Winding back the rear caliper by putting the EPB in service mode isn't above an individual or any garage. It is dead simple. In fact it makes the job easier.

They're generally very reliable and I find the idea anyone would reject a car because it had one frankly bonkers. Conventional manual handbrakes are actually less reliable.

I get the argument they are a solution in need of a problem and have always inclined towards the same view but these days they are so common I have to confess a car without one does seem very old fashioned to use.

It's with great fondness that I remember the good old days of seized cables, stretched cables, rusted or seized pivots, rusted adjustment nuts, worn handbrake quadrants, etc.

I now have electric handbrake. As it is an auto the parking brake will default to "off" as the drive is taken up, or can be released manually.

No question which I prefer. DiY, is not a realistic proposition as cars are no longer simple electro mechanical devices, but computers on wheels. They are more reliable with better performance and economy than the cars of yesteryear.

Manufacturers like the cost reductions achievable. It would be helpful if road testers and reviewers included in their assessment how straight forward routine maintenance and replacements are - eg: brake pads, clutches, headlamp bulbs and light units, steering and suspension bushes etc. This coulld feedback into better designs,