Was on a slight incline and hadn't put van in gear when parked up. Got out of van and heard a very loud click, turned around and saw my van slowly rolling off. It damaged a residential wall, thankfully there was no one around and no one got injured. I put my details through letterbox of house, and have since had their wall repaired.

I took my van to my local garage to have it checked out. They checked the handbrake and said that one of the teeth on the ratchet was missing. I took a pic of it. I then took it to the local volkswagen dealer garage where I had had it serviced a few weeks ago. (Its only two years old, purchased on a five year lease package through Volkswagen) I left it with them to see if there was any other reason that the handbrake had failed other than me not leaving it in gear. When going back to collect They told me that they had tightened the brake cable as it seem a bit loose, but they never mentioned the missing tooth on ratchet. I hadn't told them that another garage had noticed this. When I did mention it to them, they said that they hadn't seen a missing tooth and from my pic, said it just looked like grease to them. They mentioned that I should have left it in gear. So basically, my own fault. When I was given back my van keys, they had left it on a particularly steep slope, but not in gear. I pointed it out to the mehcanic, he just shrugged his shoulders. After they tightened the handbrake cable, I notice when I used my van how it felt much better when engaging the break, it didn't have to be raised as high as before, which was very high. Basically, it feels like a complete new handbrake.

I wrote to Volkswagen to state my concerns about the handbrake and that I felt that the brake had not been engaging fully after the feel of it after their mechanic tightened the cable. They were slow to respond to my complaint and after no confirmation of receiving it for weeks, eventually got back to me to say that their mechanic said he only tweaked the brake cable and that in his opinion it was driver error by not leaving it in gear on a slope. I had only had the van serviced in this garage a few weeks ago. Even my wife has said what a difference to the operation of the handbrake, and that previously she had had to pull it almost vertical to get it to engage, but as she doesn't often drive the van, just thought it was normal for this type of van.

I was advised by the first garage who noticed the missing tooth to get a second opinion from an independant motor engineer. I did so and the report found the handbrake ratchet was indeed missing a tooth, and that the whole handbrake would have to be replaced.

Would the action of the handbrake not holding in place and failing on an incline cause the tooth on ratchet to break off? I'm wondering if I have reason to complain and ask for compensation to VW for a faulty handbrake or is it my fault for not leaving it in gear?

Edited by Annj on 24/11/2014 at 15:18