No.

I've driven standard transmission cars for 44 years and only use the e-brake when the engine is running and I want to get out of the vehicle for a moment. This idea of straining the transmission seems foolish to me. Side stepping the clutch pedal at 5,000 rpm is the only time to worry about straining your transmission(and clutch, u-joints and differential).

A noob question, but I'm kind of confused... In order to park with the car in gear, you need to shut off the car while having the clutch depressed... so the correct process would be...

neutral, e-brake, depress clutch, back to first, turn off?

or

stay in first, clutch depressed, e-brake, turn off?

I'm guessing either would be ok, or am I completely off base lol

Phelan, awesome Breaking Benjamin quote btw. :rock:

To park in gear:

Come to a stop with the car in 1st and clutch depressed. Turn the car off. Release the clutch. Voila! (You don't need an ebrake to park)

I tested my ebrake yesterday. In neutral, on a hill, my ebrake works just fine even only half engaged. Fully engaged, even on a steep incline, I would feel not leaving it in gear.

However, like others, leaving it in gear doesn't phase me. I park it in 1st every time, hill or not, out of habit.

In my old car, I had a habit of letting out the clutch before the engine was fully off. The dumbass lurch that followed convinced me to park in neutral normally, tossing it in gear when I'm on a steep hill.

lurching is funny, esp when there's a structure in front of you :ugh2:

had some kid pay me to put a remote start on his Ford [can't remember the model] and it was a stick. told him to make sure he parked in neutral every time or it'd be a problem when he went to start it. got his car worked on and the dash replaced (recall, it was peeling away from the frame) and he remote started it. lurched right into a wall, hard enough to deploy the airbags. :facepalm:

I hate to disagree, the same strain or more gets put on it as your driving off in gear.. Personally I think using both is a good safety precaution..

for someone that hates to disagree, you sure handled it without too much discomfort :shakes head:

lol :stirthepot:

i see what you're sayin and it make sense. it's a great safety backup if the ebrake isn't able to cut the mustard

:bowrofl:

I'm on nissan/infiniti vehicle #4 now. And all my e brakes were weak. The e brake needs a tune for drifting.

Hey, the way I see it, the parking brake is under warantee from Nissan for 30,000 miles... If I activate the brake, and my car goes downhill and crashes into something, guess who foots the bill?? (Well, atleast on paper!!)

^Parking brake requires periodic adjustment and adjustments IIRC are only covered for 12 months/12,000 miles. If an adjustment is needed it's up to you to adjust it or take it in - Nissan will not cover anything related to a parking brake failure unless you have a good case, and most likely a good lawyer. (Former consumer affairs employee for another auto maker here).

For my :twocents: I just use the parking brake on level ground. On an incline I also put it in gear and turn my wheels to the curb as taught in drivers ed those many years ago.

Can't believe all this talk about not leaving the car in a gear (preferably 1st gear or reverse) when parking because of stress and strain.

Like others, I've been doing it for over 40 years and never had a problem. I don't even know of anyone who has ever returned from a transmission problem to say, "Yeah, the mechanic told me I'd have to replace "fill-in-the'blank" because I've been leaving the car in gear when I parked". :rolleyes:

For all the people using strain and pressure (etc.) in their comments, are you just repeating what you've heard or could you be a bit more specific? For instance, is it wearing out something? Is it bending something? Is it making the metal more brittle? What...?

And, after reading through the post/thread, I notice no one mentioned (or else my scanning was too quick) using the front wheels as a third tool when parking on an incline where there is a curb available. Turn the wheels toward the curb when facing downhill and the other way when facing uphill. Put it in gear AND put on the parking brake. [edit] LOL and just noticed the last post before mine mentions using the wheels against a curb. :tup:

Having said all that, I don't have any idea if parking on an incline with an automatic tranny (in Park) is a problem or not. Haven't owned an AT since 1976.

I never EVER park my car without leaving it in gear. I personally saw someones car roll down a hill (not even particularly steep at all) when his ebrake cable snapped. Rolled probably 700ish feet right into my friends car, and totaled it out.