Citroen Xsara Brake Calipers

The range is wide because the parts are genuinely different. A C2 or C3 front caliper is a simple, affordable unit. A C3 Aircross or C5 rear caliper with an electronic parking brake motor built into it costs several times that, because you are buying an actuator as well as a caliper. We source Ferodo and OEM-specification units through our network — send the VIN and we will quote the right one rather than the cheapest one.

A pull under braking, a burnt smell, one wheel noticeably hotter than the other three, and inner and outer pads at different thicknesses. Owner forums have long threads on rear caliper slide-pin seizure across the range, and it is the failure we see most often here — our combination of heat, coastal salt and brake fluid that rarely gets changed is close to ideal conditions for it.

Often, yes. If the piston bore is clean, a seal kit and a new piston restores it properly and costs far less than a new caliper — this is standard work at any competent brake shop. What kills the repair is pitting: once the bore itself is corroded, no seal will hold against it. The exception is the C3 Aircross and C5 rear calipers with electronic parking brakes, where the motor and its seals are not supplied separately, so a full caliper is usually the only route.

Most commonly a seized slide pin or a piston that is not retracting — the healthy side clamps, the seized side does not, and the car turns toward the side that is working. Two other causes give the same symptom and cost far less to fix: brake fluid contaminated to the point of corroding a caliper bore, and a flexible hose that has collapsed internally and now acts as a one-way valve. Have all three checked before buying a caliper.

We supply new, used and reconditioned calipers nationally. VIN-matching genuinely matters here, because caliper size follows disc diameter and disc diameter follows engine and trim — two C3s of the same year can take different calipers. Tell us the chassis number and which corner, and we will quote same day. Where a rebuild is the better value, we will say so.