What do you do?

Not trying to get into a debate about which method is right.

Any interesting stories about cars rolling off on their own? Letting friends drive your car and they leave it in gear w/o you knowing, I had a friend who had a turbo timer and his friend left his car in gear. Well, long story short... He pressed the remote start and there was lots of damage to his car and his garage.

I only leave the car in gear when parking on a hill. If im parking up hill (in reverse) and downhill (1st gear). On flat surfaces I just park the car in neutral w/ ebrake up.

How about you?

 

neutral with parking brake. i hate it when people leave the car in gear.

 

Corrected.

 

5MT Driver here, both cars

My Taurus I had to leave it in gear, because my parking brake would cease up if I left it on longer then 2 hours
( Ford) - that's getting fixed over the winter.

My Golf I just use the e-brake. Since you can start it without the clutch and I like to just reach in and start it to let it warm up, I wouldnt be able to do that with it in gear

 

I usually leave it in 4th w/ parking brake

 

First gear and emergency brake on. Only time I put it in neutral is when I think there might be a chance that the car could be hit in the front or back.. helps save damage to the drive train. Oh, and I never pull the emergency brake up hard unless I have to.

 

Handbrake and then in gear so the car isn't resting on the box but it is there for backup. Eventually you will forget one out of sheer chance, it's always better to have a backup. I keep it in reverse or first b/c of low ratios.

 

Yep... exactly

 

I leave it in neutral most of the time unless I am parked on a hill

 

Yep very important!

 

:metoo:

But I pull the handbrake and put it in first gear....

 

Just handbrake since im always on a flat surface.

If im on a hill, then i use both.

But in freezing temps i just leave it in gear. Dont want the ebrake to get stuck.

 

I always left it in first gear, but that's because my ebrake would always get stuck

 

I leave my S2K in neutral with the e-brake up

 

First gear, but tucson is pretty flat.

My old vw I always put the parking break on though, the lincage was worn out and it would pop out of gear. Once I woke up and it was parked perfectly in my neihbors yard across the street.

 

Neutral with e-brake; hill, in first or reverse with brake

 

In 2nd gear with the handbrake on. Always.
Also leave the e-brake on in my Explorer. Again always. It's habit. I do it in rental cars or whatever car I'm driving.

 

1st gear with handbrake. Always.

 

Neutral w/e-brake- It's the easiest as I'm usually coasting into a parking spot.

 

in the 'lude..

If on a flat surface (parking lot or what not), I just do neutral and e-brake.
If on a driveway, or any kind of hill for that matter, I pull up in neutral, pull up the e-brake, let go of the actual brake, and then put it in first.

 

I have an autostarter in teh xBox, so I must leave it in neutral...Although my moron brother accidentally left it in reverse and autostarted it, causing it to hump a jeep behind it and crack my rear bumper...

 

+1

 

N + E-Brake, but that might be changing soon because the e-brake is getting a little weak.

 

I have an uncle that would puts his cars in gear and one time he was in a hurry ment to put the car in gear and ran into the house for a second came back out and the car had rolled down the hill next to his driveway. Its kind of funny but kind of sucks. It was on a legend and couldnt have done that much to it because its still running at 170k.

 

Leave in neutral most of the time only because hubby does the same. We came to an agreement before I started driving stick so that we would both know where it was when we hopped in! He had a story about driving into the back wall of the garage in gear, so that's why he uses neutral. Whatever. Doesn't mean much to me--it's a brand new car and the e-brake works just fine.

 

Either way, I always have a habit of wiggling the shifter left to right when getting in the car to make sure it's in Neutral before releasing the clutch

 

In first gear (every once in a while in reverse - depending on how is the car tilted).

It's just a habit. I never leave it in neutral. Plus I have never adjusted the e-brake, so the backup gear is mandatory in my case.

 

Same here...


When I first got my Integra the e-brake was VERY LOOSE. The guy who sold it to me messed around with it or something, and the two screws holding the e-brake down weren't even screwed in at all. You could pull it all the way up, get it stuck up against the center console, and it would still wiggle; it would feel like you could pull it up several more inches. When you got out you could still push the car, even though it would be a little difficult.

When parked on a incline the car would slide maybe a millimeter or two every 10 seconds with just the e-brake all the way up. So I was forced to put the e-brake up and put it in 1st gear, unless I wanted my car to end up in the middle of the street, and it is very busy where I live at.

I've been told to put in in 1st, 2nd and reverse. What real difference does it make? I try to put it opposite of what the incline is, but what happens when the surface is flat?

 

It doesn't really matter which gear you leave it in (if that's what you do), each one with lock the car in gear the same way.

 

No, it's harder to turn the engine via the wheels in lower gears.

 

same here

 

When I had my 94 626 V6 and 89 Colt GT (although 5MT not 6MT), same deal here.

 

1st + ebrake

 

i always leave my car in gear, however, I always set the parking break and make sure it holds the car before i let my foot off the clutch as well.

Even if you have an auto you should always set the parking brake first to prevent any unnecessary strain on your transmission.

 

It really doesn't matter which gear you leave it in... I tend to leave it in 2nd.....

just me, a habit I put into 2nd after ebreak...

 

Nothing but reverse here