My car rolled off into a house last night

[Cord-172]

Parked my car outside my mates house (on a fairly steep hill) and put the hand brake on. The car stayed still whilst I got out of the car and whilst I was waiting for my mate to open the door (because I was watching it!).

When I came out 10mins later my car had rolled 20ft backwards down the hill, onto a neighbours lawn and into the corner of their house! I have a dent in the boot and a crease in the bumper!!

The car must have rolled fairly slowly as when I got to it the boot opened/closed fine and the boot landing panel (or whatever its called) was fine. The handbrake was still on too.

Thankfully it missed any parked cars and didnt cause any damage to the house. God knows how much its going to cost me though....

 

[Cuppy 172]

Always put your car in gear on steap banks, lesson learned

Sorry to hear the bad news mate!

 

[RobFenn]

Yeah leave it in gear! Might be worth getting renault to tighten the handbrake as well..

Unlucky though, even little dents arent cheap.

-Rob

 

[powelly]

sorry to hear that matey!! not what you need before chrimbo either

vix

 

[Sleepy172]

I had a Civic do the same thing and rolled into my house, the owners alledged a known fault with the Civic handbrake.......?

Living on a hill, and having a steeply sloped driveway, I always leave my cars in gear. There have been a few mornings when the 172 has rolled backwards upon dropping the clutch, my valver did the same. I think its something to do with the disks contracting when cold......

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.

 

[172gal]

Right so.....

When facing up hill you leave the car in first?

When facing down hill leave it in reverse?

Ok, so say the handbrake failed, but you left it in gear, would the car still roll?

 

[Kev.]

If you leave it in gear (same as 172gal explained) the car WILL NOT roll back/forward.

Boyo

 

[Sleepy172]

Quote: Originally posted by 172gal on 06 November 2003


Right so.....

When facing up hill you leave the car in first?

When facing down hill leave it in reverse?

Ok, so say the handbrake failed, but you left it in gear, would the car still roll?







The car shouldnt roll, no. I leave the car in the gear Ill need when moving off. Another approach would be to point the tyres into the kerb, so if all does fail, in theory, the kerb should stop the roll......

Just remember to drop the clutch upon starting!

 

[viceroy]

Quote: Originally posted by 172gal on 06 November 2003


Right so.....

When facing up hill you leave the car in first?

When facing down hill leave it in reverse?

Ok, so say the handbrake failed, but you left it in gear, would the car still roll?







leave it in first regardless of which way the car is facing on the hill...the car will not roll

 

[Cord-172]

Will do that in future (learnt this in the harshest way though!!)

Unfortunately the most expensive bit will be the bumper as (from what I have been told before) it is too flimsy to fill and paint. So I will prob need a new part from Renault £££££££.

I have seen a Mk2 rear bumper on Ebay for £20. Would this fit or are the fitments/shape too different?

Boot can just be filled and painted prob £200ish#

Need new light...lexus is prob the cheapest option

 

[Scudetto]

could be that as your rear brakes cooled, they contracted which meant the handbrake lost its grip in the discs. Just physics, not necessarily a fault.

g

 

[Pete]

leave the car in gear and on full lock, so if it does move it just turns into kerb.

 

[r-o-b : 172]

Ive heard quite a few stories of 172s rolling off with the handbrake on now. Mine is needing to be pulled pretty high to come on at the mo so me thinks its time to get it tightenend up!

Rob.

 

[Kev.]

The rear clusters from Renault are ONLY £47 each, this includes EVERYTHING including all bulbs etc. I know this from experience in my Dynamique a while back

I was going to change to Lexus but it was cheaper to just replace the smashed one from Renault

Boyo

 

[y0z2a]

i had the same thing happen to me.

/y0z

 

[KDF]

A car can still roll when in gear.. but it would have to be near fing vertical as it has to crank the engine over heh, that how you bump start your car. except the ignition isnt on so it wouldnt start.

I think the higher the gear the better, 1st is a very short gear so doesnt take as much to turn the engine over.. 5th would be best, reverse would be the worst (all in theory ofcouse.. it shouldnt matter as the car wouldnt have enough momentum to turn the engine in any gear)

 

[johnny peanuts]

i reckon this must be pretty common with mk1s, mines exactly the same as rob 172s and cord 172s - you pretty much have to pull the handbrake up to the roof. when i last had mine serviced they tightened it up for me (the handbrake!) but it was only a couple of weeks use and it was back to its usual slackness (again the handbrake)

 

[Roamer]

_KDF - soz mate, but the lower the gear the better, if you left it in something like 5th the crank rotates very little per revolution of the driving wheels (Less engine resistance) thus the car would roll away easier.