Hello,

I've just come back from a driver today and had a look at my rear callipers. For the last couple of days I could hear a ticking noise, and upon inspecting, it looks like the protective coat had some off and was stuck between my wheel and calliper causing the noise, which is fine since I have now removed it.

However I have noticed that the callipers presumably metal casting is now exposed. Braking is fine, but should I be concerned about this? What should I do to ensure they don't erode or become (further) damaged?

Any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

I have uploaded some image and videos of my two rear callipers. The front ones are fine.

Edited 2 August, 20252 Aug by Wasdom_Kung
Updates

Wow, now that is something I’ve not seen before. Looks like there is a further hairline crack running down on that last photo, too. I would be worried that the pad backing will potentially snap. My advice is don’t drive it and get a new or used caliper on there as quick as you can. That caliper is a throwaway. You can probably still use your current pads and rotors.

For the replacement part on a RS245, Red TRW rear left part number is 5F0 615 423. Rear right 5F0 615 424. (For the 310mm discs)

Thanks for the information - would you recommend just replacing both of them?

1 hour ago, Wasdom_Kung said:

Thanks for the information - would you recommend just replacing both of them?

Let the rest of the community chip in here of course - but my thought would be that if the other caliper is showing no signs of damage I would not see a reason to replace it. Just give the other one a good inspection.

Edited 3 August, 20253 Aug by crc77

I agree with not driving it. It looks like its alloy and paint thats come off. If the other is fine I would leave it but monitor it unless they are fairly reasonably priced. I reckon it might be an idea to get in touch with the manufacturer. I dont think it should corode or break like that. I have had paint come off on all of my calipers with age but not alloy as well plus that does look like a crack.

Alasdair

I too am surprised that coating has come off the caliper. TRW is the manufacturer and supplies the "aftermarket" with exchange units in UK via a parts factor such as Motor Parts Direct; they will not supply consumers direct.

If you get in touch with the factory in Redwither Road, Wrexham, they should give you the details for their area rep if you are concerned about the integrity of that caliper; phone number is 01978 667810. They are now owned by ZF (makers of gearboxes, steering racks, etc.)

I would be very surprised if the caliper is alloy and not cast iron - all the calipers on my cars have been iron; alloy would only be used where weight is important such as racing or rally cars.

I have dealt with them a couple of times with exchange calipers for my Volvo 122S rally car (now sold) and my BMW 740 Sport and found them to be very helpful.

@Wasdom_Kung

No offence to those already replying here, but I've absolutely no idea what you're about...

This is a very common issue. It occurs on the GTI, S3, Cupra and R too, but it is most commonly the manual handbrake 310mm red painted calipers (exclusively on the vRS 245).

My car is a 2020. The caliper was completely bare when I bought the car, and I had it replaced by the dealership. Fast forward a year, and I've just had the other side replaced as it was starting to go too.

It has absolutely zero effect on the operation of the caliper and, again, is very common.

I have attached two photos - one of the caliper shortly after I bought the car from Skoda, and one of the caliper from the other side, which I recently sold on eBay. I only replaced them for aesthetic purposes - the other side had been flaking since October, and is now happily on someone's PFL Cupra 280. Your caliper is NOT a throwaway - there is nothing wrong with it.

The OE part number for the OSR caliper is 5F0615424, and the NSR is 5F0615243. They are £380 from Skoda UK, or £280 from skoda-parts.com. You will find that the carrier is fine - it is just the caliper that has peeled. You can get OEM TRW versions for a lot less, but I am not entirely sure if they are the exact same colour - it depends how much you care.

They are cast iron - you don't see alloy until you sextuple the number of pistons.

You won't be able to find a place that can colour match them exactly - I tried. The only real option is to either replace the caliper, or get all four powered coated in XYZ red colour. Just repainting it isn't really a solution, as the surface is pretty rubbish underneath. Surface rust will occur, eventually, but it's nothing a wire wheel can't remove. Yes, after fifteen years you may run into issues, but the engine will have blown up by then.

The run of calipers were either not prepped properly, or the finish was cured incorrectly, as that is what causes the issue. The paint will bubble, blister and then peel - sometimes in small flecks and sometimes in large chunks. The fact it has peeled away along the casting/mould mark is expected.

Rather amusingly, you will often find that listings for 245s are photographed from suspicious rear angles, or don't include close ups of the rear wheels/brakes.

Here are a couple I found for sale, all with peeling rear calipers -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506093321640?sort=relevance&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507094312583?sort=relevance&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506063235795?sort=relevance&twcs=true&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

Relax. The car is perfectly safe to drive and nothing is wrong with the caliper. If you choose to replace or refurb it, it will be for aesthetic purposes only.

There is nothing to worry about.

Edited 3 August, 20253 Aug by OccyVRS

@OccyVRS is spot on with this, it’s common on this part. It’s just very rubbish painting on the rears.

It’s just a bit unfortunate that the chunk of paint didn’t fall away from the caliper. Otherwise nothing wrong with them so don’t worry.

On 03/08/2025 at 18:42, OccyVRS said:

@Wasdom_Kung

No offence to those already replying here, but I've absolutely no idea what you're about...

This is a very common issue. It occurs on the GTI, S3, Cupra and R too, but it is most commonly the manual handbrake 310mm red painted calipers (exclusively on the vRS 245).

My car is a 2020. The caliper was completely bare when I bought the car, and I had it replaced by the dealership. Fast forward a year, and I've just had the other side replaced as it was starting to go too.

It has absolutely zero effect on the operation of the caliper and, again, is very common.

I have attached two photos - one of the caliper shortly after I bought the car from Skoda, and one of the caliper from the other side, which I recently sold on eBay. I only replaced them for aesthetic purposes - the other side had been flaking since October, and is now happily on someone's PFL Cupra 280. Your caliper is NOT a throwaway - there is nothing wrong with it.

The OE part number for the OSR caliper is 5F0615424, and the NSR is 5F0615243. They are £380 from Skoda UK, or £280 from skoda-parts.com. You will find that the carrier is fine - it is just the caliper that has peeled. You can get OEM TRW versions for a lot less, but I am not entirely sure if they are the exact same colour - it depends how much you care.

They are cast iron - you don't see alloy until you sextuple the number of pistons.

You won't be able to find a place that can colour match them exactly - I tried. The only real option is to either replace the caliper, or get all four powered coated in XYZ red colour. Just repainting it isn't really a solution, as the surface is pretty rubbish underneath. Surface rust will occur, eventually, but it's nothing a wire wheel can't remove. Yes, after fifteen years you may run into issues, but the engine will have blown up by then.

The run of calipers were either not prepped properly, or the finish was cured incorrectly, as that is what causes the issue. The paint will bubble, blister and then peel - sometimes in small flecks and sometimes in large chunks. The fact it has peeled away along the casting/mould mark is expected.

Rather amusingly, you will often find that listings for 245s are photographed from suspicious rear angles, or don't include close ups of the rear wheels/brakes.

Here are a couple I found for sale, all with peeling rear calipers -

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506093321640?sort=relevance&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507094312583?sort=relevance&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506063235795?sort=relevance&twcs=true&searchId=bc1765b7-b169-414f-b3ec-d22827937f6d&aggregatedTrim=vRS&body-type=&colour=&fuel-type=&make=SKODA&model=Octavia&postcode=CR0%208PN&transmission=&year-from=2017&year-to=2019&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

Relax. The car is perfectly safe to drive and nothing is wrong with the caliper. If you choose to replace or refurb it, it will be for aesthetic purposes only.

There is nothing to worry about.

Thanks a lot for the thorough information - no so panicked about it now, cheers!

25 minutes ago, Wasdom_Kung said:

Thanks a lot for the thorough information - no so panicked about it now, cheers!

TLDR - you should really do something about it at some point, but if you don’t care how it looks, I wouldn’t rush. It would be nice to seal it before winter, although mine lasted the salty roads for a year with no issues.

If repainting it, you’ll need to prep the surface beforehand. I was of the opinion that mine wanted sandblasting, which after taking off the car and sending away, wasn’t worth it.

Wait until the other side goes!

I'm sure that the Girling/Lucas/TRW rear callipers with built in handbrake function are aluminium alloy, if is ATE that tend to be cast iron.

When corroded the cast iron ones go rusty coloured and the aluminium alloy ones go a nasty powdery white - as in one of these pictures.

Edit:- I do agree that this issue is purely cosmetic, made to look worse by the paint coating cracking and separating from the alloy body and allowing moisture/salty moisture to get in and get trapped in there and "do its work", I've never had that happen with the original basic coating which might even be transparent originally.

Second Edit:- just to prove the point, I've just been out to check the same rear callipers on my wife's car using a magnet, fronts iron - but I knew that, rears alloy - is what I already thought. My own car does have iron front and rear callipers though - but I also put them to the test with a magnet!

Edited 5 August, 20255 Aug by rum4mo

16 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

I'm sure that the Girling/Lucas/TRW rear callipers with built in handbrake function are aluminium alloy, if is ATE that tend to be cast iron.

The weight is the giveaway, all my "exchange" painted calipers from TRW in the past were b*****y heavy...

1 minute ago, SwallownAmazon said:

The weight is the giveaway, all my "exchange" painted calipers from TRW in the past were b*****y heavy...

Yes, as already said, many TRW callipers are iron, but that model of rear calliper with cable operated handbrake function, in most cars, is alloy.

Edit:- getting an iron calliper to go white with a powdery look would take some doing - rusty red/brown is the norm.

Second Edit:- I do agree about the weight though, I still have my original one that I replaced with a Pagid one - and no need to hand body the old one, but it is aluminium alloy body type.

Edited 5 August, 20255 Aug by rum4mo

Is this not a case where some posters are considering a different version of rear calliper that VAG did use on this size of car, but maybe now VAG have extended the use/application of the alloy version for cars that don't have an electric handbrake, and so confusing the OP's issue?