there another procedure?