sr_

I'm about 1500 miles into my new allroad. Three times I've gotten a warning about a "parking brake malfunction." I don't recall the exact text, but there's a phrase after that about "safety" or "safely."

Each time the warning has come up for a second or two as the car starts from a cold start; never while parking or engaging the brake. I haven't noticed any slipping or lurching. The light on the brake button lights up as normal. Except for the warning, by all appearances the parking brake engages and works normally.

I don't know of anything unusual about how I parked the times this happened. Two times the car was parked in a flat parking lot. I pull on the parking brake manually after parking - usually after hitting the "P" button on the shifter, but I've probably reversed the sequence a few times (that "P" button still feels unnatural).

I'm making a service appointment but I'm curious - has anyone else had similar behavior?

Thanks-

Versprechen

You know I get that warning before I start the car and the parking brake may or may not be engaged -- may it is since it does automatically at times I think -- and I slam the door shut. Not when I close the door like I should but when I slam apparently too hard for the girl.

Nothing permanent I guess, slightly glitch and bitchy but manageable.

archrenov8

Hmmmm. I have gotten that warning once so far. What I find puzzling is that when I stop the AR, with my foot on the brake, I then push the Start/Stop button, and most times it engages Park and the Parking Brake, but every now and then, it does not engage the Parking Brake, just Park. Then I have to engage the Parking Brake manually.

I am trying to figure out why, but haven't a clue so far.

FLkiwi

There's quite an extensive thread on this exact topic over in the A4 forum:
Parking brake and engine stop

archrenov8

Thanks. Quite extensive, and yet non-conclusive. Oh well.

FLkiwi

Yes - still a mystery! I'm sure someone will figure it out at some point -- perhaps it's something to do with whether the car thinks it's on a slope.

sr_

Just to be clear, I'm not experiencing any inconsistency with whether the parking brake automatically turns on (the behavior being discussed in the other thread, so far as I can tell). The warning I've gotten occurs on cold engine starts after the car has been parked (it has happened anywhere between ~30 minutes and 14 hours without use).

Archrenov8, did the warning from your first sentence come up during the behavior described in the rest of your post?

archrenov8

No, The warning came up the next time I got back in the car. Kind of late for a warning like that!