Crap handbrake?

dimwit · July 26, 2003, 15:46

Has anybody had a problem with the handbrake, mine was on a incline parked at work and yes after 3 hours the car had rolled down the hill and hit a discovery.. Toyota put it down to driver error "bullshit" 3 witnesses have stated the handbrake was on when looking at the cars damage which was £1800 worth, not bad for a car 2 weeks old.. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Thank for any help

Anonymous · July 26, 2003, 15:50

Ouch. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Nope, handbrake works ok on mine (1.5years old), but after numerous handbrake stories I've taken to leaving mine in gear whenever parked too.

Numerous people have told me either of themselves, or others who had had the handbrake either come off, or not apply enough braking and so the car had rolled off down the hill/whatever.

And then there's old car stealing one, whereby they just roll under the car, snip the brake cable and then roll it onto the truck.

Sure leaving it in gear won't stop everything, but if there's a chance it'll help with either.... that's why I do it.

dimwit · July 26, 2003, 16:17

Yep Phil, i leave it in gear now, keep forgetting to take it out thou.. s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Toyota dealer who done the repairs told me that the rear discs have proberly heated up throu friction when handbrake was applyed, then releasing itself when the discs cooled back down? Seem to remember that problem with another car maker..

Anonymous · July 27, 2003, 09:52

Mate, take no notice of Mr T. it's all rubbish. The handbrake on the '2 IS useless and not only on the '2 but usually most other Toyota's too. I took my '2 for it's first MOT not that long ago to a garage that I really trust and I was talking to the guy who did the testing and without prompting, he said "Everything is A-OK on your car mate, as you would hope, but I would get the handbrake sorted. Its holding power is borderline fail. Don't worry, its not just these, I have had LOADS of Toyota's in here and they are all the same. I don't know why Toyota haven't done anything about it yet cos I know mate of mine who runs agarage in Essex has said the same thing. Toyota handbrakes are rubbish".

So there you go. even a independant has said they are useless. I didn't know this the first time I got the car. Was on a ramp in a multistory car park and was waiting in a queue. Put the handbrake on and it had virtually no effect with two people up. Nearly rolled back straight into a nice new £50,000 Range Rover!

Youo must be gutted with what has happened. It is a well known problem and I have heard a lot of people complain about it. Not sure you can get Mr T do do anything about it, but fro them to dismiss you like that is bang out of order. Might be worth looking into going to another dealer.......

dimwit · July 27, 2003, 12:09

Hi John,
Sent another letter to mrT saying what garantee it wont happen again as my mrs drives the car as well and she car'nt pull the leaver up far as me..
car stops rolling on 9 handbrake clicks she can only pull 8 clicks so she puts it in gear now!
My main concern is this problem happening to somebody else, with a more disasterous outcome as this 2 week old car which rolled 250yrds down hill in darkness..
I'll let you know if i get another reply from mrT.. s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Anonymous · July 27, 2003, 17:44

Yeah, please do, cos it is a problem and you do wonder why, with all these reports that Mr T hasn't done something about it by now....

Mind you, get the feeling Fiat are pretty similar. Mate of mine had a Punto GT. House was on a hill. His flatmate came in and found him watching telly. She thought he wasn't in cos she couldn't see his car. He said that it was parked outside as he had only just walked in. She said it wasn't. He went outside and there was no car. Thought it had been nicked. Walked down the road and foudn the car about half a mile away, upside down and a complete mess at the bottom of a 100 foot drop!!!

Nice eh?

Anonymous · July 28, 2003, 09:09

I had my handbrake adjusted by Toyota so it didn't need to be pulled on so much. However it's still not the best around.

I always leave any car I drive in gear when I park, I thought everyone did! That's what my driving instructor taught me anyway!

--H--

Anonymous · July 28, 2003, 09:46

My handbrake is not great, but handbrakes on cars with disk rear brakes are always crap in my opinion, my last car a Pug 306 failed every MOT on handbrake effort, and was a pain in the arse !!!

There is a handbrake force specified in the MOT test (ie 20lbs of effort on the handbrake lever must meet the braking effort on the rolling road), don't know the numbers but its pretty low specifically to ensure a lightly built lady can put the handbrake on properly. If the handbrake doesn't pass this then it is not roadworthy by law. If the car is under warranty the Toyota dealer must resolve this, although they might claim it needs new pads which could be considered wear and tear, but only if the old pads are worn below replacement thickness (pretty unlikely on the rears).

You just have to keep banging away at Toyota on this, document every call, and send faxes or recorded delivery letters, state that if you don't get a resolution within 14 days you will take legal advice.

Small claims court filing fee's are not that high, and normally just sending the dealer a copy of the completed paperwork (before submitting it) will be enough to get a major attitude change.

Good luck!

Anonymous · July 28, 2003, 10:06

but the Highway code states that you should always put a car in gear on a hill and not just apply the handbrake, so I don't think you would get any joy in a court. Modern cars are very prone to handbrake slippage - something to do with the change in brake pad materials. If it makes you fell any better, a know of several TT's that modified various hedges!

dimwit · July 28, 2003, 10:57

Thanks for the replys, no post from mrT this morning might just e-mail the top man (thread from a different post)..
When i passed my test i was told never to put the car in gear! and parking on a hill was to turn the front wheels towards the curb, so if the handbrake failed the rear tyres was to hit the curb.. Was anybody else learnt that? Mind you that rule does not apply on a big open car park as mine was, so yes i do leave it in gear now.. s:oops: :oops: s:oops: