Electronic Handbrake

caprikid1

Drive 2 a lot, an Avensis and VW Passat, hate them both , give me a lever any day.

scot22_2

Interested to know why.  Overwhelming support good to have betting opinions.

Gsaver1

Had one on my Passat B6, like above not a fan. Both of the calipers had cracks on them. Cost of them getting replaced with VW genuine parts and labour costs was eye watering. Made sure the next car I bought had a manual handbrake. Shame as I liked the Passat. Can't understand why manufacturers don't offer vehicles with electric or manual.

daveyjp

VW introduced them to the Passat many years ago and there were expensive inherent design faults, which shouldn't be a surprise as VW excel in that skill.

A friend had a Vauxhall where it failed, leaving his car embedded in his garage writing the car off.

However the tech is now well established and it is becoming far more common.  Some vehicles do need the system resetting after pad changes.

Car_54

daveyjp said:

VW introduced them to the Passat many years ago and there were expensive inherent design faults, which shouldn't be a surprise as VW excel in that skill.

A friend had a Vauxhall where it failed, leaving his car embedded in his garage writing the car off.

However the tech is now well established and it is becoming far more common.  Some vehicles do need the system resetting after pad changes.

Vauxhall have history with failing handbrakes, long before they went electronic. Including my brand new 1995-ish Omega, which ran away on a service area car park.

dipsomaniac

Electric handbrakes are ok on level ground. It's when you are on a slope you miss the security of a manual handbrake.

Also not happy if a dealer/garage needs to reset after disc/pads change

molerat

dipsomaniac said:

Electric handbrakes are ok on level ground. It's when you are on a slope you miss the security of a manual handbrake.

Also not happy if a dealer/garage needs to reset after disc/pads change

With Ford you need a special service tool and no doubt a dealer will confirm this is the only method as they will charge around £100 to do it ........... but the genuine Ford technical manual gives a "if the service tool is not available" method.

chrisw

molerat said:

dipsomaniac said:

Electric handbrakes are ok on level ground. It's when you are on a slope you miss the security of a manual handbrake.

Also not happy if a dealer/garage needs to reset after disc/pads change

With Ford you need a special service tool and no doubt a dealer will confirm this is the only method as they will charge around £100 to do it ........... but the genuine Ford technical manual gives a "if the service tool is not available" method.

Same as the newer Volvos. The pistons can be wound back using a PP3 battery on the motors to change the pads.

Jeepers_Creepers

Reading my Citroen handbook, if the battery goes flat, your handbrake goes off! So always also leave your car in gear, and wheels pointed to the kerb if on a steep hill.

They take a bit of getting used to - and I was a bit hostile to it at first - but it's won me over. 

Stubod

..never really understood the need for an electronic handbrake?....seems to just add complexity for the sake of it and is something else to go wrong, a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist?

Saying that I have never had a car with one, but just don't fancy the idea myself..