crackpot, this one's for you

[BoSoxGal]

I am watching an expert witness testify in a case I'm following - he is from Aperture, and is testifying about Techstream data from a Toyota vehicle . . .

The question I have for you is about something I've been meaning to post about the last couple of months. He talked about the vehicle starting up and something happening with the suspension at that time, and it reminded me of how I've been wanting to ask why my new Corolla feels like it has some kind of hydraulic thing happening at start up and shut off of the vehicle.

What's happening there?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Like this?

[BoSoxGal]

Yes, exactly . . . albeit on a smaller scale.

[Crackpot]

Not too sure one thing that I noticed on my CRV before I got used to it is the seat auto adjusts to allow for easier entrance and exit. Could that be it? (For me the seat moves very little)

[BoSoxGal]

No it’s definitely in the suspension my Corolla seats are very low tech.

It’s like a hydraulic hiss sound and like the car lifts up for driving and sets down when I put it in park. It’s very pronounced and unlike any vehicle I’ve ever owned whether front or rear or all wheel drive so I’m assuming it’s some new tech.

I shall Google and return.

[BoSoxGal]

Okay, it seems it is the automatic electronic parking brake system.

And I am seeing some comments suggesting that keeping it in the on setting (which is apparently the default) may wear out my rear brakes prematurely?

I almost never park on an incline and almost never used my parking brake in my RAV4 so I’m wondering if I should shut this feature off?

[datsunaholic]

I despise electric parking brakes with a passion.

Both from an operational standpoint (I prefer a manual hand-operated parking brake) and from a towing perspective - they're a pain in the rear when someone loses their keyfob and I have to drag the damn thing up on the flatbed... even better when it's an electronic shift. And if they're in a parking garage when they do it, well, gonna have to call the expensive low-clearance tow truck (my flatbed is 31' long and 9'3" tall, doesn't fit in very many parking garages.

I know why they have them - it's nannyware in cars since too many people were forgetting to put the cars in park and opening the doors and getting run over by their own cars.

But you really should use the parking brake, even on a flat surface. The parking pawl in the transmission is fairly strong, but it's nt supposed to be the only thing keeping your car from rolling.

[BoSoxGal]

I never got into the habit of using the parking brake, except when leaving the car running in park for added security. I suppose that is because neither of my parents used theirs as a habit, and you tend to pick up the driving habits of the people you observe driving the most.

I also had a bad parking brake experience once. I used it for whatever reason on one occasion while visiting a friend in Bath, Maine - possibly because there was an incline on the street or the yard area where I was directed to park. The next morning I left her home early and a bit bleary eyed - we'd stayed up late visiting and there wasn't any coffee in the house for me to consume before hitting the road to get to an appointment. I drove several miles with the parking brake on before I realized it still was and disengaged it. That experience made me feel like the brake wasn't worth much in the overall scheme of things. That was in my old RAV4 a bunch of years ago and the weird thing was there wasn't any negative effect on my brakes, which lasted many more years before needing replacing. I'm easy on brakes because I drive the way my dad taught me - let the car slow down by inertia before engaging the brakes when approaching stops and lights and such, very rarely stop short because I never follow closely, and never ever ride the brakes.

But given your advice I will just leave the automatic system engaged on my little sharky since it won't forget to disengage when I put the car into drive.