Electronic parking brakes

[Mhurtado]

I recently purchased my first Subaru and I really really like it. However the electronic brakes failed. Fortunately I had read the manual and released them manually. I'm wondering if this is common? And what other components usually go at about 100,000 miles??? Thanks for all the input in advance.

[Flowmastered87GL]

I always found the electronic parking brake scary.  Gladly I don't have it on my Baja or my future 1996 Impreza.  I once had the horn short out on my 87 GL which led to me having to pull the battery and go in and repair the wiring before I could drive the car.  What happens if the parking brake shorts out??  Is it going to pull the parking brake on while you are on the freeway and hit a bump, wires touch right and you go spinning around??  

 

To answer your question I don't think this is a common occurrence as Subaru likely would have issued a recall or something... though maybe there is a TSB on it.  Maybe ask your dealer.

[gbhrps]

Mhurtado,

 

In all the years that I've been a member of this forum and the "Subaru Outback" forum, yours is the first complaint I seen concerning the electronic parking brake malfunction.

 

I, too, don't like the electronic parking brake, but problems with it are not a common occurrence. Sure, it saves space in the center console not to have a parking brake handle located there, but I'd far prefer the handle version that was on every Subaru before they came out with this setup.

 

I presently have 57 000 miles on my 2012 OBW LTD and use the parking brake about 95% of the time when I park the car.  So in 5 years the parking brake on my car has been activated and deactivated 1 000's of times with no problems. The old adage of use it or lose it may apply here.

 

You don't identify what year your car is but if you and the previous owner haven't used the parking brake regularly, it may just have seized up from lack of use. Then again, maybe the dash switch has dirty contacts or a wiring connector has corroded, or the motor has a bad set of brushes. Its impossible to know until the system is troubleshot, and it may be a job only a dealership can do. I looked at the service manual for the system and the diagnosis is very lengthy. Let's hope your issue is a simple easy fix. Good Luck!

Edited August 10, 2016 by gbhrps