Do you always use the parking brake?

My wife always insists on using that parking brake for every occasion, even in our garage (or as you would say - garedge ). Drives me nuts!

I only use it for inclines.

I'm not sure if the Yanks use their parking brakes as much as the English. Of course, you probably worry more 'bout some yob nick'n yer ride rather than it rolling away.

I was taught that unless you are on an incline, there was no need for the parking brake because the gear held it in place. That doesn't mean it is right though.

 

How can you drive with the break on? I guess you don't push it all the way down. If I forget to take it off the car just rears up and then I remember. I always use it and last car wash I had to instruct the guy to remove it. He was totaly lost. He turned it of and on and tried shifting to every possition.

 

I am a parking brake user from way back. Yes, I ever use it in my "gerge". I found when I don't use it, particularly when the car gets older, it is more likely to stick.

I let my 19 yr old son drive the car when he was on leave from the Marines, he didn't realize the parking brake was on and drove for about 3 miles. Rear tires were smokin' when he stopped. I asked "didn't you notice it was dragging?" His reply, I thought it was just a hybrid thing"

Of course, if he was able to drive away, the brake was apperntly not set tight enough (I choose to blame that on my wife, but don't tell her)

 

I never put the break on unless I am on an incline. Whenever I do put it on I do forget to turn it off and usually start driving with the break but very quickly realize it is on and shut it off. So if I can drive off with the break on that means that I didn't really put the break on? Hmmmm, how else do you turn it on then?

 

My Ford Explorer went 12 years and 200,000 miles and I only used the parking brake a handful of times. My wife's malibu is 7 years old and 145,000 miles, and we never use the parking brake on it. The Chevy Celebrity I had before my explorer lasted over 200,000 without using the parking brake.

If I was parking on the hills in San Francisco, I would probably use the parking brake. But for garages, driveways, and parking lots, where everything is pretty much level, there really is no point.

 

I have not ever used the parking brake and do not plan to. I have never had a non-manual transmission car roll. I have had a parking brake stick and had to deal with that nonsense. And yes I have parked on steep inclines w/o the brake.
Do yourself a favor, don't use the brake and don't worry about it. The parking brake is 20th century car part, remember you're driving a Prius.

 

Prius rolls on me all the time, albiet only an inch or two, but similar to a manual tranny in gear. If you don't use it, plan on never using it, since the tendancy to lock up from non-use is correct, as Schmicka pointed out above.

 

I can recall at least three major recalls for cars slipping out of park. In some cases chidren got injured or killed.

Anyone who does not use their parking brake is putting their family and others in danger. I can only assume those people DO NOT CARE about the safety of others.

You go on and not use that important safety feature. Just tell me your location so I can keep my family away.

jrohland...who ALWAYS uses his parking brake!

 

I only use it on a steep incline to prefent alot of strain on the parling pawl. I'm always afraid that the cable for the parking brake will freeze in the winter. And wouldn't you know it last winter i set the parking brake in my other car and the cable froze. It was a real hassle.

 

There is a thread on this very subject over at PriusOnline: http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=6298&highlight=

Actually, it is very easy to set the parking brake with what feels like adequate tension based on pedal resistance, but this is not enough hold the car immobile when it is put in gear. I've found that stomping the pedal down a couple more clicks makes all the difference in the world. Unfortunately, if you don't get it right the first time you can't just press in down a little further, since the next press of the pedal releases the mechanism and you have to start over. No problem for me ,but my wife (our Prius's "true owner") has a very difficult time pressing the pedal down hard enough to immobilize the car.

We have a fairly steep driveway, so I prefer not to trust the entire vehicle to the holding power of a transmission pawl, or whatever serves this function in the Prius. We learned the hard way with one of our stick shifts when I came out one morning to find the car had rolled down halfway into the street. It was left in some gear other than 1st and someone had forgotten to set the parking brake (center console lever style on this car). Naturally, I blame this on my wife since it was her car...and she's conveniently not here right now to defend herself.

 

I notice if you don't use the parking brake, and if you lean on the car in park gear, it moves a bit. So from that time on, I use it all the time. I guess it's just personal preference.

 

Always on substantial inclines, in any case give it a couple of cycles every month or so to keep the mechanism clean.

After any Prius service, check to make sure it has not been set a tiny bit.

 

Always. Setting it and releasing it are reflexes. This way I never have to worry about it.

 

My previous vehicle had a standard transmission, and with it, I always used the parking brake without fail. Funny, but that car was never garaged. It was always exposed to the elements, and not once did the parking brake ever stick. Even when I had to travel and parked it at the airport for nearly two weeks! I think that the problem here is intermittent use. With the Prius on level terrain, I tend not to use the parking brake as much.

One thing that startles me is the number of folks claiming to use the parking brake when parked on an incline. I was just in San Francisco last week, and one thing you will notice is that not only do the locals use parking brakes, but they also curb their wheels.
This simple little trick can save your butt when even the most advanced piece of "twentieth centrury" technology does something "it's not supposed to".

Do not just rely on what it is supposed to do. Consider what you can do when the unexpected happens. After all, even the Prius comes with a spare tire, right? B)

 

I always use mine. I've used it in all my vehicles since I learned to drive.

 

I suppose this thread can be summed up in the following manner:

No, you don't HAVE to use your parking brake, but it feels too uncomfortable not to use it on various inclines...

h34r:

 

When I moved to Connecticut in the '80s, my car had to sit still while they tested the parking brake by trying to drive foreward with it on.

I've always assumed from that test that a properly-applied functional parking brake is not supposed to let the car move at all. At least in Connecticut...

 

I always set the Parking Brake on any car, anytime I am parking.

I also set it before I remove my foot from the regular brake, and I put it in Park before removing my foot from the regular brake.

I don't trust parking pawls, and they are a lot more expenisive to replace/repair than a simple drum brake.