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Parking Brake Bliss - 2014 Kia Cadenza Limited Long-Term Road Test
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Parking Brake Bliss - 2014 Kia Cadenza Limited Long-Term Road Test
Our long-term 2014 Kia Cadenza has an automatic parking brake.
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I live in a prairie state. In my 33 years of driving I have probably used the parking brake (emergency brake or hand brake to me) on an automatic equipped car maybe a dozen times. The exception being the like my 1996 Sunfire that required periodic application of the hand brake while backing up to adjust the rear brake shoes.
Unless you are parked on a hill the pawl that engages when your car is in park is more than sufficient.
I like to set the parking brake every time, regardless of incline. It helps keep the parts from seizing up and sets a good habit. If you drive someone else's car, you won't forget to disengage the brake and burn them up.
When parking, I shift into neutral, set the parking brake, release the foot brake, let the car "settle" onto the parking brake, and then shift into park. It may seem unnecessary to do this all the time, but I just feel putting less stress on the transmission helps with making it last. Since I keep my cars forever, I want them to last. If I was the leasing type, I'd just drive it like a rental car and not give a [non-permissible content removed].
I got out of the habit of using my parking brake when I lived up north and the cable would freeze up. Well, I used the hand brake a lot in my old Tercel to do a power slide handbrake turn in front of my house in the snow, but I'd release it after that.
An automatic one would be great for me.
How many normal automatic transmission drivers engage their parking brake? Well, I'm from the midwest and I don't think I've ever see it done!!
Funny story about auto-release parking brakes... Several years ago I bought a 1995 Cadillac DeVille site unseen. I had already cut the check and signed the papers by the time I sat in the car for the first time. So here I was, picking up the car (it was left in an office parking lot for me) and ready for the two-hour drive home, and I couldn't figure out how to release the parking brake. I checked everywhere for the release with no luck. I'm sitting there, engine running, and I can't go anywhere. I finally called a friend of mine for help, and tells me "just shift it into gear..." I put it in Drive and the brake releases all by itself. Definitely a cool feature but it certainly made me feel like an idiot for almost being stranded!
The DeVille was a great deal from a friend of a friend, and the car ended up being a great buy. I only kept it for a few months myself, but sold it to my parents who took it back and forth between Pennsylvania and Florida for several years with no issues.
The Jag XF also has this feature.
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Every single time I park the car I set the parking brake. Everyone in my family does as well. Just because the gear shift indicator shows "P" or "Park" doesn't mean it really is. Look at all the past and present recalls associated with this. Hyundai is recalling 885,000 2011-2014 Sonatas for this very thing. I have a 2011 Sonata. Good thing I was already in the habit of using the parking brake.
My 2012 Leaf does this when you press the accelerator, if you've accidentally left the parking brake on.