Using Reverse Gear (Auto) for slight incline?

[cn90]

I have a straight driveway with a very slight slope, maybe dropping about 1 foot for a length of 30-40 feet.

I usually back the car in the driveway using Reverse Gear (Auto), this way when I leave for work in the AM, I simply drive ahead.

I know the forward gears can handle any forward movements.

The question is: can the Reverse Gear handle a slight slope?
Does this (going backwards in a slight slope on a frequent basis) cause any damage to the Reverse Gear system?

[scot850]

There are way more worries in life than this to lose sleep over. I wouldn't worry about it (until it breaks.......!).

Neil.

[BlackBart]

Agreed, reverse is pretty tough and low speed, little stress is involved.

Our old Volvo Mechanic Odvar the Great always said, "Drive it til it breaks, then you know what's wrong!"

[Blacklab467]

Agreed, reverse is pretty tough and low speed, little stress is involved.

Our old Volvo Mechanic Odvar the Great always said, "Drive it til it breaks, then you know what's wrong!"

I wish troubleshooting was this easy! Usually when mine breaks I have to borrow the wife's Volvo for a few days while I figure out whats wrong!

[scot850]

Well just stop breaking it then??!

Neil.

[cn90]

The reason I asked bc my now-junk 1998 S70 P80 with 185K miles...in 2018, I backed it up an incline with < 0.5 inches of snow, soon afterwards, I lost the reverse.

All forward gears were fine.I drive it like that for a while. The final straw was the burned exhaust valve in cylinder #3.

[5underpressure]

I’ve done a lot of reverse fwd donuts in the snow, dumb teenager abusing cars. CV joints always gave out before the transmission did. I wouldn’t worry.