What's The Difference Between Neutral And Park For An Automatic Car?

[Rev. Green]

I've bought a second-hand automatic car for the first time and I'm confused by the gear lever. I've driven it for a fortnight using just forward and reverse, and keeping my foot on the brake at traffic lights, but I've just discovered how to get it into Neutral. There is also a Park position. Are these the same?

[Jackdaw33]

No. It will not move in park but might slip away in neutral.

[angie55]

Put simply, neutral will let the car roll forward or backward if you haven't got your foot on the brake. Park acts like a brake and the car will not move even if you don't apply the footbrake.

[Zacs-Master]

Park is for when your parked, rather logically. Neutral can be selected when you're in a queue of traffic to take the strain off the gearbox.

[bhg481]

You should not attempt to put the car into P if it is moving at all as the transmission is physically locked; it is much more secure than the handbrake. N is the equivalent of neutral in a manual gearbox - I drive automatics and find that I never use neutral.
For 99% of driving there is no need to use anything other than P and R, although you may wish to manually change down a gear or two when going down a long hill, just as you would in a manual car. The method of doing that depends on the gearbox so you'll need to look at your handbook.