My S40 T5 is 3 weeks old. I parked the car on an almost flat street, pulled the E. brake, was outside for a few minutes, went in the house and came out 5-10 minutes later and the car was gone. It rolled down the street swiped a street sign and when I got in the car to bring it back, the E brake was still on. We determined that if the car is hot (been driven a lot) the E brake seems to fail when the car starts to cool down. The sun roof is broken and the dealer has ordered a new part. The rear park assist does not work, I cannot even get the activation/deactivation commands to come up on the information screen by doing what it says in the manual. My insurance said if I claim this it will be considered a collision because the car was moving (dosent matter that it did this by itself). I don't want to pay my deductable and have my insurance go up. The car's mirror is off, and it has scratches on both side fenders and both doors. Anyone have advice on how to handle the car dealership? The day this happened I had just picked the car up from the dealer, they had put on new rims and tires. I am afraid they will argue that I did not have the break pulled all the way up. I pull it up to about the 4th click. I think there are 6 clicks, but I am a small 23 year old and I don't feel I really don't have enough strength to pull the break up to the max and then attempt to release it. And I don't think I should have to, I mean come on its a volvo.
Please help.
Thanks,
Melissa

Have them test it infront of you.Four clicks should have been enough to hold the car.Most of the time 3 clicks is enough.

I would say something and see what they say.Maybe it wasn't adjusted properly.

You did have the car in gear/park right? I am guessing that you have the 6 speed if it is a stick. If you have an automatic, there is a much bigger problem than your parking brake.

Hey Melissa,

I am so sorry to hear about what happened. The same thing happened to me! I am so lucky my car didn't roll off a cliff as I parked it upward on a hill yesterday, pulled the ebrake up about 4 notches and then came back and found my car had drifted back about 10 feet! I don't have any advise on how to help you deal with the cost of repair....but Volvo should advise it's new owners of this car that the E brake needs to be pulled all the way up. This is a great concern has people need to be aware that major damage could occur if the car is left in neutral and the ebrake is not pulled all the way up. I'm surprised there haven't been more accidents so far with these cars. Anyway, I feel your pain and hopefully you will have the car looking like new again soon. :o


Ben

There are 12 clicks in lever, but ergonomically you only have up to 6-7 clicks until the arm gets into such position you cannot pull further because of high forces / bad ergonomics.
For the car to stand in a slope despite the cool down effect (that always occurs on these integrated p-brake systems) you have to pull at least up to 5 or 6 clicks, even in low inclined slopes.

Ergonomics and high lever forces in combination with a system which has very high force losses (bad cable routing and relaxations in the system) ) is probably the main reasons the S40/V50 rolls away.

But was the p-brake OK adjusted from dealer? Ask them to check the adjustment nut at the lever under the gaitor, and check if there is any slack in the system.
Also ask the dealer to replace the lever and re-adjust the system for you - they should do that.

Sorry to hear about your s40. I've heard of cars going done the hill but never when the car is new. I can't believe that you guys have E. brake failure with a new car!
I know its not the same thing but I have an automatic and some how it must work differently as I also bought a 2005 and I was actually amazed how well the E. brake work. My car doesn't move a bit when I use the E. brake.

The way I use my E. brake is actually by pushing on the release at all-time. This way I don't hear the clicks and I feel the brake much better and I know when it’s tight. I never had problem releasing the brakes afterwards.

I can't imagine how upset you must be. If the car is new, it is the responsibility of the dealer to fix damage I would think.

Good luck!!!

I had the same thing happen to my new S2000 - went to a movie and found a note with large rocks behind my rear tires. It had drifted back into the middle of the parking lot! I now make sure I put it in 1st and pull the brake a little harder.