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Nuvolarian · 08-09-2008, 05:26 PM

Hello,

this afternoon my wife and I got the fright of our lives when the handbrake of my half year old A3 Sportback failed and the vehicle rolled off our gently sloped (a few degrees off the horizontal) drive onto a road while my 2 and half year old daughter was still in the back.

Thankfully no vehicles or pedestians were passing and the car hit a lamp post leaving it sat across both lanes. My daughter was fine, unlike mum and dad whose unders were browned.

I had fully applied the handbrake when I had parked the vehicle. By fully I mean the lever was at the 40-45 degree angle to the middle console. You cannot apply the brake more fully. The vehicle had been driven gently around town for 15 minutes prior to rolling away in moderate temperatures and heavy rain.

When I opened the door I immediately saw the handgrip (i.e. the bit covered with leather that the release button pokes through) on the handbrake had been displaced forward on the lever assembly, and was fully lowered as in the position it is in when the handbrake is fully released. When I gripped it I found it had come free of the handbrake completely and was easily removed.

Having reparked my vehicle and chocked up the wheels I called Audi Customer Services who passed me through to the RAC who then attended to examine the vehicle. It took the patrolman just a few minutes to come to the conclusion that the grip had come free of the main assembly and moved forward slightly when I applied the handbrake and interferred with the action of the release button preventing the two sets of teeth in the handbrake mechanism achieving full union.

It was then only a matter of timr before the limited grip failed and the handbrake released completely.

So my car is now at my local dealer and I'm awaiting their response.

Anyone else had this experience?

08-09-2008, 05:26 PM	#48 (permalink)
Nuvolarian Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 Gallery: (0)	Lucky no one was injured or killed Hello, this afternoon my wife and I got the fright of our lives when the handbrake of my half year old A3 Sportback failed and the vehicle rolled off our gently sloped (a few degrees off the horizontal) drive onto a road while my 2 and half year old daughter was still in the back. Thankfully no vehicles or pedestians were passing and the car hit a lamp post leaving it sat across both lanes. My daughter was fine, unlike mum and dad whose unders were browned. I had fully applied the handbrake when I had parked the vehicle. By fully I mean the lever was at the 40-45 degree angle to the middle console. You cannot apply the brake more fully. The vehicle had been driven gently around town for 15 minutes prior to rolling away in moderate temperatures and heavy rain. When I opened the door I immediately saw the handgrip (i.e. the bit covered with leather that the release button pokes through) on the handbrake had been displaced forward on the lever assembly, and was fully lowered as in the position it is in when the handbrake is fully released. When I gripped it I found it had come free of the handbrake completely and was easily removed. Having reparked my vehicle and chocked up the wheels I called Audi Customer Services who passed me through to the RAC who then attended to examine the vehicle. It took the patrolman just a few minutes to come to the conclusion that the grip had come free of the main assembly and moved forward slightly when I applied the handbrake and interferred with the action of the release button preventing the two sets of teeth in the handbrake mechanism achieving full union. It was then only a matter of timr before the limited grip failed and the handbrake released completely. So my car is now at my local dealer and I'm awaiting their response. Anyone else had this experience? Last edited by Nuvolarian : 08-09-2008 at 05:40 PM.