Parking An Auto

[sigma]

When you leave an auto car for a period of time such as in work or over night, do you leave it in park (P) or neutral (N). If its park then when do you use neutral.

[retrocop]

Left overnight Left in Park. Stopping at Traffic lights etc use Neutral. If you use Neutral for a temporary stop you usually won't have to push the selector quadrant through reverse to Park position.

[daveygh]

" The "neutral" gear is only to be used when you have no need to control the speed of your car, not when driving regularly. Examples of this include when idling parked for a short time or when being pushed/towed.

[SirOracle]

An auto vehicle should not be towed Daveygh.

[retrocop]

daveygh
Good point. I forgot to mention that Neutral is the position for being towed or pushed.
I know that some automatic drivers were trained to stop temporarily (ATS) and leave in Auto and engage handbrake.OK if you have a strong reliable handbrake .
Like most 4x4s I find my h/b cable stretches quite easily and has to be adjusted frequently if I leave in Auto at automatic traffic signals.

[retrocop]

Sir Oracle
Again a good point. Ideally a half or full lift depending on the driving axle but a short tow in an emergency does little damage.

[ToraToraTora]

I only use P, I never use neutral, it is there for the driving test, as is the handbrake, neither are needed really.

[ToraToraTora]

yes good point useful for towing of course!

[TWR]

Leave in park ( 2nd Handbrake )

[Hopkirk]

I would never leave any car, manual or auto, in neutral when parked up.

I would never trust a handbrake alone to hold a car.

[sunny-dave]

Yes hoppy - I was taught to park facing downhill, leave the gearstick in reverse and angle the front wheels in towards the kerb.

[Hopkirk]

That's in the highway code for parking on a hill, but I leave mine in gear every time I park.

I worked for a while at an airport car park, and quite often we had to push cars back into spaces and chock the wheels as they had rolled away.

[sunny-dave]

Me too - usually reverse by habit.

[Bathsheba]

Mine has to be in neutral to start, or switch off. I leave it in neutral when parked.
I haven't got a Park. I have R, reverse,.N, neutral, and E, which is drive.
Yaris .

[sunny-dave]

I'd shift the selector into 'R' or 'E' after switching off - especially if parked on any sort of slope. Handbrakes are not always that reliable ...

[Hopkirk]

If there isn't a park position on the Yaris selector, then I suspect those clever people at Toyota have included some sort of locking mechanism when in neutral with the engine off.

[Bathsheba]

Thanks Dave,....new wipers, new tips re parking,....it's been a good day for me + my motor, all round ;)

[Bathsheba]

Hiya Hopkirk,.....that reminds me, I really should read the manual,....it's been 3 months now...:) x x

[Hopkirk]

Funnily enough a lot of people would be surprised at the instructions in their manual about how to start their cars.

[sunny-dave]

Quite so, hoppy - my Audi won't start at all unless the clutch is depressed and a foot firmly on the brake - confused me occasionally when I first had it.

[Bathsheba]

Ah, I've learnt something.....mine is a "multi-mode manual transmission" apparently, and the E stands for "easy mode"! Well I never! :)