Parking brake light stays on. Vehicle is sluggish. Brakes are squealing.

- Rayne, LA, USA

It's the 5th Tacoma I've owned. The parking brake lever in each of the other trucks always came out 4 inches from the dash. The "on" light came on when at the 3" mark. This new truck comes out 11.5 inches, hits me in the knee, making it almost impossible to get in and out, almost collides with the stick shift when its in 1st gear. The "on" light comes on before its pulled a quarter of an inch. The manual directs the operator, when in stopped on an incline, not to use the clutch to hold the car but rather place the car in nuetral and use the parking brake. After 26 hours owning the car, it rolled down my driveway. At the time, the car was in nuetral with the brake on to the extent all my other ( 4) Tacoma would have been. The "on" light was on. I jumped out of the car for just a second and it rolled away. The insurance man renacted the incident.he agreed something wasn't right. As the car began to roll down the driveway, he got behind it and began trying to stop it. I was able to jump in and stop it. Fortunately no one was hurt. Before I approach Toyota, I wanted his report detailing how the brake failed. I've yet to see it. I 'm not comfortable approaching the dealer, nor Toyota, without some authoritative backing. The brake needs to be fixed. The bumper and slight body damage needs to be repaired. I was never "walked through" it at the dealer. Nor do I have anything that says the pre-delivery inspection was performed. I don't know if the dealer is mandated to walk one through the car or what if any, inspection is supposed to be performed and documented for the customer. What is in place to ensure a new car is not unsafe? I would really appreciate any response you may deem appropriate. I have E-mailed the Toyota web site twice in an attempt to gather some informationabout the very questions I raise here. They do not appear to be responding. Thanks again, I look forward to hearing from you.

- North East, MD, USA