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Has anybody experienced problems with the Vauxhall Signum parking brake releasing it's hold on the car? I am presently looking at a case where the handbrake lever assembly had been replaced by a main dealer and shortly afterwards it had allowed the car to roll back off a driveway. Lever assembly is apparently the same on the Vectra.
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It's mentioned in the car-by-car-breakdown (red menu bar on the left of the page)
I'm tempting fate now as I've not had a problem with my Vectra-C (yet!). As it's an auto though, I cannot remove the key from the ignition until the autobox has been put into park, so if the inevitable does ever happen, the gearbox will hopefully stop it rolling away.
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Automatics which have a "park" position which locks the transmission aren't required under C&U regs to have a handbrake!
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I don't have an auto but leave it in gear whenever I'm not in it anyway!
Just in case.
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Not a VX, but spied a 03/04 era Mondeo Hatch with its rear end buried in the corner of a house on a particularly steep hill this morning. From the way it was left, either the driver was particularly poor and missed the adjacent drive or the car had suffered PB failure a rolled downhill. Suggest the latter as no matter how bad people are at reversing i am sure they could not have misjudged it by 2 feet.
PS, It's a Very steep hill, but's only about 150m top to bottom.
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I am sure I read about this, maybe in Auto Express. Think it was a known problem but Vauxhall wouldn't admit to it.
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www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=30685&...f
similar situation on this thread re a Vectra. Outcome is Vauxhall say its a warranty issue and Ins Company was dealing with VX on it??
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My 2004 Vectra handbook calls it a Handbrake! It should be applied whenever you come to stop that is likely to last for more than just a few seconds. That way your high-intensity brake lights don't dazzle the poor driver behind you more than is necessary.
There has been a problem reported relating to cooling of the rear disks shrinking back away from the shoes. I have not heard of there being a cure made available. The best advice is to leave it in gear (a forward gear if facing up a slope and reverse if facing down has been suggested for many years) but always check if it is in gear before starting the engine.
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This has just happened to me. My signum was parked on my drive and my husband was in the back of our Vauxhall van when he heard a loud click, he peered outside and our car was rolling off the drive and knocked over a concrete post and metal fence. When my husband got in it the handbrake had released itself. Will vauxhall take responsibility for this as it seems to be a common fault on these vehicles??
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They ought to. The handbrake cable was replaced on my Vectra, it seems they all fail at some point on the Vectras/Signums.
For that reason, I leave mine in gear - even with the new cable fitted.
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Hi,
Yes, it happened to me, parked my Vauxhall Signum, put the handbrakle on, it was engaged for around 15minutes, then the handbrake released from the on position to the fully off position. I have witnesses to show the car was sparked up and nobody touched the vehicle.
I am trying to get Vauxhall to accept this issue. It happened to me and cost £3000 damage to me and wrote another car off.
Vauxhall exchanged my handbrake and refused to check my original handbrake or let me keep it for independent testing. If this happened to you please feel free to contact me at p4business@yahoo.co.uk as I am trying to get a few customers together to put some pressure on them.
Thanks
Rhys
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I am trying to get Vauxhall to accept this issue.
You *might* find that they've covered themselves by the advice given in the handbook.
Quote
"Advice when parking:
Always apply hand brake firmly. On slopes apply the hand brake as firmly as possible.
With manual transmission select first gear or reverse, for automatic transmission or CVTronic selector
lever in P."
In other words, never leave the vehicle in neutral when you've parked up.
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Quite right DD. I think (and hope) they are covered.
The advice in the handbook is also in the highway code at Rule 226 in my edition, with the addition of pointing the wheels into the kerb where available as a 3rd safeguard.
Some people clearly don't bother to read it, then when they get cought out try to absolve themselves of blame rather than learning from their mistake.
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Hi,
I know what you are saying, but you will find that this advice is aimed at a handbrake not holding 100%.
This issue is different, the handbrake goes fully off, therfore there is no resistance offered at all by the handbrake, even a car in gear will roll down a slope, although granted it will be a bit slower. I have actully tried this (while sitting safely in the car!!) A vauxhall technician also confirmed this to me.
In addition, this advice doesn't help when your sat at a set of traffic lights on a hill and your handbrake suddenly releases!! Luckily you are in the car to hit the brake pedal, but it doesn't half give you and the person behind a shock!
Come on Vauxhall, take this issue seriously.
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Hi,
I don't know how many people this has happened to, but I parked my car (Vauxhall Signum Elite) on a slope, put the handbrake on. The car held on the slope for around 15 minutes before the car rolled down the slope hitting another parked car.
The parking brake / hand brake had fully disengaged and was in the fully off position. If this sounds familiar or has happened to you please contact me (click on my user id for e-mail) as I am trying to get a list of people to hopefully get Vauxhall to take the issue seriously.
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having arrived home from leeds on wednesday and parking my signum on my drive (which has a slight gradient) after about one hour i saw from my window the car slowly moving down the drive, it subsequently collided with the wall of my house causing £140 worth of damage to my n/s rear wing. two days later i recieved from vauxhall a rather cleverly worded letter advising me (with the co-operation of vosa) on the correct use of the handbrake. clearly there is a problem with the mechanism used and i would like to know if a presedent has yet been set for compensation by vauxhall for damage incured due to faulty/inadiquate components
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clearly there is a problem with the mechanism used
If this were the case then why is it only happening to a very small percentage of Vectra / Signum cars? Compare the amount of cars sold to the people having problems, and it's easy to see why Vauxhall aren't willing to do anything about it.
and as mentioned above, they've pretty well covered themselves by the advice given in the handbook - ie, select first gear or reverse if you have manual transmission, and select "P" with an auto transmission.
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