2015 Buick Encore Brakes

HANDBRAKE RELEASE BUTTON BROKE AWAY FROM HANDLE TO REPLACE ENTIRE HANDBRAKE ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED COSTING AROUND $600.00 DOLLARS AT BUICK DEALERS. BAD DESIGN !

MY CAR IS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD AND HAS 40800 MILES ON IT. IN JULY 2019 LOW BRAKE FLUID LIGHT CAME ON. DEALERSHIP NOT OPEN SO I STOPPED AT BELLE TIRE. THEY CONFIRMED FLUID WAS LOW AND TOPPED IT OFF. BRAKE FLUID LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN SEPT 26, 2019. BELLE TIRE AND DEALERSHIP BOTH CONCUR I NEED A NEW MASTER CYLINDER AND BRAKE BOOSTER. SERIOUSLY? 4 YEAR OLD CAR AND 40800 MILES? CAN THIS BE A POSSIBLE DEFECTIVE PART? CAN'T SEEM TO FIND A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE EITHER. PLEASE HELP! REPAIR IS OVER A $1,000.

ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019 I SLID ONTO A SHOULDER TAKING A TURN AND PUNCTURED MY REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE. I REPLACED THE TIRE WITH THE SPARE, DROVE TO WORK (LESS THAN 10 MILES) AT SPEEDS BELOW 50 MPH, THEN DROVE HOME AND SCHEDULED TO HAVE THE TIRES REPLACED THE FOLLOWING MORNING. ON THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2019, I BACKED OUT OF MY PARKING SPOT AT MY HOME AND STARTED GOING DOWN MY VERY STEEP MOUNTAIN DRIVEWAY. I APPLIED THE BRAKES LIKE I ALWAYS DO (MY FOOT IS ALWAYS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL GOING DOWN) AND RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. THE PEDAL FELT NORMAL (NOT SOFT), BUT THE BRAKES DID NOT ENGAGE. BY THAT TIME MY CAR WAS GOING VERY FAST (BECAUSE OF THE VERY STEEP SLOPE), AND I WAS STRUGGLING TO KEEP IT ON THE ROAD, WHILE TRYING NOT TO HIT ANOTHER CAR PASSING BY MY DRIVEWAY AND NOT TO FLY ACROSS THE TWO-LANE ROAD INTO A CREEK. I COULD NOT SPARE A HAND FOR THE EMERGENCY BRAKE. I HAD TO TAKE A VERY SHARP RIGHT TURN FROM MY DRIVEWAY TO SLOW DOWN THE VEHICLE. I DIDN'T HIT THE OTHER CAR OR END UP IN THE CREEK BUT I CLIPPED MY PASSENGER SIDE MIRROR AND ONE OF THE PASSENGER SIDE PANELS. ONCE DOWN AND ON EVEN GROUND, I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO USE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AND STOP THE CAR. AFTER A BRIEF PAUSE, I STARTED MOVING AGAIN, AND REGULAR BRAKES WORKED NORMALLY. TWO SUBSEQUENT BRAKE SYSTEM CHECKS (ONE AT THE TIRE SHOP ONE AT A GM DEALERSHIP) SHOWED NO ISSUES. I WAS TOLD THERE ARE NO BULLETINS OR RECALLS FOR ANYTHING LIKE IT. I LOOKED ON BUICK AND GM FORUMS AND FOUND AT LEAST TWO REPORTS OF A SIMILAR PROBLEM - BRAKES SUDDENLY NOT WORKING AND THEN RESUMING FUNCTION AGAIN. THERE ARE TWO COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE DESCRIBING SIMILAR ISSUE - ID # 11100704 AND 11083404. FIXING THE MIRROR ALONE WOULD COST $900 ACCORDING TO THE GM DEALERSHIP, HOWEVER, I AM NOT SEEING ANYTHING REGARDING GM INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE CLOSELY.

WHEN FIRST STARTING OUT, THE BRAKES STOP SHORT. I HAVE TO BRAKE 3 TIMES SOMEWHERE SAFE IN ORDER TO NOT STOP SHORT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER VEHICLE BY ACCIDENT. I HAD THEM INSPECTED AND THE SERVICE CENTER SAID THEY WERE FINE, THAT'S JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE IT STOPS SHORT, WHETHER I WANT TO OR NOT. IT HAPPENS WHETHER IT IS RAINING OR NOT, BUT ESPECIALLY DURING RAIN.

ON 5/25/18, ABS FAILED WHEN BRAKES APPLIED AT AROUND 30 MPH LEADING TO A REAR END CRASH ON WET RAINY ROAD AT A ROUNDABOUT AT JACARANDA BOULEVARD AND EAST VENICE AVENUE, VENICE, FL.

2015 BUICK ENCORE. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO HILL START ASSIST ISSUE. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD INVOLUNTARILY ROLL BACKWARDS. THE CONSUMER WAS UNSATISFIED WITH THE HILL START ASSIST SYSTEM. THE CONSUMER WAS ADVISED THE VEHICLE OPERATED AS DESIGNED. UPDATED 09/28/2017*JS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 BUICK ENCORE. WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS, THE BRAKES VIBRATED SEVERELY AFTER THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE BRAKE PADS WERE DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 10.

SQUEAKING AND SCRAPING AND REDUCED PERFORMANCE OF REAR BRAKES. DEALER TRIED A FIX WITH IDENTICAL PARTS TO THE ORIGINAL ONES BUT THE PROBLEM CONTINUES. THEY TELL ME THAT GM HAS NOT FOUND A FIX BUT IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND THAT THEY HAVE TRIED THE SAME FIX ON THREE OTHER VEHICLES THAT GM PREVIOUSLY ATTEMPTED AS A FIX. GEE, IT'S ONLY BRAKES. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE ON OCTOBER 26, 2015. IT WENT IN FOR THE SERVICE OF REPLACING REAR ROTORS AND PADS ON DECEMBER 29, 2015 WITH 2,187 MILES. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO IMPROVEMENT AT ALL. THE SERVICE MGR. SAID THAT I WOULD BE NOTIFIED BY MAIL WHEN A FIX IS AVAILABLE WHEN I CALLED ON JANUARY 18, 2016.

ALMOST EVERY DAY THE 1 ST & 2 ND TIME THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED THERE IS A GRINDING NOISE & IT FEELS LIKE THE BRAKES ARE GRABBING. ON MY CAR IT SEEMS TO BE COMING FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE.MY CAR PARKS IN THE GARAGE. 1 ST TIME DEALER SAID THERE WAS A BIT OF RUST ON THE CALIPERS THEY CLEANED THEM UP..NEXT MORNING SAME THING..2 ND TIME BACK TO DEALER THEY SAID IT'S PROBABLY CONDENSATION & IT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE THAT WAY..MY RESPONSE WAS THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE & I WILL CONTINUE TO BRING MY CAR BACK TILL ITS FIXED.THEY LATER TOLD ME THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS PROB..GM IS MONITORING & WORKING ON THE FIX.

WHEN WE PURCHASED THIS AUTO WE WERE TOLD THE BRAKES WOULD MAKE A NOISE BUT THAT IT WAS NOT A PROBLEM. WE WERE NOT TOLD THAT THEY WOULD GRAB STRONGLY ENOUGH TO THROW THE DRIVER FORWARD AT THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH. THE PROBLEM INITIALLY OCCURRED EACH TIME THE VEHICLE WAS FIRST STARTED BUT NOW HAPPENS MORE FREQUENTLY AND IS MUCH MORE SEVERE. IS VERY DANGEROUS WHEN THERE IS MOISTURE IN THE AIR OR WHEN THE WEATHER IS COOLER. I FEEL THAT IT IS A DEFINITE SAFETY HAZARD.

NEW BUICK 2015 ENCORE 1. APPYING BRAKES WHEN BACKING OUT OF GARAGE CREATES A SHRILL SQUEAL. 2. WHEN SLOWING FOR THE STOP SIGN AT THE END OF THE STREET, APPLYING BRAKES MAKES A MOANING SOUND AND SLIGHT VIBRATION. 3. WHEN I APPLY BRAKES TO SLOW DOWN AT ABOUT 5 MPH SUCH AS STOPPING AT AN INTERSECTION, THE BRAKES 'GRAB' RATHER THAN SLOWING SMOOTHLY. ALL PROBLEMS HAPPEN IN THE MORNING AFTER THE CAR HAS SET OVERNIGHT, AND THEY USUALLY GO AWAY AFTER DRIVING ENOUGH TO USE THE BRAKES A NUMBER OF TIMES. LAST WEEK I DROVE IN A HARD RAIN FOR 20-30 MINUTES GETTING HOME. PARKED CAR OVERNIGHT. BRAKE WORKED WITHOUT THE ABOVE PROBLEMS FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS, THEN STARTED AGAIN. DEALER SAYS THEY (GM) ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM ON SOME 2015 ENCORES AND ARE "WORKING ON IT" BUT IT IS SAFE, AND MIGHT BE A FEW MONTHS BEFORE A FIX.