+1.

You're dumb NOT to leave it in gear.

 

Um... I don't know that I would call someone dumb over something as low-ranking as that. It doesn't damage anything to do it one way or the other, right? So it comes down to habit and/or preference and perhaps a marginally better feeling like the car is less likely to roll away on you if you choose to leave it in gear.

Anyway, I've met Fokker in real life. I'm not crazy enough to call him dumb.

 

It's more of a figure of speech rather than calling someone dumb.

Left in gear there is mechanical resistance holding your car from rolling away if your cables were to ever let go.

 

I know how you feel. I've been parking my car in neutral with the e-brake up my whole life. Then last winter I had my car parked outside for a week while it snowed. So much rust built up on the rotors that I had to give the car gas in gear to break the stuck calipers. I then failed to brake hard enough in daily driving to clear the rust and now I've got warped rotors. Ever since, I've been parking in gear with the e-brake down at the house, and in neutral with the e-brake up when out and about.

 

+1

But I find a lot of people leave their cars in neutral on this side of the pond, in Europe everyone leaves it in first. I always correct my friends on this. Then again over here you don't have a stick in driving school so you basically have to learn everything on your own.

 

No one is dumb to not leave it gear; I've done plenty of dumb things, but this doesn't fall under that heading. I've owned manuals exclusively for a decade now, no issues. If you're on an incline then the extra security makes sense so as not to have a runaway car, but I prefer step, start, release without having to remember to pull the car out of gear.

I never live anywhere without a garage for a reason, not that I have to worry about snow here. Too many benefits for a gearhead like me not to have one.

 

Always in neutral for me. I'm on flat ground and the e-brake ensures my car doesn't roll around. I don't go yanking on the e-brake lever either. Good thing I'm in Socal so my brakes aren't likely to freeze up.

Anyhow, valet is a foreign to me. If I can't trust them with an old Camry I use to drive then I sure am not going to leave the Honda....

 

Years ago I noted a Mustang roll backwards out of of a parking space at a hotel. "Darn! I have a Mustang that looks just like that one!"

Manual transmission cars should use the parking brake AND put the transmission in gear just as a backup. Parking brake can cause problems as several have noted if left engaged for a long time due to rust and corrosion over time. Long term storage is "in gear."

As for valet parking? The Ebola analogy applies.

-- Chuck

 

I would think any service person should leave the vehicle in gear when they are done with the vehicle, one more layer of protection to cover their arse.

I've got my clutch switch permanently closed, so checking the shifter for neutral or in gear before starting is a force of habit and a must for me. One more reason I don't let me car be valet'd

 

I used to leave it in neutral with the e-brake. That is, until one winter when I still had my EVO VIII MR. I was running dedicated winter tires on all 4, and I parked on a small hill in like 6 inches of snow and found it sideways down the hill besides a perpendicular curb with tire marks where it slid down lol. They even have extremely good Brembos! Luckily there was no damage, not even any curb rash on the tires. I would have cried, the BBS's on the MR's are expensive as hell (~$700 to $800 per new OEM wheel). Ever since that day I've parked my car for long periods of time with it in gear even if it's dry, the added security is worth the extremelyyyy small mechanical wear and tear. If I'm running into a store or parking my S2K for a shorter amount of time I just keep it in neutral, most parking lots are flat anyways.

Damn Rhode Island bi-polar weather. One day it can snow like a foot, then the next week it might be like 50 degrees and sunny. Makes it hard to daily a S2000