When parking a manual transmission car(stick) do I first put it in neutral?

Question

I know I pull up the emergency brake, but do I have to keep the car in gear when I turn it off? Or does it have to be in neutral?

Answer 1

Leave it in gear especially in hilly areas. This way if the handbrake fails then the car still wont move because the gears are engaged.

Answer 2

Usually what I do is I put the car in neutral, then pull up the emergency brake--that way the car is going nowhere, especially if it is up/down a hill. You don't have to put the car in gear to turn off the car---it'll turn off fine in neutral. Some people, like my boyfriend, parks it in 1st gear. But he usually parks in flat parking lots, so his car won't roll when he doesn't use the emergency brake. When I start a manual transmission car, I start it in neutral, put it in reverse or 1st gear, then release the brake and take off. Don't know if there is a mechanic out there that has a better suggestion on what is the "correct" way of parking a manual transmission car.

Answer 3

Actually, you can leave it in gear if you like and just turn the key off. Keep in mind that, your clutch engages and disengages the gears so you need to push the clutch in when you start the car, or your car will either jerk around or will appear to be dead. By doing this, you have an extra means of protection from the car rolling away, in case your parking brake gave out, it would at least be in gear if your brake gave way, and of course turn your wheel in the proper way..

Answer 4

You should never leave a car in gear once you've turned it off, it should always be left in neutral, even when parking on a steep hill. this is mainly because if the emergency services ever needed to move it in your absence, a car in gear can't be towed or bumped (shifted).
Also, if its left in gear, you might forget when you switch it back on and it will lurch forward and hit the car parked in front of you!
Are you sure you're fit to drive?!! :-)

Answer 5

Im not going to bother reading everyones answer... but here is the best one...

Go into neutral
Stop the car and pull the E-brake
Release the brakes so that the car leans on the e-brake
Put the car into 1st gear if its downhill (nose pointing down)
or
Put the car into reverse if the car is uphill (nose pointing up)

This way.. your car is leaning on the E-Brake AND the transmission is backup breaking

DO NOT stop the car in a gear and then use the E-brake. In this situation you are using your engine as your main 'brake' and this will put alot of unneeded stress on it

Answer 6

I always leave my car shift in reverse when I turn off the engine. The only reason you put the gear in neutral is that you don't cause the car to jerk when you remove your foot off the clutch too soon when you turn off the engine. But if you take care of your "metal pony", you take your time making sure your car is secure. That includes putting on the e-brake.

Answer 7

You depress the clutch when you stop and so you can leave it in gear and turn it off. Before doing that however shift to 1st gear as that is where it should be to be parked. Always leave it in gear when parked especially on hills as this helps hold the car in place.

Answer 8

1. Pull up emergency brake
2. Put car in neutral
3. Turn car off
4. Put gear stick in either reverse or 1st gear depending on whether or face uphill or down

Answer 9

Pull in to spot, keep foot on brake, push the clutch in, engage the parking brake, turn car off, and release clutch.
You want it in 1st facing uphill or reverse facing downhill.
You don't need to put it in neutral except when moving the stick from first to reverse or reverse to first, depending on how you pull in and how you park.

Answer 10

not true. You should leave it in gear. The battery won't be affected, that way if for some reason the brake breaks then your car won't roll cause it is in gear. Sometimes I just leave it in 1st without the break if I am parking on flat ground.

Answer 11

Put it in gear after it's turned off and the emergency brake is set.