Changeman, get it checked then for efficiency.   It is not functioning correctly or safely.

1 minute ago, Offski said:

P will lock the Drive Wheels, the owners manual will tell you to use the parking brake as well. 

 

But 'P' is about Parking,  nor Driving stopping applying what was called a Hand Brake or parking Brake, but can be a 'Not sitting with rear brake lights on at a junction on a Slope brake.

I don't disagree as I have learnt something new from this thread, however my main point is that I am more concerned that the MOT and or service may not been properly carried out, in which case I will want to know why.

I will not be embarrassed if I am wrong, but will post the results on this thread with apologies if necessary.

So what is your cars Service History.

?

What miles has it done, what do you have showing as done.

Were the Brakes ever Serviced, was the Brake Fluid Replaced at 3 years old.

What about other stuff, is it done to the Manufacturers Guidelines?

Yep this is why i initially said to just use the footbrake.  Unless u are im stationary traffic in a queue where having brake lights on or not makes no difference

Many of us thought the days of applying a Hand Brake or Parking Brake and it holding or not were over.

 

As to the sitting in traffic and those with brake lights and high level brake lights on for not short times, they need to think onto the Highway code.

My daily drivers Autohold does not have the Rear Brake Lights on, it is hit or miss with VW Group some do and some do not.

Does the handbrake hold the car on a slope when not in drive and engine off?

Mk3 Octavia handbrake failure

 

29 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

Does the handbrake hold the car on a slope when not in drive and engine off?

Have not tried that yet.

54 minutes ago, Offski said:

So what is your cars Service History.

?

What miles has it done, what do you have showing as done.

Were the Brakes ever Serviced, was the Brake Fluid Replaced at 3 years old.

What about other stuff, is it done to the Manufacturers Guidelines?

55K with full skoda SH. Pre delivery to me was Skoda serviced and MOT'd.

Full Main Dealers Service History means a history of what was or was not done. It does not mean Done To Manufacturers Guidelines.

 

So it gets the Oil & Filter ever 9,400 miles / annual or Variable, so every 2 years.

Maybe a Pollen Filter, maybe a Air Filter,maybe a Fuel Filter, Free Wash and Vacuums and looks sees around the car and a report.

Not very much.

 

Did the Full service History show the Brake Fluid changed at 3 years old?

http://skoda.co.uk/finance-and-offers/service-and-maintenance/simply-fixed 

At 4 yrs and 55k the brakes needs striping and cleaning. Unlikely to ever been done and brakes will be sticking due to carrier caliper corrosion and crud. Often ends up rear caliper not sliding and only one pad braking.

 

BTW the MOT brake efficiency requirements are pretty low especially parking brake (16%). Hasn't changed for decades.

Edited 10 September, 20187 yr by xman

I used to have a Fabia with DSG auto box. Before I bought it I went for a test drive with a salesman and the last thing I did was to park the car outside the showroom. I left it in drive and pulled up the handbrake. No foot on pedal but the nose of the car rose up and the engine strained to move forwards. The car made a horrible grinding sound as the engine defeated the handbrake and started to move forward. The salesman said that you can not apply the handbrake when the car is in Drive because the engine is setup to provide the very slow creep action of a traditional auto box and will creep forward with great determination. You do not need a handbrake function at all with the DSG box. To park very securely on any incline just put the gear selector into Park. This is a very welcome feature in hard frosts because you do not need to risk the handbrake freezing on. Never ever select Park until the car has completely stopped moving. You might do this once but you will never do it again. The only negative is that when you are stopped at lights, if you keep it in Drive, you must keep the brake pedal pressed thus annoying behind with your brake lights. You can select Neutral and set the handbrake, but then the stop/start will restart the engine until you move back to Drive with your foot on the brake when the engine will stop and then start again. That really used to annoy me.

I drove over 120,000 miles with Mk2 Fabia vRS's and would regularly use the handbrake at slight up slope traffic lights and junctions when i did not want to sit with my foot on the brake or activate Hill Hold Control.  (i only have 1 foot.)

&  i would hold it on the Hand Brake to go up the Quarter Mile Strip or at other times in D or S or Manual 1st, because i did not want the delay from brake to acceleration that you can get.

 

Parking on Slopes and only using P can be expensive, which is why the Manufacturer advises using the parking brake.

In winter maybe block / chock the wheels if the hand brake will freeze.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/346284-dsg-in-p-mode-and-handbrake 

Edited 10 September, 20187 yr by Offski

These are some of my reasons for not wanting a DSG. That car knows when the foot brake is pressed and disengages the clutch (and possibly stops the engine). The car also knows then the hand brake is on, but it doesn't disengage the clutch in D or stop the engine in N. The DSG is basically a manual underneath, but it insists on pretending to be a slushbox.

They are Automated Manuals, just as Ford Durashift are.  Nobody ever pretended they are not.  Just not crap like the ASG in the UpMiiCitigo, the worst Automated Manual there is next to ones in a Smart Car.

Offski, mine was a Fabia Mk3 110 bhp with a seven speed DSG. I don't argue with you but there was no way I could leave it in Drive and set the handbrake. The engine would always overpower the handbrake and make horrible grinding noises as it defeated the rear brake pads.

PS Offski, did your VRS have launch control?

5 hours ago, Changeman said:

I don't disagree as I have learnt something new from this thread, however my main point is that I am more concerned that the MOT and or service may not been properly carried out, in which case I will want to know why.

I will not be embarrassed if I am wrong, but will post the results on this thread with apologies if necessary.

 

The only way to see if a service was carried out would be to physically check the parts (should you not believe things have been done). What does the service book say (or online history check).  Your pre sale service may just have been just oil and oil filter.

 

In all my years of driving an auto I have personally never felt the need to put the handbrake on whilst in D, if I've been stood long enough I just put it into P.

 

However, if you feel that the handbrake isn't functioning properly then get it checked.

 

Assume your cars not a 4x4?

 

As suggested above, put it in Neutral on a hill and put hand brake on-can you get it to hold?

Having driven about 200,000 miles with DSG boxes i have never had the need to apply the handbrake while the car is in D or S.

Moley,

.good that everyone uses cars in different ways.   But if you need the hand or parking brake it is good that it works.

If you had done any Competitive Hill Climbs you probably would have held the car on the Hand Brake not the foot brake.

 

SoupDragon,

Mk2 Fabia vRS did not have Launch Control but launched well held on the Hand Brake in D, S or Manual then floor the accelerator, and there was no creep, no burned out Clutch Packs or overheating DSG.

Edited 10 September, 20187 yr by Offski

A lot of confusion in this thread.

DSG with electronic parking brake: DSG knows the parking brake is applied and, even when in D or R, keeps the clutches disengaged. Of course if the throttle is pressed  the parking brake comes off automatically and the car moves forwards.

 

DSG with manual parking brake: DSG is unaware of whether the parking brake is applied or not. In D or R its mission is to make the car creep forward, it gradually engages the clutch more and more to try to make the car creep. Quite likely that it will overcome the parking brake, and it will certainly be trying very hard to. It will also be rapidly wearing out the clutch.

 

From your description we can’t say that your parking brake is defective. In a manual car, parking brake on, put car into gear and let the clutch out, it wouldn’t be abnormal for the car to move. The parking brake isn’t designed to overcome the power of the engine.

 

Quite why Skoda don’t have a link between the manual handbrake warning light and the DSG i don’t know. Seems a silly design failing.

 

Moral is, with a manual handbrake you have to avoid the situation of being in D or R with hand brake on and foot off brake pedal.

13 hours ago, Offski said:

Moley,

.good that everyone uses cars in different ways.   But if you need the hand or parking brake it is good that it works.

If you had done any Competitive Hill Climbs you probably would have held the car on the Hand Brake not the foot brake.

 

 

Maybe in competitive hill climbs that may be an advantage for a quick start of the line, but probably not a necessity on the streets of Plymouth.

 

Its been an interesting thread with lots of divided input - I'm curious to see what the dealers verdict is, however if it was me stood there talking to the service dept.,  my opening line would not be 'The handbrake doesn't hold the car when its in D'

 

With the car having had an MOT should there not have been a brake test report / slip of paper?  I know MOT's changed earlier this year so dont know what you now do or dont get paperwork wise.

Edited 11 September, 20187 yr by ScoutCJB

It is an advantage to me lots as i have one foot, i know many only use one foot even if they have 2, 

but right hand drive vehicles come with the shifter at the left and the indicator at the left, so i sometimes use the hand brakes when they are manual brakes.

Sometimes slip the car into 'N', but gear shift and indicate is a PITA.

I do so like the cars that are not European Designed and right hand drive with Indicator on the Left Stalk.  

There were UK Imports like that, i still have some.

 

If a parking brake can not hold then it is crap, if a cars tickover is too high in 'D' then that is an Issue.

Any DSG i drive that is at a certain 'RPM' in D and a higher RPM in 'S' still holds on the Parking Brake, or the brakes would get serviced.

Edited 11 September, 20187 yr by Offski

To be honest many conventional autos with manual handbrake will overpower the handbrake if you leave the car in D and release the footbrake.

 

Our 1 series with the 8 speed ZF box certainly would.

Yep and depending how big your engine and how much torque it has certainly makes a difference.