My local Honda dealer recently serviced my 2012 petrol Civic with 24,000 miles on the clock. They told me the handbrake travel was too long and suggested the cause was the caliper and probably both sides and will need replacing.

The explanation was the cable is fine, the handbrake is not worn, just the internal workings of the caliper have failed and therefore the handbrake will not grip sufficiently.They also indicated there have been bulletins on this from Honda so they are quite sure this is the problem, but could not show me the detail. They insisted it was a component failure and not a design fault.

The car passed an MOT a month ago and drives well, but is out of warranty. This is an expensive job (nearly £1000) and I feel a bit cheated as this is my first Honda and I bought it for it's reputation for quality and reliability. Is this just a hard luck story or or can anyone throw any light on this issue?