maxpowers

I went to a restaurant w/my dad the other day and they only had valet parking. When I picked up the car my dad got in while I was paying the valet and the car started rolling down the hill w/my dad in it!

So I had to run and jump in the car to stop it. The valet hadn't set the electronic parking brake.

Is there anything a passenger can do to stop a rolling car? My dad's instinct was to grab the parking brake, but obviously it isn't there.

LexVan

Throw it in gear. It'll go in at low speed. Assume a 7MT. Not sure on PDK.

Next time give the valet a dead President and park yourself. Have dad pay for lunch. Or find a different restaurant.

duxsi

I assume you have a manual transmission?
The same exact thing happened to me and there isn't anything a passenger can do other than to slam the gear stick into 3rd or 4th (which in all likelihood would cause a stall and stop the car from rolling).

The same applies to almost any car that has the stupid e-brake level or handle on the drivers side (and hidden out of sight where no one but you can find it).

StudGarden

I absolutely love the electric steering and never pass up an opportunity to mock the mockers. But the electric brake is absolutely horrible. Not so much because its electric but mostly because where it is and how its actuated. I never tried it while moving, but I assume its completely "binary" in that its all or nothing. I would have loved some sort of old style console handle that modulated the grab. But oh well.

MJBird993

I know my Panamera had this same electric parking brake and my F10 BMW 535 before it. I assumed that it was some kind of new German thing that will trickle down into "lesser" cars at some point. In both cases the cars had very high, massive, intrusive center consoles where a conventional handbrake lever would get in the way.

Yet somehow the Corvette managed (at least in my C6 - not sure about the C7) and then there are manufacturers like Ferrari, Jaguar and Aston Martin who manage(d) to put in a handbrake lever on the left side of the seat. Heck, I think my C4 Corvette did that as well.

To answer the OP - I suppose a very tall, limber and fast thinking passenger knowledgeable about the new 911 could lean over and actuate the parking brake. The other thing that I hate about it is that you cannot release the brake without first turning on the ignition.

Slantnose!

I think the parking brake is my least favorite thing about the car...

Cheekymonkeyman

I love it... Keeps the console clean... Another reason why PDK is better than MT

Larry Cable

grab the offending valet parker and throw him in front of the moving car...

King Luis

this. how can a valet person not know to put a car in park? was the car moving as soon as he got out?

maxpowers

It must have been barely moving. It was just a very gentle slope, but it's still pretty scary. As I was tipping the valet I heard the other valet shouting and looked and saw the car rolling away.

Part of the problem too is that with the electronic brake you push it in whereas w/the regular parking brake you pull it towards you, so maybe he thought he set it? That's what happened the 1st time I parked it.

Good idea to just mash the car in gear if you're a passenger and the car starts rolling out of control.

duxsi

Our Range Rover has a lovely little lever in the center console which engages / disengages the e-brake.
Will all those empty buttons (even when fully optioned) Porsche could have used one for the brake...

chuck911

If barely moving on a gentle slope got you going, well you don't want to read this article written by a valet. "Ferris Beuler's Day Off is stunningly accurate." http://jalopnik.com/5925788/i-used-t...rk-my-car-ever

chuck911

Seriously, I would not waste a moments thought on the parking brake….

"20 minutes after he gave the valet his keys, the valet was "street racing" on Columbus Blvd just north of Festival Pier which is only a few blocks away from the D&B. He apparently "lost control" and "impacted multiple vehicles and a pedestrian" so he was arrested for wreckless driving and a whole laundry list of charges. So no truck to drive home because teh valet screwed up. The valet company provided him transportation home and he had to go to Philadelphia the next day to claim his vehicle. It was impounded and the valet was arrested. But when he got to claim the vehicle, they said they couldn't release it because it was evidence in a pending case against the valet guy because he wrecked the truck, plowed in to two cars and one of those cars slid in to a pedestrian.

They let him see the truck and it was barely recognizable. It sat in impound for 7 months waiting for this whole fiasco to be over. When he got it out, he had to have a flatbed drag the rotting hulk to the insurance adjuster. They told him the truck was totaled. $28,000 worth of damage to a truck that cost him $34,000. The insurance company said they were going after teh valet company's insurance for the money and they would cut him a check.

Yeah, right.

The valet company's insurance disavowed all responsibility because the valet, who was in their employ at the time, committed a criminal act while in possession of the truck and they are not liable.

A big lawsuit involving the valet company. D&B and several insurance companies ensued. It took four years…"

Porsche 25th

I stopped to get my mail, put the car in park and activated the parking brake as the car was on a slight slope and left it running. When I got in, I buckled up, put the car in gear and drove off. A second later, I remembered the p-brake was on. But it wasn't. I assume the car deactivated it based on something I did. Any of you ever experience this?

duxsi

Only auto deactivates if your seat-belt is on.