My parking brake failed on a steep hill in downtown Seattle yesterday

I was parked on Pine Street near the market, that section is like a 15% grade easy. Came back to my car and it had rolled back about 3 feet into a SUV behind me. No damage thank god but my heart was pounding. Turned out the cable had snapped inside the mechanism. Towed it to a shop and they said it was rusted through. Got it fixed for $180. Has anyone else had a cable fail like that without any warning?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenniferwells2d ago

Wait, your cable just snapped with NO warning signs at ALL? That's TERRIFYING to hear because I park on hills in Seattle ALL the time and now I'm gonna be paranoid. I had something similar happen to me but with a Subaru Forester about two years ago. The parking brake felt a little "mushy" for like a week before it went out completely, but I was dumb and ignored it. You got lucky with no damage, my car rolled into a Prius and I had to pay $400 for their bumper plus $250 for my cable replacement. The shop told me rust is the NUMBER ONE killer of those cables especially here in the Pacific Northwest with all the rain and salt on winter roads. Make sure you get your undercarriage washed regularly in winter, that salt eats everything underneath your car even if you don't see it.

william4072d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy's cable snapped on his Tacoma with zero warning, lucky he was parked flat.