Do you park in gear?

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

I do, always leave it in 1st and handbrake on.

[CaveRacing]

I do, too. 1st or reverse...depending on the grade and direction of the pavement.

[BFH miata]

I typically park in neutral, unless it is on a steep hill. I have a DIY clutch switch over ride, so I tend to reach in and crank the car before I sit down in the car.

[metalman]

I have a DIY clutch switch over ride,

What does that consist of? A paper clip?? :D :D

[redrumracer]

no. i leave it in neutral(obviously, i ruled out everything with no) and leave the parking brake on. and i hate it when i let someone else drive my car and then they leave it in gear.

[thx712517]

Always always always leave the car in gear with the emergency brake on and the wheel cranked over a bit. If I leave the car in neutral, I feel like something's wrong. Of course I also always put up the top and roll up the windows when I leave the car. The other convertible owners at work laugh at me for keeping my top up, windows up, and doors locked, but hey, I value my stuff and I don't want it stolen.

[JDM88]

no. i leave it in neutral(obviously, i ruled out everything with no) and leave the parking brake on. and i hate it when i let someone else drive my car and then they leave it in gear.


why do you hate it?

I differ in the locking up and roof up to you Kevin. I don't keep anything valuable in the car and have the trunk release disabled so if I do I just throw it in there. I figure they can have a peak around rather than cut the roof!

[redrumracer]

no. i leave it in neutral(obviously, i ruled out everything with no) and leave the parking brake on. and i hate it when i let someone else drive my car and then they leave it in gear.


why do you hate it?

I differ in the locking up and roof up to you Kevin. I don't keep anything valuable in the car and have the trunk release disabled so if I do I just throw it in there. I figure they can have a peak around rather than cut the roof!

because im so use to it not being in gear and when i start it up i automatically let the clutch out, w/o checking the gear normally.

[JDM88]

How come you didn't learn to leave it in gear? I've always been taught to do it as a precautionary measure in case the handbrake gets knocked off or disabled somehow.

[Sawyer]

I always leave mine in 1st.
Before I got in the habit I would hate when someone would drive it and leave it in gear just because I wasn't used to it. But now it's just automatic to me!

[Otto]

only when parking on a hill, i usually grab a parking spot at work next to a curb so i just turn into that so sometimes i dont even do it then

[Oblio]

in gear depending on the grade 1st or reverse. on the locking thing Id rather they take anything from the inside rather than cut my top.

[MeFryRice]

Depending on the incline and which way the car is facing, 1st or reverse with the e-brake on.

[BFH miata]

What does that consist of? A paper clip?? :D :D


Actually it is a nice piece of wire with spade connectors on each end. I don't half *** everything that I do DIY...

[dragonbaby]

I leave mine in first gear with the handbrake on too. Feels sorta wrong if I get in and find it isn't in gear.

[Acro]

I have to, my parking brake dun work :p

[MeFryRice]

I learned the hard way on the importance of leaving it in gear, especially on an incline/decline.

Back when I had my Integra years ago, I was pulling into a friends driveway and without thinking, just pulled up my e-brake but left it in neutral. I had just got done swapping out the motor so the friend and his brother wanted to see. We walk back out to his drive to see my car missing, I thought they were playing some sort of joke on me but I didn't see them smile. I was thinking to myself, I haven't been here long enough for anyone to steal it and I have the keys in my hand. I pressed the panic button to see the blinkers going off at the bottom of his driveway. It was in the neighbor's across the streets yard, missing a light pole by inches! :jawdrop: I got lucky I guess you could say.

Lessoned learned! :D

[JDM88]

Some lessons are better not learned the hard way :D

[nderwater]

I always park with the car in first or reverse, but only use the handbrake when leaving the car on an incline. I, too, learned the hard way about trusting the parking brake to hold a car on its own.

[RotorNutFD3S]

I was in the habit of leaving mine out of gear with just the parking brake on because on my last car I had a remote start system, and it was a manual.
Recently, the parking brake would not release one of the rear calipers, so I had to start parking it with it in gear only. I'll be replacing the caliper anyway before it gets back on the road.
Remote start is in the near future again, so I'll probably keep the old habit. Never had any issues before, hopefully won't in the future, and almost everywhere I park is flat.

[Stealth97]

in gear with the brake on, all the time. my scion rolled across a fairly level parking lot one time, with just the brake on. that car was a POS, but I'd never park anything else with just the brake again.

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

I must say I'm really surprised with the split.

[iJohnnyC.]

I generally leave just the E brake on, and out of gear. Although, paranoia induced from this thread has gotten me leaving it in gear also if not a perfectly flat surface.

[MeFryRice]

If I was still living in Utah, I'd park it in gear with the e-brake off as I wouldn't want the e-brake line to become frozen and break.

[Doppelgänger]

I just use the parking brake.. unless im on a very steep incline.

[jesseealexander]

in gear, handbrake up, top down or up but not latched and usually with windows down. dont leave stuff in the car EVER. i figure thieves can get in either way, and my top is already a p.o.s. lol.

[MeFryRice]

So you don't care if someone were to take your car??

[Sawyer]

Yeah, I don't understand the whole "leave your car unlocked" thing..
I go to school in Downtown Atlanta and have never had a problem with people trying to slash my top or anything.

[RotorNutFD3S]

I had my top slashed in Atlanta with my RX7 convertible. It sucked bad. There wasn't anything in view. Everything I liked, I kept in the trunk, and had disabled the interior release, which I need to hurry up and get around to on the Miata.
In any case, if someone wants your car badly enough, it's going one way or another. But if you lock your doors, and they slash your top, it's one less item that they can sell for a better price...

[MeFryRice]

If someone wants my car that bad to vandalize it, they can have it but I'm not going to make it an easy task for them.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Exactly! Thought about wiring up a couple of tasers in the front seat that activate if someone sits down and hasn't deactivated the system properly. lol
Would suck if you forgot about it though...

[deerock]

i do 3/4 the time cause i know a certain someone! COUGHGRAFITIPANDACOUGH who likes to push my car cause my ebrake sucks, so i trick him by parking in gear! that and my driveway is at a godawful angle and would send my car into a ditch if i forgot to put it in gear.

[jesseealexander]

im not worried about my car getting stolen at most of the places i go. plus a miata isnt a "hot" car to steal anyways. if i had an s2k, that bish would STAY locked/top up etc. id rather my old cd player get stolen than have my top cut and the cd player stolen.