poll do you use your parking brake?

If I'm on any slope at all I use it. If parked in a level spot, such as my garage, I don't.

 

Same with San Carlos Jeff - if I'm on a hill, I use it. Of course, I haven't parked on a hill yet, so I have never used it.

 

I made a habit out of always using my parking brake. I recall reading that it is especially important to use with CVT.

 

I always do. Don't know why, just habit I guess. I don't think it hurts anything to use it all the time, and doing so won't wear it out, just can't forget and drive off with it on. That would be bad news. B)

 

Always use it - manual trans, auto trans, level ground or on a hill. It just seems like the right thing to do.

My Dad's 1957 Plymouth Belvedere had no such thing as Park - just R, N, D1 and D2. you had to use the...parking brake!

 

Always, without fail.

 

once or twice a week, to keep the rear drums in adjustment.

 

Yes, hence the term parking brake.

 

I always do (well, except when I'm driving).

 

haha, i dont even know how to use my parking brake. I've had the prius less than a week and havent had a chance to really read the manual. In Indiana there are no such things as hills so I'm not to worried about it.

 

Never, unless I'm changing oil. But then I live in Kansas.

 

Always, except when parked in the garage. I've always been in the habit of using a parking brake. My previous car had a hand brake in the center console area, so I had to adapt my habit to the foot pedal. Otherwise, it was a completely natural transition.

One interesting side effect: My Chrysler Town & Country also has a foot pedal parking brake, but it uses the traditional hand lever release rather than the Prius' push-on push-off design. Every once in a while I catch myself trying to push-release the van's brake. And the first time the family investigated the Prius, one of them asked, "Where's the parking brake release?"

- Justifyd

 

I never really used a parking brake when I drove a standard vehicle. I typically don't engage the emergency brake on an automatic either, unless I am on an incline. I especially make sure not to engage the emergency brake in cold/freezing weather so my brakes don't freeze. I don't know if that is fact or myth but it is what I learned when I started driving. But I like Galaxee's suggestion, so maybe I will start doing that.

 

Is it just me, or is there no poll on this poll?

I do use mine, almost all the time. But it did take a long time to get to this level of dedication. The transition from handbrake to footbrake was a tough one. very much prefer the hand-style.

 

Only time I use it is when I'm changing the oil and filter. So far, every time I have parked my car it's been on level ground.

 

Always.

 

99.9%

I had been driving sticks before, so the parking brake was required.... ( .1% for human error)

 

Hardly ever. In fact, I hadn't used it at all until I read in another thread that the rear drum adjusters only work when you use the parking brake. So I'm forcing myself to use it a couple of times a week.

My first vehicle was a 74 Ford Courier pickup. If you used the parking brake, the cable would stretch and it wouldn't work anymore. I adjusted it best I could, and then never used it unless it was truly an emergency. That's how I got the habit of never using the parking brake.