Car rolled out of driveway while Ebrake is engaged.

[shehatezme]

I have heard of this happening to the b5 Sedans before but never the b6. I parked in my driveway today, which is not very steep, and pulled my ebrake while leaving the car in neutral. After about 15 mins of being in my house, I looked out the window to find that my car had rolled out of its spot. So I ran out to see what was wrong. It ended up at the bottom of my driveway when I got out. My doors were locked and my ebrake was engaged so no one should have tempered with it. This leads me to believe that I probably have a faulty ebrake since my ebrake was engaged high enough when I got into the car to check. Thank GOD no one was behind the car when it rolled out of my driveway. I should make it a habit to engage into a gear from now on when I park my car just for precautionary measure. This is a warning for everyone to be more careful. I know I will from now on. Also, for those that own a B6, does your armrest get in the way of your ebrake when you engage it? I find mine to be the case.

[kwan]

Yea, I almost always put it up unless I'm doing some long cruising.

[Anthony]

You should definitely make it a habit to leave your car in gear when on any incline. That could have been really really bad. Wheeeew!

[dbtong]

Someone was REALLY lucky tonite! Glad to hear it didn't turn out worse.

I used to always make it a habit to park in gear. I admit I don't do it as often now...only on steeper inclines.

[wombatt_0]

sorry guys but excuse me for asking - when you say leave it in gear when your on and incline does that mean for an automatic that would be like park-drive or the other gears? thanks

[SoCalAgentMSK]

Automatic trannys are different... Park works fine and the car wont roll while in P. However for an incline you should still use the e-brake so the weight of the car is not supported by your transmission but by the brakes of the car.

Originally posted by wombatt_0
sorry guys but excuse me for asking - when you say leave it in gear when your on and incline does that mean for an automatic that would be like park-drive or the other gears? thanks

[RippleChip]

I've heard of this with the cooling of the system, its hold on the brakes are not as hard.

Man you got really lucky, that could of sucked.

[neoprufrok]

Wow. Hopefully AOA can help you out with that. That is very fortunate that nothing happened.

[A4 - Oh Snap]

You mean people with manual tranny's actually leave their car in Neutral on hills? Wow.

Originally posted by Anthony
You should definitely make it a habit to leave your car in gear when on any incline. That could have been really really bad. Wheeeew!

[DELUX]

rule of thumb. if youre facing uphill, leave your car in first. if downhill, leave in reverse. of just always leave it in first.

[jones3000]

This happened to a guy a know just two days after buying a new GLI. AoA is not to blame. It's with every car. Always leave it it gear. Incline, decline or flat surface.

[2K4 Arctic]

.. happened to me too, im a beginner stick driver so i didnt know about the gear rule. Lucky for you, you didnt get a 115 dollar ticket for it on YOUR OWN driveway. NYC SUCKS.

[widm3r]

Harsh harsh, good thing to remind myself even though i knew that, i dont know it at this state of mind frame!

[piaadoll]

may be your car wanted to go for a drive?

whoah...i hardly put my car in gear when i'm parked...only when i'm on a really steep incline....may be i should train myself to leave it in first regardless..

as for the armrest.....i always drive with mine up....so i wouldn't know about the e brake thing.

thank goodness your car didn't roll very far without any incidents.

[KkHoliday]

Roll-a-ways are bad.....If your car rolls and hits another car, they put the last driver of the vehicle at fault for the accident, as if they were behind the wheel, when you report it to your insurance company.

-Kk

[Vanimaniac]

Originally posted by dELuX-A4
rule of thumb. if youre facing uphill, leave your car in first. if downhill, leave in reverse. of just always leave it in first.

That is exactly what I do. I always leave my car in first and use the ebrake.

2 exceptions: If I am facing downhill, I leave it in reverse instead of first. If just finishing a really hard drive like at the track or an autocross, I just leave it in gear but no ebrake. Don't want to warp anything.

Also if I am on an incline parked next to a curb I cut the wheel so that if it was to roll, the curb would stop the car.

Glad nothing more serious happened!

Van

[audidood]

always leave your car in gear, my friend. unless you're practicing for a turbo timer

[EVIL-AUDI]

I had that happen in my B5 more than a few times before the dealer fixed it right.

[Imperial]

Wow, that's pretty random. Good thing there wasn't anyone behind you, right?

Guess I'm glad I park in the garage for the time being. Time to make a habit of parking in gear....

[Saturnine]

Well, how far up did you yank the ebrake up?

[DTMLGND]

Happened to me too. I think it slowly went down the driveway in to the gutter and sat before going into the street. I was very lucky also. Leaving it in gear from now on. And yes, the armrest gets in the way all the time. Hate it!!

[1sicknickel]

same thing happened to me awhile back. I came out to my car like wtf is my car doing in the street

[Wilafur]

Originally posted by Saturnine
Well, how far up did you yank the ebrake up?

i second this.

[Saturnine]

Well Ben???

[HX_Guy]

Same thing happened to be the other day...but my e-brake was on and the car was in gear! Four of us got into the car, and I'm guessing it was due to the weight that it started rolling...but even with it in gear? I found that a little odd.

[shehatezme]

Originally posted by Saturnine
Well Ben???

It was up, not as far as it would go up but far enough. 3/4 of the way?

[Wilafur]

Originally posted by shehatezme
It was up, not as far as it would go up but far enough. 3/4 of the way?

welp, imo, that is the problem. it was not far up enough to fully engage the e-brake.

[shehatezme]

But that is the same distance I have been pulling it to for the duration of the ownership on this vehicle. Left my car on an incline that way if not 50 at least 40 times. This is the first time it rolled back.

[Wilafur]

well, you were lucky 50 times.....

pull your ebrake 100% up.......its not like you turn your headlights 3/4 of the way on....catch my drift?