Electronic Parking Brake - The Lowdown

[chrisjeffery1]

Hi,

I'm a new member here as I am looking for a 2008 - 2010 petrol Avensis Tourer as I am growing tired of the issues my German Diesel car is causing me. I didn't intend for an Avensis in all honesty, but when I sat in one, it just felt right and the stats stack up well.

But I have heard lots of horror stories about the EPB and i'm a bit confused as to how bad it is, and given the cost of repair, I don't want to jump from one expensive problem to another.

Is it just the early Avensis (2008-2010) that are affected or are they still coming out the factory with the issue?

Is there now a modified part or similar that ensures a repair means it won't re-offend?

Is there any remedial work to stop a current working EPB getting affected / has a recall been issued?

Is there any early warning signs, or does it just stop working?

Is this a fault that is very likely to crop up, or is it more of a case that this is a reliable car, and this is the weaker point that grabs attention?

Sorry for all the questions - I would like to buy an Avensis, but want to make sure there is a strong chance of trouble free motoring first.

Thanks

[Devon Aygo]

Hi,

I'm a new member here as I am looking for a 2008 - 2010 petrol Avensis Tourer as I am growing tired of the issues my German Diesel car is causing me. I didn't intend for an Avensis in all honesty, but when I sat in one, it just felt right and the stats stack up well.

But I have heard lots of horror stories about the EPB and i'm a bit confused as to how bad it is, and given the cost of repair, I don't want to jump from one expensive problem to another.

Is it just the early Avensis (2008-2010) that are affected or are they still coming out the factory with the issue?

Is there now a modified part or similar that ensures a repair means it won't re-offend?

Is there any remedial work to stop a current working EPB getting affected / has a recall been issued?

Is there any early warning signs, or does it just stop working?

Is this a fault that is very likely to crop up, or is it more of a case that this is a reliable car, and this is the weaker point that grabs attention?

Sorry for all the questions - I would like to buy an Avensis, but want to make sure there is a strong chance of trouble free motoring first.

Thanks

I can only offer an opinion based on my 14 nearly 15 years with Toyota and cannot give actual statistcs as no one accept Toyota would know the actual numbers, but the EPB is no less reliable than the standard mechanical parking brake ( MPB ), it's repair cost however is much higher than a MPB so it tends to elicit a stronger response when they do go wrong especially out of warranty.

In nearly 6 years of the MK3 Avensis being on the road I have only ever seen two replaced for a warrantable defect and a further two after being tampered/worked on by an owner and a non franchise garage.

Toyota did modify the EPB unit in 2011 to fix a ECU communication error that would set a warning light and stop the EPB working and again along with a Minor model change in 2012 with new operation logic.

There is no remedial work , requiring a dealer to change anything during routine servicing, replacement of the EPB under warranty can only be carried out after diagnosis and confirmation of an actual fault, nor has there been a recall.

[Whitewagon]

A search of this forum should show a small number of complaints on this issue. I had mine replaced under warranty because it had become quite noisy in operation, it didn't actually fail. Personally I don't like EPB's but if, like me, it's the only thing that you dislike about the car then I wouldn't let it put you off.

There are a few cars on the market in this sector that have an EPB. Some at least seem to have similar reports of failure. You just have to weigh up the number of cars produced against the number of reported failures, the percentage seems very low.

I have yet to find anything that suggests the Toyota EPB is any more prone to failure than that of any other manufacturer. If you search around the interweb then you'll find faults of some sort being reported on just about every manufacturer, some are more prevalent than others as you have found with your German diesel car. If you do the research it doesn't take long to find out that some cars are more prone to problems than others and that in particular the response to faults by the manufacturers vary wildly.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

[Thermal]

I had my parking brake replaced before the warranty ran out.

Not because it failed, but because it sounded like failure would be imminent.

During the first week that you own the car, you feel like "something" is missing.

After that, you get used to it and learn to enjoy the automatic release feature.

However, it forces you to change your driving under certain conditions.

Fine dosing the EPB in slippery conditions, like you could with an MPB, is not possible.

Just trust the Electronic Stability Control instead.

BTW, the EPB is the only thing ever replaced on my Avensis so far.

[scottydog123]

I am a taxi driver with a 11 plate Avensis with an epb fitted & over 100000 miles on it with no problems. Another driver on a 10 plate had his fail at 200000 miles but as you can imagine they are well used. Cost him over £1500 to get fixed but he's still on the original clutch, swings & roundabouts.

[Thermal]

My EPB was replaced after ~ 2.9 years, just before the warranty ran out.

I was told by the dealer that the 2009/2010 Avensises suffered most from this problem.

Mine then got the enhanced version EPB, which required an extensive software update of the car.

Took them 2 days to figure that out.

The new actuator functions A LOT quieter than the old one.

Both never failed though.

And they shouldn't, because these things are not only horribly expensive, but replacing them is quite labour intensive.

[chrisjeffery1]

Thanks guys for your replies, I feel reassured that the chances of failure are low. I might try to eek out a bit more from the bank manager so i can get a slightly later car.

[Heidfirst]

fyi

~ June 2010 came the change to a 5 year warranty.

~ Jan 2012 the facelift arrived

[Thermal]

fyi

~ June 2010 came the change to a 5 year warranty.

That must be country dependent then.

In NL, standard factory warranty is only 3 years or maximum 100,000 Kms.

And hybrids are 5 years or 100,000 Km, whichever comes first.

One or two years "extra" warranty can be purchased here, but with many exclusions and a high price tag.

[Heidfirst]

The extra 2 years is, indeed, courtesy of Toyota UK.

[chrisjeffery1]

Just to add, I have just bought a 60 plate Avensis, so thank you for the advice and putting my mind at rest. Though I will be keeping an eye on it whilst I still have one year of the warranty to get it sorted if need be!

[Whitewagon]

If you bought it through a Toyota Dealer as an approved car then you are able to extend the warranty at a price, not sure what the current price is though.