My teenage daughter, who is just learning to drive, points out that my wife and have I have given her different instructions about how to shutdown the car. My approach is first parking button, next parking foot brake (if it's going to be used), and then shut car off. Her approach is parking foot brake and then shutting car off, and then of course, shutting off the car engages the park mechanism the same way the P button does. I think that the car engaging the parking mechanism as part of shutoff is just a backup, and that our daughter should learn to put a car in park and before shutting off the car. I also think the car should be in park (whether it be by button or turning off) before engaging the parking brake. Who's right?
Ho ho... That's a tough one. Thankfully you don't have a car with no button at all, cause then you'll add that to the equation (just walk out and the car will turn off and lock itself!) or in my car where turning the car off puts the car into Park and engages the parking brake. Err... Technically you're both right. I would say, as long as your daughter understands what the Park button is for and how it may differ in other cars (could be at the end of a stalk or the old school PRNDL shifter) and that if she's ever in a car that she's uncertain, she should look for the "P" button or position, that should be fine. I would also say maybe do your way for the length of instruction and after she gets her full licence, then she can do it the shortcut way? Or also show her how a car might react if the parking brake isn't applied but Park is and vice versa (or tell her since you may not have a car with a key-in ignition. So explain that you can't remove the key if the shifter is not in Park. Pay attention to clues before exiting the vehicle). Also, I know you're looking for affirmation on this but a slight tweak to your instructions (Because the order your wife gave is correct), I was also told to put the parking brake FIRST, then put the car into Park when I was learning to drive. This way, the car is held by a brake in case the parking pawl fails.
I think on a Prius without a mechanical shifter it does not matter. I have done the Power button only since 2008 and each and every time it is shudown and was in Park. However I have heard plenty of stories where the driver used Park, the engine was not running and they got out and left the car in Ready - sometimes all day or night.
@Tideland Prius, interesting -- most recently, and part of what inspired this post, was when my daughter and I were in the car, she followed my wife's procedure, parking brake, power off. When we got out the car, the car groaned a bit, as though it were unhappy. I wondered if that groan was the brake pads moving slightly as it found the parking pawl? If so, it seems like that may produce some unnecessary wear and tear on the pads? Also, what you're thought on whether the parking brake should always be used, even on relatively flat ground? We debate this one as well. @rjparker, I think our Prius beeps if you take the key out but leave it "on," but your point is well-taken -- pushing one button to accomplish two tasks, as opposed to pushing one button and forgetting to push a second button to accomplish the other task.
Re: use of the P button, I couldn't get too excited about it one way or the other, given that the car's electronic controls are going to do the exact same thing if you just power off as would happen if you hit P first. I generally only press P if I intend to stay in the car for a while in READY, waiting for a good song to end or for somebody I'm picking up. If I'm just turning the car off, I just turn it off. As far as the order of doing things, there was a step 1 sort of left implicit: I got the car into this parking space and stopped it by using the service brake. My foot is still on that, so the car isn't moving. My other foot will apply the parking brake before the first foot comes off the service brake. My service-brake foot lifts off only after the car is both parking-braked and in P. So, the car stays motionless and never has that little roll-bounce against the parking pawl. I'd say the objective for your daughter is as much as possible not to learn rote rules, but to grok what's going on with the car. So maybe also try some variations. P first, then foot off the brake before applying the parking brake, just to learn what that roll and little bounce on the parking pawl feel like. On near-level ground of course, not somewhere that would make a hard bounce. Then apply the parking brake and compare how the car actually stays put, rather than rolling a bit back and forth with a pawl dropped in a notch. Advanced lesson, maybe trigger a P lock error, co-pilot reaches behind glove box while unparked and unplugs park actuator connector. Car will ding and say PARK IN A LEVEL PLACE AND APPLY PARKING BRAKE. So go and do that, and notice how nothing keeps the car from rolling until the parking brake is applied. (Then plug the stuff back in.)
@ChapmanF, haha love the advanced lesson! I'm still wrapping my mind around the advantages of service brake and parking brake at same time, vs. service brake and power off at hte same time. Or is the ideal all three at once: service brake, parking brake, power off? Note to all: I see my posts are being moderated, so my replies may appear at little out of order.
Taught my Son brake pedal, parking brake, Park then power down. The last two steps don't really matter on the Prius, but does on normal cars it does. FTR...this routine was from living in hilly areas and to keep the load off the pawl. While the Prius power and park button do the same thing as it relates...he will not always drive a Prius or vehicle with like system. YMMV
Hmm, that I'm not sure. If I'm in a position where I want to ensure the brakes are holding or that the parking brake is holding the car, I would actually apply the parking brake, shift to neutral and release the brake pedal to let the car sit on the parking brake, then press P (or turn off the car) so that I know the pawl isn't holding some or all of the weight. For me, I just use the parking brake all the time because I have flat and hilly areas around me and it's safer for me to remember if I have to apply the brake all the time then to remember "oh I'm on a hill this time, use the parking brake!". Just like pressing "P" before turning off the car, it's about the repetition so that one remembers to do so when needed or when one gets into an unfamiliar car (rental, friend's car, new car etc).
I'm going to suggest that daughter learns to select park before de-powering the car. She might someday wind up in other kinds of cars, where it is more important or even somehow necessary to shift into 'park' before shutting down. Toyota obviously didn't have to make the Prius work this way- they went to the trouble of making their controls similar to lots of other cars already on the market and familiar to the world's drivers. So never mind what a Prius does or doesn't do, teach her how to drive the Theoretical Average Everycar.
More important then the sequence is to make sure your kid always has their foot firmly on the brake pedal EVERY TIME you shift gear or push park and EVERY TIME you start the car up and turn it off. And clearly don't actually have to have your foot on the brake pedal when turning the car off, nor when hitting the park button, but it's an essential safety habit that is better off done as muscle memory.
I couldn't have said it better myself. It's good practice to firmly hold the brake as you shift into Park, firmly apply the parking brake, then let off the brakes to let the car settle onto the parking brake. This is especially useful on an incline (at least with conventional transmission cars), so that you don't put strain on the parking pawl and can shift out of Park easily.
Put the toilet seat down before flushing. Rinse repeat On a steep hill get the car to settle into the parking break so it's not pulling the pawl.
Speaking of alleviating load on the pawl… Holding the brake (service or parking) ensures the car is not in motion when the P is engaged.
@M123; IMHO; if you got another car to teach her in - you probably want to do that, so she can see the differences and figure out how to operate them successfully. Not all rental fleets will have a Prius available for her. If she ever goes overseas, learning how to drive a manual transmission would also be helpful. I learned on an old Ford falcon with 3 on-the-tree - Everything else after that was child's play. FWIW; I had to replace the clutch on it before I could start learning. My older brother blew it out while he was learning. LoL.... Free labor, what else are families for..... Hope this helps....
Sorry im late to the party here but i could not resist! Not sure if this stands for all regions but the correct way to park an automatic vehicle has always been taught in Australia like this.... 1. stop the vehicle where you want to park 2. with foot on brake pedal select N (Neutral) 3. engage parking brake 4. remove foot from brake pedal and make sure the vehicle is secure via the park brake, if the vehicle still moves you have not engaged the parking brake enough, try again until the vehicle is securely sitting on the park brake and does not move. 5. press park 6. press power button to shut down vehicle .. dont be a CLUUUUNKKKin' that Pawl
I took driver training way back when, and at least with the “school” I went with, they advocated to always roll an angled front wheel to the curb (if there was one, on a slope). I’ve tried to stick with that. Depending on direction of slope, angle wheel appropriately, shift to neutral (finally, a use for it ), then gently ease off brake till tire’s at curb.
