Yeah that's what I always do too.

I hate it when I get my car back from the valet or mechanic, they never use the parking brake and only use the tranny in park to keep the car from rolling, even if the car is on an incline. It seems to be a universal rule for them. I try not to use the valet but sometimes its unavoidable.

 

Same here, doing the same thing ever time I park my car. It's a second nature as well...

 

heh, its a whole new ball game when you have the stick.

anyone with the stick here having problems? I find that i have to yank the handbrake as hard as i physically can, and then i let go of the footbrake to see if its holding, and then i put the car in gear and shut it off.

i find that the handbrake is useless. on a very SMALL incline, if i pull the handbrake 4-5 notches, it does not hold. i have to hear 8 notches for it to hold. Stealership told me that 5-8 clicks is normal. I dunno....any inputs?

 

I have been having this problem, had the dealer look at it and they said everything was fine. I tried it again and I think I was doing one of two things.

I was either
a) not pushing the brake hard enough

or

b)not giving the car enough time to roll back and rest on the brakes. I tried it on a steep incline and was a little more patient when the car rolled back and the brakes finally held the car after a slight rollback (while in Neutral).

 

mine is still VERY tight.....3 clicks will stop a small incline......

 

mine is pretty worn down also... i always do put my e brake then park....but sometimes i forget to take break off when im backing out...thats probbly why they are worn down,.,,

 

but the thing is, mine should not be worn out, I only have about 22 KM on them (not miles), and i had the problem since 8000KM. I took it to dealer, they didnt wanna admit to anything.

eh..its holding for now.

 

They set them loose at the factory so they won't stick on from being too tight. Dragging and stuck on are far worse than too loose.

Every Toyota I have owned needed throttle cable, brake pedal, and parking brake adjustments to put them where I like them. I had an '88 GTS Corolla with the brake pedal so poorly adjusted I could not lock the wheels (no ABS). I fixed that rather quickly...

So the parking brake needing to be adjusted is no surprise. Also, there are three places where you can make adjustments. To do it right, you must first adjust the brakes inside the rear disc first, then adjust the cable that actuates the brakes. Once this is done well, you should have effective braking at 3 - 4 clicks, and power braking at 7 - 8 clicks.

 

Just so you guys know incase you want to adjust it. The adjustment star is on the front side of the rotor. Only need to remove the wheel and a small rubber dust cover for the star. Sorry I didn't have my camera with me.
It's perfect now.

 

^^ thanks for the heads up. I've been annoyed with the same issue when I park on my driveway.