My partner has experienced on two occasions parking the car, leaving the handbrake on only to find it someone else when she returns. I can only guess handbrake failure, the rear pads have just be refitted and problem occured again, garage said handbrake looks ok and it passed its MOT, does anyone else have experience of this problem?

When you lift the handbrake up do you notice whether it takes more clicks than usual before it pulls tight?

My handbrake normally clicks about 5 or 6 times before it's tight.

You might not have noticed this if you press the release button when you pull up your handbrake, though.

Give it a try anyway, if it take about 7+ clicks before it's tight and the car still moves....then you'll either there's a problem at the ratchet end (quite rare for a Multipla - happened on some Vauhalls), or a problem with the rear brakes/handbrake setup.

IIRC (I might be wrong) the handbrake operates against the rear brakes.

Worth checking with a Fiat dealer if you're unsure.

Just leaving it in 1st gear when you park up should sort it out.

Does your Multipla have rear disc brakes? (Some did for a while, and then they reverted to drums like the earlier models for some reason). A disc brake gets hot very quickly. If the handbrake is applied when the discs are hot, as they cool (and contract) the brake pads are not pressed so tightly against the disc. This used to be a real problem to the drivers of Citroens, esp the BX like I had, where the handbrake worked on the front discs which get much hotter. Ours frequently rolled away!

Our Multipla, with rear drum brakes, has occasionally rolled too: once into the garage door, resulting in the insurers paying for a new bonnet and new garage door. Always park it in gear now, 'just in case'

Pete

Perhaps you have the opposite problem to mine!!!
My hand brake cables are siezed...not sure which one, it does work but if i use the handbrake, it stays on.....can't move the beast.
Perhaps yr cables are siezed to, but in the oposite mode, that is, it wont pull the handbrake on. You leave it thinking the handbrake is on....and it isn't. Just a thought. Mal

My Multipla is exactly the same. The brake engages very high up indeed and even then it's not good on a hill. I always park any car I own in gear. NEVER trust the handbrake of any car.

The handbrake cable on any car will slacken over time and usually you can adjust the brake to compensate for this. I've only owned my Multipla for about a month now, so I'm not sure how it's setup, but it's one of the first things that I'll be looking at.

It's easy enough to adjust the handbrake cable. Unclip the cover at the base of the handbrake lever and the adjuster is obvious and easy to do.

However if you have disc rear brakes, you may well need to disconnect the cable from the operating arm on the caliper and allow the operating arm to fully return to the brake 'off' position, then reconnect it. This allows the caliper to auto adjust itself. Do this on both sides, obviously!

Worked fine for me in preparation for the MoT.

If the handbrake cable comes up very high, and you've got rear drums, you might need to replace the brake wear compensators. These little gadgets have a rather fragile ratchet system and when I looked at mine they had got bent out of shape. It means taking the drums off. Replacements are around £30 each (or a pair, I can't remember), and once you've fitted them and put the brakes back together you pump at the brakes until you can no longer hear ticking as the compensators self-adjust. You will probably find that the handbrake now pulls to a more normal height and holds properly.