by NeFaRiOuS_SLE » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:48 pm
^^What he said... I ALWAYS put my parking brakes on, manual or auto, incline or level ground... Especially even more now since I moved up into the hills in January. The problem could be in your parking pawls, which is a type of pin that somewhat secures your car in an emergency.
Constant use of the parking pawl only, especially when parking on an incline, or when I see some people putting the car in Park before it's at a complete stop, means that driveline components are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl.
It's a common misconception that it's a substitute for the e-brake, but it's actually more of a safety feature to keep your car from rolling downhill when it fails, except it's built in instead of setting it by hand (e.g. putting manual transmission in gear).
Replacement by a mechanic can be expensive, since it generally requires removing the transmission from the car.