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robertc808 · 16th January 2007, 08:26

I just want to make one thing completely clear here:

The parking brake was fully on

I experimented later on that afternoon with the car on our drive, which is a slight incline. In that case (brakes probably cold), the handle had to be about half off before the car started creaking indicating that the braking force was slipping. I looked at the photos my wife took immediately after the incident and I would challenge anyone to say that the handbrake was not fully on based on the angle of inclination of the handle, which is obviously the only way you can tell.

I am not disputing the wisdom of leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels on any sort of slope, just like I would not dispute the wisdom of driving defensively. However, the parking brake is there for a reason and, in my opinion, if it can fail in the manner I have reported, it is simply not working properly and therefore potentially very dangerous. As someone else mentioned, if you take the line about always leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels, you could argue that we don't need to bother with airbags and tell people to drive more carefully.

My concern is that the car can then be checked at a garage with the brakes in a different condition and ostensibly pass the handbrake test but still be liable to failure - Honda have done nothing to convince me that this will not happen again and I will have to ensure that the car is always in gear etc. when I park, which I have never had to do with any other car I have owned up to now.

If this is a one-off problem with my car, I want it fixed, but the local Honda dealer says there is nothing wrong.
If this is a general problem with Civics (there would appear to be some evidence that others have the same problem), it needs to be looked into into more detail by Honda.
If this is a general problem with any car with discs at the rear, there needs to be a campaign to tell the public that they must always leave their car in gear on any incline.

For goodness' sake, this is 2007!! Surely, if there is an issue with discs cooling, which by all accounts there does seem to be, then all manufacturers (I know some do already) should be forced to put a safety mechanism such as a backup drum or other system to ensure that the braking force doesn't drop off so much?

16th January 2007, 08:26	#30 (permalink)
robertc808 Valve Cap Join Date: 3rd January 2007 Location: Huddersfield, UK Posts: 25 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Fully on I just want to make one thing completely clear here: The parking brake was fully on I experimented later on that afternoon with the car on our drive, which is a slight incline. In that case (brakes probably cold), the handle had to be about half off before the car started creaking indicating that the braking force was slipping. I looked at the photos my wife took immediately after the incident and I would challenge anyone to say that the handbrake was not fully on based on the angle of inclination of the handle, which is obviously the only way you can tell. I am not disputing the wisdom of leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels on any sort of slope, just like I would not dispute the wisdom of driving defensively. However, the parking brake is there for a reason and, in my opinion, if it can fail in the manner I have reported, it is simply not working properly and therefore potentially very dangerous. As someone else mentioned, if you take the line about always leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels, you could argue that we don't need to bother with airbags and tell people to drive more carefully. My concern is that the car can then be checked at a garage with the brakes in a different condition and ostensibly pass the handbrake test but still be liable to failure - Honda have done nothing to convince me that this will not happen again and I will have to ensure that the car is always in gear etc. when I park, which I have never had to do with any other car I have owned up to now. If this is a one-off problem with my car, I want it fixed, but the local Honda dealer says there is nothing wrong. If this is a general problem with Civics (there would appear to be some evidence that others have the same problem), it needs to be looked into into more detail by Honda. If this is a general problem with any car with discs at the rear, there needs to be a campaign to tell the public that they must always leave their car in gear on any incline. For goodness' sake, this is 2007!! Surely, if there is an issue with discs cooling, which by all accounts there does seem to be, then all manufacturers (I know some do already) should be forced to put a safety mechanism such as a backup drum or other system to ensure that the braking force doesn't drop off so much?