fwiw: I always apply the parking brake first on hills before putting my auto tranny in Park.. This way it can't torque lock in Park..

Which I'm sure most here are familiar with..

 

Words of wisdom from the man in Tennessee, honestly I forgot about the torque locking problem in automatic transmissions. Its sort of flat here in the Carolina Piedmont, not too many hilly areas to prompt my memory into remembering the "set the brake, then shift into park" deal on hills.

 

I donnno know about that first part ?
But not a pretty site rocking a car to unlock it outta park..

 

That there is def some good advice.



Seems like we are not the only site to have had this discussion. Here is a Miata site that came up in a search just now. http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=371055.

I also looked at CA DMV website and AZ MVD website and both just mention putting the car in gear. I don't think anyone but you would be responsible for damages even if you had it in reverse and then it came out of gear and the parking brakes failed. Well unless a mechanic had JUST worked on the rear brakes lol. As for cars not letting you remove the key unless in reverse, I have only seen that on GM's myself but not on either of the GM's that I own. I think GM realized the error in their thought process there.

 

You bet !!! It was called, "Dead Battery Syndrome" and was a major problem for owners of Vette's that had this, as well as GM "eating" the cost of REPETITIVE warranty repairs.

 

I had a manual Golf Diesel parked on what I thought was a perfectly level driveway while I was working in the garage. I NEVER set the brake on that driveway. I was working in the garage no more than 20 feet from where I'd parked the car when I heard a crash and turned to see the car missing. The car had popped out of reverse and rolled about 40 feet and half way through a block retaining wall. The shifter was still partly in the reverse gate and it was the 1st of many times it popped out of gear. I always use the handbrake now.

My SS is like the donbrew's, I've had it adjusted several times and it just doesn't hold well. I am very careful where I park it, leave it in gear with the parking brake set as tightly as I can, and turn the wheels in the direction most likely to stop the car with the least damage in case it decides to take itself for a joy ride.