Brake Buddy Issues
My wife and I have been enjoying the RV life for almost twenty years and we're on our third Class A coach. Our tow vehicle is a 2012 Honda CRV. I have used a Brake Buddy Vantage as the towing assist device for the Honda. We have had a few service issues over the years (a couple of bad compressors), but the people at Hopkins Manufacturing have always been great to work with. They replaced the compressor again last fall before we took a road trip from Southern Oregon to Cental California. On our way home, after about a 200 mile day of freeway driving, we stopped for the night. When I went to check the Honda, there was a strong burned smell coming from the car. It turned out that all four brakes were destroyed (rotors, pads and calipers) from having the brakes applied while we were towing. The Brake Buddy was properly placed in front of the driver's seat, and as always, I had tested the brakes to make sure the brake lights were off before leaving on our trip. When we stopped, the Brake Buddy was in the proper place and not pushed up against the brake pedal. We towed it back home without any braking device attached and dropped it off at the auto service center. After diagnosing the damage, the technician said that prior to the trip we had new rotors installed and the car braking system was in perfect operating condition. He said that the only way that all four brakes could have burned up this way was for the Brake Buddy to have engaged while we were traveling and at least partially applied the brakes. The left rear brake showed signs of catching on fire.
I sent the entire system back to Hopkins Manufacturing as they requested and I filed a damage claim for the $2,500 that it cost me. They had a product engineer test the unit and they have denied my claim, stating that there is nothing wrong with the Brake Buddy. Now, unless some unknown "person" jumped into the car while we were driving and pressed on the brake pedal, then the only possible cause is the Brake Buddy.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'm not sure what to do at this point and am open to suggestions. Thanks.
Steve
