There is a loud sound that occurs in the back of my car right after I’ve stopped to park. It’s pretty startling especially if it’s happening as I’m opening my door. Someone has suggested it’s the auto park / brake or emergency brake turning on. I don’t understand why I didn’t notice it during the first two months of ownership. Almost sounds like a saw cutting metal for a few seconds. If I sit in the car for a few minutes I hear a very brief version of it again. Is this normal and could someone explain what it is?I’m familiar with all the other robotic sounds. Thanks so much!
Has gen 5 got the motorized parking brake that applies itself? It'll take a long time for me to get over my partiality to the old mechanical kind with a cable.
The parking brake is reasonably muted. You can definitely hear it, but I would never call it a loud screeching noise. I would say it's something like someone in the next room switching an electric razor on for one or two seconds and then switching it off. It's easy enough to test if that's the issue by manually engaging the parking brake with the switch in the center console. If you push/pull that switch and it makes the noise you're concerned about, then it's the parking brake. If it's not the same noise, then something else is doing it. BTW, all the noise is is a couple of motors that basically just mechanically squeeze the brake pads to the rotors. The reason for the motors is so the parking brake doesn't release if the hydraulic brake system fails.
Same reason it's a steel cable in the old-school non-motorized version. If it sounded like an electric razor when new and now sounds like a loud screech, maybe there's a story behind it.
I would say with doors and windows shut it might sound like an electric razor but with window open it’s loud like a saw cutting into metal. I’ll try manually engaging today but I think I’ve tried this before and didn’t notice any noise. I found a video that explains what’s going. Exact sound but mine is a bit louder. It was only happening occasionally and now it’s every time I park which seems strange.
Does that leave you then with nothing but the transmission holding the car when you park? I would also wonder whether a long period of disuse might let the auto parking brake bind up so that you then wouldn't have it if you did want it (say, got a transmission P-lock warning on the dash).
Have you changed parking conditions? Are you currently parking more often in areas with stuff around you like walls or other vehicles which is reflecting more of the sound back to you? That could make it sound louder to you even if the actual volume hadn't changed. I might also look underneath the rear to make sure the black covers are still on both servos. If you have someone who can help you, I'd have them sit in the car and use the parking brake switch. Then I'd stand at the rear of the car and listen to see if one side was noticeably louder than the other. If they're both the same, I'd lean toward it being a normal sound. It's extremely unlikely BOTH servos would start to fail at the same time on a new car. But if one is making more noise than the other, then there's probably a problem with the loud one.
Thanks. I should have stopped by the dealership today. If there is something wrong, hopefully I’m not causing any harm. I’ll take a look to see if I notice anything underneath. I have been parking in a fairly open parking area this entire time.
