ghost driver hit our house last night

[crown]

 our tenet parker her car and left it in gear about a hour later i hear her car start up a diesl suv as i am coming
out the front door of the house the car runs up over the step and hits the house luckly it killed a few large flower pots and a lawn chair so no damage to house . how could this happen her keys where in her purse ?
crazy and scary night john

[Iceni John]

Does her car have a remote start function on the key fob?   If it has, maybe she inadvertently pressed the Remote Start button while she was inside the house.   Why does she leave it parked in gear, and why does she not use the parking brake?

John

[crown]

hi john no remote start its a older 89 model john

[Lin]

How would it get in gear?

[John316]

How would it get in gear?

Might be a manual transmission. I always park mine in gear. I just don't trust the parking brake.

John, I have no clue what could happen. Glad there wasn't major damage.

John

[B_K]

our tenet parker her car and left it in gear about a hour later i hear her car start up a diesl suv as i am coming
out the front door of the house the car runs up over the step and hits the house luckly it killed a few large flower pots and a lawn chair so no damage to house . how could this happen her keys where in her purse ?
crazy and scary night john

Could be an electrical short somewhere. (see below!)

Why does she leave it parked in gear, and why does she not use the parking brake?
John

Many older cars don't have working parking brakes.

Also MANY of the cars south of the Rio Grande come from up in the North East Region of the US. I know several car hauling companies that pick up 5-6 truck loads of cars from the huge car auctions in the NE every week and bring them down to KY-TN-AR area and go through them. They keep the best of them to "whole sale" to local used dealers.
The rest of them go back on a truck and down to Brownsville, TX where they are either bought off the truck as it unloads in a dirt lot or at the auction next door the lot. Out of 50 to 70 cars a week only about 5-10 cars stay the rest go to south!
Most are major rust buckets underneath but look great up top. Some have mechanical issues!

I have 3 different friends who own car carriers that do this one in KY, one in TN, and one on the AR/OK border all 3 of them send/take 5 or 6 trucks a week to the "Border Auction" and most cars sell before they get in the auction gate.
I've been down there with them before as a driver of a carrier and couldn't believe the swarm of buyers that swarm the trucks as they pull in to unload. (the auction does have a paved lot carriers can unload in, but many chose to unload in the dirt lot and sell as many cars as they can for cash before the auction. And they have to move the trucks to park on the dirt lot after unloading on the pavement anyway.)

So it's highly likely the parking park could be "froze up" from rust or even have a broken cable.

Also some people just park them in gear.

  BK 

[CrabbyMilton]

Good thing noboby was hurt. She parked it in gear? That's not too smart. I'm amazed how many people either never use or neglect the parking brake. I use it almost everytime I secure the car. Granted, an automatic has a lock but you are better off putting the weight of the vehicle on the parking brake BEFORE you shift into park. There's no excuse not to have the parking brake not in proper working order and NOT TO USE IT.

[John316]

Good thing noboby was hurt. She parked it in gear? That's not too smart. I'm amazed how many people either never use or neglect the parking brake. I use it almost everytime I secure the car. Granted, an automatic has a lock but you are better off putting the weight of the vehicle on the parking brake BEFORE you shift into park. There's no excuse not to have the parking brake not in proper working order and NOT TO USE IT.

And some of us have Ford pickups (I guess we would be in your "not too smart" catigory) that have perfectly functioning parking brakes, but do not trust them. Manual transmission, always leave it in gear. Best practice for sure. Automatics are an entirely different animal. 

John

[crown]

  its a manual trans left in revese did not use parking brake it has it be a short ? have never heard or saw
a car start by it self ? was a shock to walk out the front door and have a big suv hit the door [ we have double
front door ] she is having the whole car checked out so hopefully we will known what caused it . i told her she was lucky it happend at the house what if it started up at gas station or parking lot or went out to the highway
someone could of been killed

[Van]

Whew! Glad no one was hurt John, hope the damage is repairable. All the best to you

   Van

[CrabbyMilton]

I am a FORD man myself having owned 3 previous FORD cars and still own one at this time('04 MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS) plus a couple company issue FORD work full size vans over the years. IF your parking brake is in proper working order, you should be able to trust it. You can always chock the wheels if you are for whatever reason not confident of your parking brake.
Like anything else, taking proper care of equipment gives you a better chance of it not failing. That's what I have found over the many years.

[crown]

 van thanks no damage to house the two flower pots am guessing weigh about 200 lbs each they slowed it down right before hitting the house she did not use the parking brake after she moved the car she said i put it in first i told her if it started again being in first gear she would be pulling it from the river so she tolk it out of gear and used the parking brake  john

[robertglines1]

Must have been the day!! Cold this am.  Left car outside shop. keys in pocket.  Went inside,30minutes later came out all windows  down and sunroof open. ?   Bob

[crown]

bob might be the cars are getting ready to take over the world   john

[rampeyboy]

Was it on a hill where weight of truck could have caused the engine to spin and start as the truck rolled in gear?

[crown]

 no not on hill

[Van]

The car is not named "Christine" by any chance?

[Bill B /bus]

For those of us who had there formative driving years in the north will never use the parking brake. One time is all you need, having to thaw a stuck parking brake. And the fun part is laying in the snow and getting soaked as you attempt to unstick the frozen parts.

Bill

[eagle19952]

what Bill said...cept in the Arctic you don't get wet...you just freeze too and maybe you stick to the ground.

[crown]

  no no snow in costa rica just thinking about snow i get cold about 78 year round i live in shorts & t shirts
john

[fortyniner]

Was the vehicle locked? Maybe someone was fooling around and tried to hot wire not realizing it was in gear.

-Tom P.

[fortyniner]

Once on Click&Clack a caller had a problem with her car cranking away at night. It didnt actually start but the starter motor just ran. Turned out some rodents had built a nest on the starter and ate the insulation off the starter wires.  Periodcally it would cross causing started to engage. Spooky until they figured it out.

[crown]

 no the car was not locked but our house is all walled in and a elec gate to get in so no it was not hot wired
also the cars owner my wife and a friend where in my garage talking as it happend i will tell her to check wireing for rodents but the car never sits its used every day still a mystery john
ps. walling around your property and gates are normal in costa rica  something you dont see much in the usa
in fact our first trip up my wife was afraid to go to sleep because there was no walls or gates  shes ok now

[Hi yo silver]

Bob,
Were there any grandkids around when that happened?
Dennis

[robertglines1]

No; I had left the trunk open several hrs only thing I can figure the computer did something crazy on power saving mode. Inside cover to sun roof was still closed.  Bob