I agree about vauxhall handbrakes, my old Astra was appalling. Always leave all my cars in gear, including the Octy. Just not worth the risk!

In snowy weather, putting it in gear as well as the handbrake has the additional advantage that all 4 wheels are braked, rather than two - can make the difference between the car sliding away and staying still!

Sorry to hear your dilemma.

Could you not get it repaired by a plastics repair shop, near me there is a bumper repairs and plastic welding......just a thought mind then you could get it blown in by a sprayer......

Spevie

PS, as an example

Plastic Repairs

OOPS! Dents

thanks for the symathy! Was a real gut-wrenching experience... but as you guys say, a lesson well learned!

the car's booked in Monday for a new front bumper; decided to settle it out of insurance as i have a

Tried a hair dryer on the bumper?

Anything with disks on the rear will be prone to this. The heavier the car and steeper the hill the more likely it is.

always in gear for my car due to parking car on a hill for my house, and it was the second driving lesson i had.

bet you wish u lived in holland now ... lol £350 cant it be sorted out for less at body shop with it being popped out filled and sprayed?

My sisters leon cupra did the same thing as did my Ibiza sport. As said by everyone I always leave my cars in gear now with the handbrake on.

Btw the slope that both the above cars were parked on was not even steep so they both just rolled down about 5ft till it was flat again so even on the slightest of inclines I would recommend using the gears.

Anything with disks on the rear will be prone to this. The heavier the car and steeper the hill the more likely it is.

Yep, the Superb suffers badly from this, partly due to rear discs and partly due to the utterly hopeless design of the rear braking setup!

Found out after my car had been blocking the road for god knows how long! luckily didn't hit anything!

BX's were doing this years ago due to all round discs, easy solution is to place your foot on the brake peddle as you apply the handbrake, which will make the brake go on further (no idea why like, but it does).

Also leave it in gear.

You are quite lucky as it is only a damaged bumper.

i think that the bx handbrake worked on the front brakes, making it more of a problem as the discs cooled.

and if it didn't roll straight away the suspension would have sunk as well.