A brake job can go sideways before the first bolt comes loose. On some modern cars, the problem starts with a parking brake that looks perfectly ordinary but needs a special setting before anyone touches the rear brakes.
That setting is called electronic parking brake service mode, and it can make a real difference during rear brake repairs. Many newer vehicles use an electric motor to operate the parking brake, sometimes through mechanisms built into the rear calipers. If you push the caliper piston back without following the manufacturer’s procedure, you can damage components or turn a straightforward repair into an expensive headache.
