Citroen C4 Aircross Left Rear Seat

On the C3 the release lever has a reputation for snapping, and on the Xsara the latch mechanism corrodes after years of damp getting into the boot — usually from a perished tailgate seal or a blocked drain. Either one disables the fold while the seat is otherwise perfectly sound. A latch rebuild kit or a used lever assembly restores it, and neither is expensive.

A used rear seat half-section through South African strippers runs R1,050 to R3,400. Pro Citroen Spares and our supplier network hold stock for the C3 and Xsara. Send photographs of your existing trim rather than relying on the model name — rear trim patterns changed within model runs, and a mismatched half is more obvious than a worn matching one.

Lift the seat base cushion out, expose the latch and clean the old hardened grease and rust off the pivot — that alone frees a good proportion of them. Lubricate with a PTFE spray rather than a heavy grease, which just collects grit, and work the mechanism through its travel. If the pawl spring has snapped, fit a new latch module. Do not force it: the release cable breaks before the latch does.

Yes. Pro Citroen Spares and our supplier network stock used rear seats for the C3, Xsara, C3 Aircross and C5 Aircross. We match on VIN, trim colour and — the one people forget — whether your car has a split-folding bench or a single fixed one, since the two are not interchangeable and look identical from the front. Photographs get you the right one first time.

There is an emergency release accessible from the boot side. Reach behind the backrest near the boot floor and feel for a thin metal tab on the C3 and Xsara; working it sideways while pushing the backrest forward will usually pop the latch. If nothing moves, the cable between the lever and the latch has snapped and the latch has to be stripped from the seat side.