How bad is it to drive with a broken ABS?

Question

I had my car repaired recently and I was encountered with a slew of other problems with the car; one being that the ABS is broken...at least that's he said. The guy said that the ABS light was on, but I never saw that when I looked at my dashboard.

Anyways, I know that having ABS disabled means that my brakes can lock up if I brake too hard, but other than that, how dangerous is it to drive without ABS? Do some cars actually have no ABS to begin with? Maybe old cars?

By the way, I have a 98 Toyota Avalon and it was taken to the Toyota dealership for repairs.

Answer 1

A car can stop alot quicker and controllable if the tire continues to maintain traction. A locked brake is stopping,but it has lost traction and steering ability.

It was not until the 80's that ABS became an option on cars.TODAY, many , I should say most cars come with the ABS option.

BE VERY CAREFUL!! In an emergency  situation your brakes will lock,point being, the front/rear equalization. Think,[in a curve]

                                 "BRILLIANT"!!!!

Answer 2

Where do you live topdawg? If you live anywhere where you don't plan on driving on snow or ice, don't even worry about it. ABS actually increases your stopping distance on normal roads. It is only on snow, slush, ice, and some types of dirt where abs will help you. And assuming you aren't going offroading in a 98 toyota avalon, the dirt doesn't really matter to you. As long as the brakes are functioning well then theres no reason for concern.

And yes, some cars have no ABS to begin with. As recently as 1998 there were cars built without it, and possibly after that too. Once designed, ABS is a relatively simple program to add to the cars computer, and once one company had it then everyone had to put it on their car, less let their cars look unsafe. Very few people really understood ABS when it first came out, but it sounded good and made them feel like their car was safer, so all the car companies decided to make it standard on their cars. What they really should have been building are 4way disc brakes instead of the crappy drum brakes you may still find on some lower end cars, possibly even your own.

You need to make sure that your brakes will still function, and don't let the mechanics talk you in to paying their 90$ an hour labor fee to fix something that you may not even need for where you live. Make them tell you that the brakes will still work, and get it in writing, in case of the event that they deny telling you that. And if they tell you that the brakes will not work, make them explain to you why and get a second opinion on it. It's your money man, and these guys are vultures. Be careful yet prudent.

Answer 3

you will be fine without the ABS working, you will just have good old fashioned brakes, there are a lot of new cars that don't have ABS as a lot of the manufacturers have made them an option.

Answer 4

not bad unless its winter or raining

Answer 5

Slippery roads are your only worries really... So unless it's like pouring outside... or snowing or sleet or something, you shouldn't have any problems I don't think.