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ABS Reliability and Repair Costs
I am considering a new Neon or PT Cruiser and,
from what I have heard, would probably be well
served by getting ABS on a new car. I tend to keep
a car for 8-10 years, 120K-150K miles.
A high tech gizmo like ABS is probably pretty
costly to repair. I would like to know other folks
experiences with ABS.
Thanks.
from what I have heard, would probably be well
served by getting ABS on a new car. I tend to keep
a car for 8-10 years, 120K-150K miles.
A high tech gizmo like ABS is probably pretty
costly to repair. I would like to know other folks
experiences with ABS.
Thanks.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
fyi, it's really not all that high tech... it's really pretty basic... i would worry more about other parts on a american badged dc product before i'd worry about the abs failing...
good luck.
-Chris
Also, do you actually see a material benefit to the option?
Thanks for your interest
GSK
In short, enjoy your ABS worry free.
-Colin
The part alone, no labor, was $1900. Not a typo, almost 2 grand.
Since it was the first year offered and was an option not a lot to be found in a bone yard.
Besides this I really liked the car and was sad to let it go. It was otherwise in good shape and sold it to someone else who was rebuilding a cutlass for $950.
Hopefully, they have gotten better in the last 10 years.
ABS was standard on my new Intrigue, so I got a 100,000 mile extended warrenty just in case this time.
the answer to "is there a material benefit" is an unconditional "YES". it helps you stop better. there's no doubt about it. anyone who tells you they can stop better with non-abs (except under VERY unusual circumstances) is full of it.
don't worry about it breaking. unfortunately (as i pointed out before), you'll probably have to worry about other parts on your car breaking long before this decides to.
good luck.
-Chris
More importantly, they are very effective at keeping your car in control when the situation would normally be out of hand. It is absolutely a real benefit to safety. Think about it this way: if it prevents even one accident, it will pay for its self many times over including any unlikely repair bill. Besides, it is easier and cheaper to fix a broken car than a broken skull.
Also, there will be a time not too many years from now when a car without ABS would be as unlikely and unthinkable as a car without seat belts. That will be about the time you will be trying to resell your next car and no one will even look at it without ABS. Remember 10 years ago when power windows and locks were considered a luxury option or 20 years ago when A/C was considered optional? How would you like to try reselling a car without those features today?
Now all I have to do is sell the Plymouth Accliam with not only no ABS or AC, but a stick to boot!
good luck...
-Chris
time after I started the car, drove reversely and
then forward, it made a rubbing noise, very short.
The saleman told me that it was because the
Anti-brake system. Is it true?
One of my friend has a Honda SUV, which also has
ABS. But hers doesn't make any noise.
The dealer tried to cheat on me when I went to
pick up my car by adding a few hundred dollars to
my financing paper. They gave me the seller's copy
instead of the buyer's copy. When I went back to
talk to them, I found they didn't even give me the
sale's order. This is the first time I went to buy
a car myself. They didn't explain any thing, just
asked me to sign all the papers and sent me out in
about 6 or 7 minutes. The way they treated me made
me feel something wasn't right. Right now I'm not
sure whether they told me the truth about the ABS
thing. I don't trust them any more.
I'm doing a full brake job on a 1990 Pontiac 6000
SE with V6, Antilock Brake System (ABS) and All Wheel Drive (AWD). Initial problem was ABS light on all the time for over a year according to my son the driver/owner, however car stopped OK. Recently the brake pedal would go to the floor and car would not stop. Found that left front caliper was blown and fluid was squirting all over the place and caliper would not operate at all.
Disconnected battery and followed instructions to
drop pressure in ABS.
Have replaced both L & R front calipers w/pads, flex hoses to calipers and L&R front Rotors. Back
disk brakes look good. (Parts from PepBoys:
excellent price and warranty).
Started to bleed brakes at right rear wheel and
cannot get any fluid to pump through to rear with
assistant operating bleeder valve. Made sure bleeder valve was clear. Brake pedal still goes all the way to floor and Reservoir is full.
What is going on with this system? Do I need to
have ABS operational to bleed brakes? By the way,
Pontiac dealer says that master cylinder will cost
about $2000 because it includes all ABS pumps and
valves and is not a repairable unit.
Suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
GASHOG
Does anyone know anything about the Honda Civic EX ABS? Does it make any noise (it's loud enough not to be ignored)every time only after you start the engine and drive forward? Thanks.
I don't know what to think about this. I test drove my friend's newly bought 2000 Honda Civic EX (a coup, mine is 4dr) today, his doesn't have that noise. The service manager assistant said it should have that buzz sound which means the ABS starts working, and it is normal because it happens every time only after you initiate the engine and start driving forward. If it doesn't make that buzz sound, it means the ABS is not working. ????
Is there anyway to contact Honda factory or any other Honda technical support directly, in stead of those dealers' technicians? I have a feeling that those people I talked to don't want to deal with this anymore and they don't want to admit the mistake they made for changing parts for a sound they now say is normal. They changed the pipe and the gasket when I went to them last time for the same noise. Right now they try to tell me that those repairs were for a different noise, for which I don't even know what it is! The only noise I have been asking them to fix is the one happens only after the engine starts and the car moves forward.
That salesman is ready to do anything to make the sale. The proof is in the lie he is feeding you. So are you going to buy a car from this idiot?
salesman is full of it on this one...
-Chris
Secondly, he's been having problems with the ABS brakes. He'd be sitting said the ABS would kick in and he would start to drift. He took it to the dealer this past Wednesday and they told him they'd never had this problem before. After 1.5 days of trying to figure what was wrong, they told him that the diagnostic testing showed that all four sensors were "bad" and that this was so rare because they had never heard of this happening. However, after further evaluation, they came to the conclusion that the right rear sensor was the only sensor that was bad and would have to be replaced. This would run about $500 plus labor. To make a long story short, he had some brake work done, pads, new boot, total came to $2,000. He was also told the two oxygen sensors needed to be replaced at $800 and if he didnt have them replaced, he would not pass an emissions inspection. We elected to pass on this repair at the time.
My husband felt he had no choice but to have the sensor repaired. Lo and behold, we go to pick it up today and they told us that after they repaired the right rear sensor and test driving it, that a code 13 came up meaning the the left rear sensor needed to be replaced in order for the ABS brakes to work. Another $500. BUT, they told us, they couldn't guarantee if they replaced the left one that the front ones would work. It would be repairing one at a time at substantial cost just to make sure the ABS brakes would work. It basically sounds like the ABS would work only if all four were replaced.
Our problem is, aside from the cost, we were never told this information. We were told it was just the rear right sensor, period. Had we known about the potential other problem, we would have elected not to have the car repaired. We don't feel the car is worth that much to begin with. It's got 164,000 miles on it.
The other issue is after driving it to work tonight, my husband said the brakes are worse. So we have to report this to the service dept tomorrow. We were advised to talk to the mechanic who gave us this info on Monday. I am not sure what he can do about it.
We paid for the car by credit card. However, I feel they basically withheld vital info from us which prevented us from making an informed decision. We feel the dealer should give us a credit because we basically paid $800 for something that is not working. I am tempted to notify the credit card company and have payment on it stopped but am not sure of the ramifications. Has anyone else ever had this dilemma?
Any suggestions or thoughts? I would be grateful for any input whatsoever. Thanks.
My Honda Odyssey 1995 now has a failed ABS system. I have been told it will cost $1400 to fix...e.g. replace the accumulator and modulator. De ja vu....leaking brake fluid causing the pump to run constantly. Dealership says no connection to regular brakes and it is safe to drive with the ABS light glowing (but service director wouldn't recommend this necessarily!).
I know that many makes are having this problem. Similar conditions? Similar costs? Similar rhetoric from dealerships?
It is mighty peculiar that this system which is supposed to render a vehicle safer is in fact, creating an UNSAFE situation for drivers.
Please REPORT to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration any and all failed ABS episodes. I believe the manufacturers of these systems KNOW the problems inherent in them as do ALL the AUTOMAKERS. PLEASE hold them accountable for the failed ABS. You should not be replacing this system at an early mileage.
Write to the Center for Auto Safety and send your details. Encourage it to track the wealth of data on the failing ABS in all makes. It is NOT FAIR that consumers are expected to pay the high costs of these repairs. Oftentimes, the repairs are temporary, too. Are you fed up?? Speak up, if so.
cblake@erols.com
where do you get your oil changes/maintenance done? it's *possible* that when you had it in for maintenance that when they topped off your brake fluid that some oil got in the system. i can't think of any other way for it to get in there, there's no crossover between lubrication and hydraulic systems in a car that i can think of.
personally, i would get a second opinion on it. that being said, i WOULDN'T drive it until i got it taken care of. brakes are NOT something to mess with.
-Chris
speaking from driving HUNDREDS of thousands of miles with ABS, i've NEVER had a problem with it (of course, i haven't owned a chrysler either).
post links. back up your position with more than rhetoric. just because you actually had to spend money doing maintenance to a honda doesn't mean that the manufacturer is intentionally committing fraud.
-Chris
I am reading many, many posts about GM vehicles and ABS failures. In addition, I have recently seen evidence that the Toyota ABS (particularly the Camry) has problems, too. One cannot help see a trend, especially in the ABS of the early to mid 90's.
It is my feeling that owners have been misguided about ABS. We have spent thousands more for it only to have to spend thousands within a few years repairing it!! Not only that, the automakers claim that there is no connection with the regular braking system. BUT...many owners have had little braking pressure when they experience an internal leak in the hydraulic assembly (a.k.a. accumulator). The result is an unsafe vehicle.
It is my feeling, based on hours of researching the matter and having experienced the problem first hand, that owners should be questioning the automakers and the vendors of the ABS. The NHTSA needs to get involved to determine WHY so many of these systems are failing prematurely and why the exorbitant repair costs are being passed on to the consumer.
BENDIX and CHRYSLER knew about the problems in their systems for years but kept it hidden from consumers. I believe it continues to happen with all auto makes and other ABS vendors.
Charlene Blake
cblake@erols.com
the *only* conditions that i've seen in studies where abs *possibly* increases stopping distance is on gravelly roads... and that's only slightly....
you *will* stop faster with your wheels rolling than with them locked and sliding...
-Chris
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1944/#ABShow
ABS clearly results in shorter stopping distances under all but ideal conditions with professional drivers, or on loose surfaces, AND allows the driver to maintain steering control. It will maintain the desirable braking/steerability tire slip ratio of 15-20% on all surfaces including split coefficients, on which no driver can modulate individual wheel brake pressure.
I will agree with Mr. Farmer re no reduction in accidents, but he failed to mention that the same reports attribute this primarily to more aggressive driving.
During the break test at inspection station (normal conditions, no ABS engaged)it was found that breaks on my Pont Bonneville'92 are working only on Left front and rear Right wheels( though still providing sufficient deceleration).
I'm trying to understand if it could be somehow related to ABS or is just a regular breaks problem. My breaks are having a "low pedal" syndrome, but at the moment when ABS is engaged pedal stays high while vibrating till car stops. Sometimes after that the "low pedal" syndrome disappears for short time, but it happens very intermittently.
This days everything is covered with snow here so I had a chance to see ABS in work (though i do not know if the car still stops with only those two wheels).
Regards,
ayrat
But when those conditions do exist, it saves thousands of dollars in body repairs.
I read in Car and Driver several years ago that most insurance companies stopped giving discounts for ABS because studies had shown that they didn't help reduce accidents. However, if someone backed into a ABS equipped parked car, those studies included ABS in the accident data thus "proving" that ABS did nothing to prevent the accident.
The only problem with ABS is that a large number of drivers seem to think that ABS stands for "Automatic Braking System", and that somehow it will reduce the 70-0 stopping distances. Driving in ice/snow/mud/wet roads, I can attest that ABS really DOES work as advertised. A couple of months after I bought my 1993 T-bird (which I paid extra for the ABS) someone changed lanes in front of me, then hit the brakes hard on a road that was slick with rain. I hit my brakes hard, and could feel the ABS pulse in the pedal, yet I steered around the idiot, maintaining control over the vehicle the whole time. I paid extra for it then, and I'd pay extra again, although they were standard on my current car.
-Chris
I bought him the $80 shoulder pads.
I feel ABS Brakes are not in the same league. If the car with ABS has ABS module problem and costs $2000 to replace it, BUT the regular brake works, why spend the money. Five-ten years ago, we did not have the ABS barbrakesnd we did fine.
and, you agree on the helmet...
-Chris
AS for the helmets, my sons race 4 wheelers and their helmets were $250 each.Add anothr $150 for chest protectors, more for boots,kneepads,gloves, jerseys and pants and you are around $1000 each for riding gear,all to protect them.Is there really a price tag on safety?
The last car I'd take is the Sunfire -- poor reliability and poor frontal offset crash test results.
not possible...So i would like to know why the
cost of replacement of $1200. is for a rebuilt
ABS Brain box? I decided not to get ABS fixed
for now. What will it take to get the manufacurer
to cover this safety sensitive problem?