Both times we experienced total brake failure. The brake pedal was "hard" (would not move). Both times there was no warning ie. No ABS light on dash and no brake light on dash. Both time the failure occured while driving at a low rate of speed so there was no damage to the car or diver.
1990 Buick Reatta: brake failure
8 of the 29 complaints about the 1990 Buick Reatta describe brake failure.
- owner complaints
- 8
- of this car's complaints
- 28%
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
Brake failure by model year
- 19931
- 19911
- 19908
What owners say
Brakes would not stop car while backing down driveway. Intermittent problem. Also have had brake failures at road speed where car swerves when brakes applied. Have taken car to dealer many times and they can't find anything wrong. Have contact with many reatta owners who have this same dangerous condition that can't be resolved by the dealer.
In bumper/bumper traffic, 97 degrees, stop and go, ABS brakes failed without warning. No lights on dash. At time was just barely moving. Checked fluid levels, okay, no leaks. Abs brakes just stopped working with no warning lights or other hints. Glad I was behind the wheel and not my wife.
While braking normally, brakes failed to grab, and may have resulted in potential damage to other cars. This has happened 2x before.
Complete brake failure.
I'm writing a second time about this problem because I read the complaints section of your website and found two more incidents suspiciously similar to my own. I also wrote about it on the buick reatta discussion page on the internet and one other person wrote in to say he experienced this problem. Since this is a catastropic failure of the brake system with no warning, I figure you guys would want to know about it. I think that this is not specific to reattas but would affect every buick/gm vehicle with the same electronically controlled ABS system. My mechanic said that the failure was due to a bad switch that controls the electric pump. The pump burned out. There should've been a dashboard warning about the problem when only the switch was burned out, but the sensor reading the switch had also failed!!! That left me with no brakes and no warning. There was no physical change in how the brakes felt until the total failure of the system!!! Since there were only about 4,000 reattas produced in 1990, it seems to me that the incidence of this problem is way too high to be ignored. If other buicks and gm vehicles have the same system, you are looking at a potentially huge problem out there. Please do something.
Abs brake failure.
Poor ABS brake performance, the pedal went to the floor, the first time it was applied, experienced complete brake failure, when released and applied a second time the braking was normal.
Related recalls
Service brakes, hydraulic: brake fluid low warning: lamp
- What is wrong
- Brake indicator light may not light when ignition is in the "on" position, the parking brake is applied, and the shift selector is in the park or neutral gear range.
- Risk
- Vehicles would not meet the requirements of fmvss 101and 105.
- Remedy
- Replace the prom in the body computer module to prevent this condition from occurring.
Recall number 91V158000 · Recall details
Questions about the 1990 Buick Reatta brake failure
Is brake failure a common problem on the 1990 Buick Reatta?
8 of 29 owner complaints about the 1990 Buick Reatta (28%) mention brake failure. The model year with the most reports is 1990.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1990 Buick Reatta?
There is 1 recall and 0 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1990 Buick Reatta
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