# Peculiar car problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039 "2016-08-26T18:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/21 "2016-08-27T10:14:32Z")
Note: newer cars with push button start require you to step on the brake while starting. Cars w/o do not. OP is asking about a 13-year-old car which doesn’t require application of the brake in order to start. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/22 "2016-08-27T10:24:15Z")
More data: I have always driven manuals, except for the Chevelle I learned to drive on. All my manuals required stepping on the brake and clutch to start EXCEPT the 1961 Falcon, and I once nearly took out a porch post by accidentally starting it in first without stepping on the brake. The Chevelle, a 1972, did not require stepping on the brake, and neither does my 2016 Chevy Spark. I had been stepping on the brake on the Spark out of habit, and once I didn’t, to discover, to my surprise, that it started. Cars with remote starters are probably all automatics. If they were manuals, you’d have to leave the car in neutral with the parking brake on. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/23 "2016-08-27T11:05:21Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Note: newer cars with push button start require you to step on the brake while starting. Cars w/o do not. OP is asking about a 13-year-old car which doesn’t require application of the brake in order to start. Makes sense. My car is a 20 year old POS, so it starts with a key. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/24 "2016-08-27T11:15:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Cars with remote starters are probably all automatics. If they were manuals, you’d have to leave the car in neutral with the parking brake on. It’s possible to install a remote starter on a car with a manual transmission, but it’s considered risky and potentially unsafe for that reason. There’s always the chance you could forget to put the car in neutral when you get out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/25 "2016-08-27T17:32:25Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > More data: I have always driven manuals, except for the Chevelle I learned to drive on. All my manuals required stepping on the brake and clutch to start EXCEPT the 1961 Falcon… Sorry, but I cannot believe that any cars prior to late model button-start designs required stepping on the brake to start. Pressing down the clutch pedal (in an era later than 1961), yes, that became common and then universal. But the brake? No. I’ve been servicing cars professionally for over 40 years, worked on a wide variety of American, Asian, and European cars and have never seen that. > [@](#): > > …and I once nearly took out a porch post by accidentally starting it in first without stepping on the brake. I suspect you’re conflating stepping on the brake with depressing the clutch. This car could only have moved if the clutch pedal were up. If you had been pressing the brake, with the car in gear, it would not have cranked (and thus not started) because the engine would have been unable to rotate. ---
**Author:** ![Oddball\_92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b3f665/32.png) [@Oddball\_92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oddball_92)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/26 "2016-08-28T16:03:27Z")
Did you find out what was wrong? Inquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/27 "2016-08-28T18:42:27Z")
They haven’t looked at the yet. Tomorrow I will know and will post here. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039/28 "2016-08-30T18:20:20Z")
What broke was the bushing at the transmission end of the cable. So, functionally it was the cable that went bad. The repair did not cost that much. Thanks for all your inputs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peculiar-car-problem/764039.md?page=1)