Toyota, Honda Issue Big Recalls For Parking Brake Problems

2016 Honda Civic Sedan (Credit: Honda)

Honda and Toyota are both struggling with brake issues. Toyota has recalled 340,000 of its new Prius, while Honda has recalled 350,000 new Civics. It’s interesting that both cars are completely redesigned and pretty popular, although their problems seem to be a little different from each other.

With the Honda Civic recall, it all has to do with the electric parking brake. Basically, the thing doesn’t work, so if you see an out-of-control Civic speeding down a hill, you’ll know why. Some people really hate the idea of electric parking brakes, so this isn’t going to help with that. There are some advantages to the tech, like shedding some curb weight and allowing for more autonomous safety functions. But, sometimes they can be annoying things to operate.

According to Honda, fixing the electric parking brakes should be easy. All it will take is a software update, which unfortunately means a visit to the dealer.

The Prius problem has to do with the footbrake, which is cable-controlled and not electronic. According to Toyota, it doesn’t have any confirmed reports of crashes from this issue. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.

Toyota says it plans to fix the parking brakes by adding a clip to the top portion of the parking brake cable dust boot. Of course, it won’t cost a thing, but again you’ll have to visit the dealer’s service department.