Can I turn off the car safely without without putting it on park and without putting the handbrake on? If the car does both of these automatically when I turn off the engine, putting the car on park and putting the handbrake on would be a waste of time. But I'm really reluctant to turn off the car directly, fearing that I might damage something in the long run, so I thought I better ask around.
Turning off car without putting it on park
- Thread starter Hick
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I just switch the engine off and the car automatically engages the handbrake and puts the gearbox into park. (I have AutoHold selected in case that makes a difference.)
(In my experience the car will let you know if you have done something wrong and won’t let you do things that would damage it (ie it won’t let you select reverse gear when the car is moving forwards.)
My experience (early MY2021 Sport trim MHEV), if I go from Reverse, or drive, and I press Park, then Round Engine on/off button after, the e brake does not engage. However if I go from R or D directly press Round Engine on/off button, it would also go to Park, but also put the e-brake on.
So it seems like everybody is comfortable pushing the start/stop button without bothering to first put the car in park and apply the handbrake. I guess I will do the same then.
If you are in any doubt you can hear the electronic braking brake engage when you turn the engine off.
Actually, I am pretty confident that the e-brake goes on when I stop the car; that is not the issue.
My fear is rather to damage the gearbox somehow because I didn't put the car on park before turning it off. But I guess this many people can't be wrong and that turning off the engine without first putting it on park makes no harm.
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As well as hearing the whine of the handbrake motor I hear a clunk, which I guess is the gearbox being put into park.
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The handbrake shouldn’t automatically go on when you stop the car. The AutoHold function holds on the footbrake (dashboard brake indicator shows green). The handbrake is normally only applied either when (a) you pull the handbrake switch up with the car stopped (dash indicator glows red) or (b) when the car is switched off (with brakes applied).
As DTY says, the user manual explains what the car will do automatically for you when switched off, if you want to confirm what people here are saying.
Sorry about the terminology, I mean stop as in turning the engine off.