Auto Hold faulty ?

[Theo67]

I took delivery of my new company car, a Superb SE Business on Monday. 

It appears as if the Auto Hold is faulty, as soon as I tried it the car would not release the brakes and pull away. I have attempted to us it several times now away from traffic and it is not improving.

The handbrake is also quite reluctant to release when I try to pull away.

 

Is this something that anyone else has experienced or heard about? Is it possibly something that will rectify itself (something sticky) or is it a garage job?

 

 

[john999boy]

Do you have your seat belt on? 

[Theo67]

Yes, seatbelt on, doors closed. I pulled up at a junction and it was trying to pull away with the brake on. Luckily nothing behind me at the time.

[MCG1975]

If you don't get any warning message  telling you to release the brake it sound like whatever detects the clutch being lifted (assuming you're in a manual) isn't fully working.  

 

As you say, may be something bedding in - check footwell carpet not impeding anything?  (Apologies to those more tech savvy, if the system is more complex than a switch under the clutch!!).  Couldn't hurt to get the garage to check.

 

I had the opposite issue where the hold/brake wouldn't stay engaged but only a handful of times and hasn't happened for ages.

 

PS I'll have to look out for you - I work in Histon!

[daveo138]

Sounds like a fault to me. 

 

Mine releases even without seatbelt. 

[CheshireBumpkin]

3 hours ago, Theo67 said:

I took delivery of my new company car, a Superb SE Business on Monday. 

It appears as if the Auto Hold is faulty, as soon as I tried it the car would not release the brakes and pull away. I have attempted to us it several times now away from traffic and it is not improving.

The handbrake is also quite reluctant to release when I try to pull away.

 

Is this something that anyone else has experienced or heard about? Is it possibly something that will rectify itself (something sticky) or is it a garage job?

 

 

 

I had problems in the first few days of getting my car too. 

 

My early problems with autohold and the handbrake sticking were almost certainly user-error, as they resolved quickly with no intervention. I'm not 100% sure what I was doing wrong, but in my manual I don't think I was depressing the clutch all the way to the floor as I went to pull off, and I suspect this may have been the cause.

 

The other thing I have learned since (I think, I could be wrong), is that how hard the brakes are applied in autohold is directly related to the pressure used on the brake pedal to stop the car. Therefore if you are in the habit of really pushing your foot down to stop you will find the brake is much harder to release. If you slow down more progressively, and then come to final stop with a lighter push on the pedal, the autohold releases without any problem.

 

The only time it sticks slightly now is the first time I drive off after the car has been washed - which I suspect is because the chap who does it has rammed the brake pedal down, and the brake has been applied equally as hard.

[FelisBengalensis]

That happens because the auto hold locks the service brake at the pedal pressure you stopped with until you drive off.  It doesn't use the parking brake.

[Theo67]

The problem seems to have now sorted itself out.

 

I had tried to use Autohold occasionally, using varying degrees of brake pressure when stopping since I noticed the issue after the car was delivered on Monday. Each time the car would not pull away without turning off Autohold.

 

I didn't try at all yesterday, planning to take it to the dealer today for a once over. Turned the Autohold on when I left home to go to the garage and it has performed faultlessly all day, I have tried braking sharply to a stop as well as gently and it now pulls away perfectly every time.  The handbrake also seems to release freely now as well. As I wasn't booked in to the garage I didn't bother going.

 

Hopefully this was just a glitch and will not happen again.

[Telthecelt]

Sounds identical to my issue. Try to pull away and the brake sticks on. At first Iwas blaming clumsy footwork and thought I was touching brake and accelerator at the same time. I am not sure about the A button ans switching on the Park button. Never had problems until a couple of weeks ago and I've had it for almost a year. I am now wary when I go to pull out into traffic but it releaes fully when it does. Wish I could recall if it was an issue before I got new tyres in Costco last week. I think they crushed a rear brake cable in my Octavia previously somehow but that time I barely made it out of the carpark.