I just found this post..

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/maintenance-performance/octavia-handbrake-failure-question/6705/?highlight=octavia+handbrake

I was wondering if this had happened to anyone else?

As it happened to me last night, i parked up on my drive went into the house and 20 minutes later heard an almighty thud.

I looked out the window and found my octy at the bottom of the drive against the wall. Caused ALOT of damage!! I had a body shop look and they reckon its pretty much a new rear end. After then speaking to a garage they think its because the rear brakes will have contracted as they cooled effectivly removing the handbrake.

I have video footage from my CCTV showing the car there for 20 minutes or so not moving an inch and then suddenly rolling backwards like someone had just taken the handbrake off.

I have contacted a skoda dealer who said they have heard of this before and i have contacted skoda customer services who have said they would like to carryout an investigation.

Who is at fault here? I think this is a mechanical failure on their part that could have been extremely dangerous.. or is it my fault for not straining my arm to yank my handbrake up to a vertical position?

Has anyone else had the same problem?

Hot rear discs and pads cooling down can cause this.

With foot on the brake, apply hand brake.

Release then re-apply the foot brake

Release then re-appy the hand brake - this time it'll go up very easily to the stop.

It seems to be a common problem on cars with all round discs whose brakes get a good workout and then are left to cool. I'm sure a couple of the Fabia crowd have fallen foul of this too. I always leave the car in gear and turn the wheels into the kerb if I park anywhere where the car could roll

Chris

I just found this post..

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/maintenance-performance/octavia-handbrake-failure-question/6705/?highlight=octavia+handbrake

I was wondering if this had happened to anyone else?

As it happened to me last night' date=' i parked up on my drive went into the house and 20 minutes later heard an almighty thud.

I looked out the window and found my octy at the bottom of the drive against the wall. Caused ALOT of damage!! I had a body shop look and they reckon its pretty much a new rear end. After then speaking to a garage they think its because the rear brakes will have contracted as they cooled effectivly removing the handbrake.

I have video footage from my CCTV showing the car there for 20 minutes or so not moving an inch and then suddenly rolling backwards like someone had just taken the handbrake off.

I have contacted a skoda dealer who said they have heard of this before and i have contacted skoda customer services who have said they would like to carryout an investigation.

Who is at blame here? I think this is a mechanical failure on there part that could have been extremely dangerous.. or is it my fault for not straining my arm to yank my handbrake up to a vertical position?

Has anyone else had the same problem?[/quote']

That's a real bummer. This happened to me at the begining of July, but I was lucky.

Moved my car to load some stuff in to the boot. Put a few things in, went in to the house to get the next lot and my son calls out that the car is moving.

Fortunately we managed to get in to it before it hit anything. However, in mine, the handbrake was fully released (ie as if i had not put it on) when i got in the car. Also, the car had only been driven 20yds before it happened.

Surely with the discs cooling as mentioned in the other thread, the handbrake would still be applied, but just no longer enough to hold the car? If the brake is fully released, it must be the level at fault?

I put it down to the fact that I was taught to press the button in when putting the handbrake on (to prevent wear on the rachet) and then release the button to lock the brake. I assumed that when I'd released the button, it was just on the edge of rachet (so the lock was not fully engaged) and at that point I can see the level slipping.

Was the level up when you got to the car?

yes, i had to take the handbrake off in order to drive it back up the hill.. afterwards i got into the car and pulled the handbrake up to where it was and tried to push the car down the hill, reduced it a click and tried again. I had to go down 4 clicks before it moved.

Thought i would post some pictures..

The drive

My mate at work with a Mk4 golf GTi had the exact same, apart from he rolled into a TVR and a Merc, check the other VAG forums, not at all too uncommon

Happens a fair bit on Citroens aswell.

Was going to say ever seen a Xantia or BX, they used to have real issues with this, especially the Xantia, which made it onto watchdog.

My advice would be to step on the footbrake a little as you pull the handbrake on and then it should be ok. Also to leave the car in a suitable gear.

Never had the car roll away, but don't normally park on a slope, but have had the handbrake lever release a couple of notches. No problem found by dealer (what a surprise :confused: ), and I also always push **** in to stop ratchet wearing out. Had a 4x4 Sierra for years and never had either problem, and if it happened a lot wouldn't/shouldn't it be a safety recall?

Have I just been censored for using my handbrake ****? ****?

Learnt something then - can't say kn*b must say button. What happens if you mention bleed n*pple?

My opinion is its bloody dangerous! After looking around on the interweb it seems lots of VAG cars have the same issue!! My argument is if i was parked on a road it could have killed someone!!

Skoda want to carryout an investigation on my car so its going in next wednesday, and im taking my CCTV footage for them to watch, no doubt it will have all been my fault and skoda hold no responsibility!

Have a look around BBC watchdog and Xantias, Citroen did something for people who had suffered from this IIRC.

I always leave my car in gear when its parked and it was a good job I did yesterday, it was parked on a steep hill and when I took it back out of gear it started rolling.

I thought everyone put their car in 1st/reverse when parked ? :eek:

Sorry to hear about this :(

I always leave the car in gear, like Goochie. However, I've taken to mentioning this loudly to anyone else who might drive my car after a friend got in and started the engine without her foor on the clutch Thankfully there was nothing in front of us.

Happened to me a while back, luckily the drive levels out and it stopped a couple inches before the big wooden bollard. I now always leave it in gear too.

iirc the xantia was recalled for a revised handbrake lever , but that problem was about 12 years ago , i noticed the other night after i had done a set of rear pads on a VW Beetle that if you pressed the brake pedal the handbrake lever would pull on harder , and it needed to , to stop the car rolling down the slope it was on , also the use of to house bricks was required

It happened yesterday to my son's Audi S3. The car rolled back into the middle of the road some time after being parked on a sloping drive!

Both my Octy and my previous Passat do/did this.

In fact, the day I picked up my Passat out of the showroom, it rolled down the hill outside my house into a road sign.

The dealer took the car back for a few days to run tests on it.

They said the handbrake was working fine using their brake testing equipment. (MOT rollers I guess)

However, having the car parked up over night, then doing the test, I'm sure it worked fine.

The problem I have, is that I have to drive down a very steep hill, then up the other side to my house. Therefore the brakes are hot when I park.

I now always leave the car in-gear.