Brake Caliper Replacement Cost

The car pulls to one side when you brake, one wheel smells hot after a drive, or the shop shows you one pad worn to the metal while the others look new. Those are the classic signs of a sticking brake caliper.

So how much does it cost to replace brake calipers? Luxury Auto Works, a repair shop in Austin, puts one caliper with new pads and a brake bleed at $450 to $1,000 on a typical luxury import.

Roda, a repair service in the Washington, D.C. area, prices front caliper replacement at $480 to $1,300. With the carmakers’ own parts and job times, a pair comes to $357.60 on a 2020 Equinox and $497.15 on a 2018 Camry.

In this guide I will show you what shops charge, what the carmakers’ parts and times come to, what owners paid, how to tell a real leak from assembly grease, and the recalls that replaced calipers free.

What Repair Shops Charge

Here are the two shops’ prices, with labor:

The Austin shop gives the caliper’s own price per corner too. A new caliper from the carmaker is $250 to $650 on European and luxury cars, a good aftermarket one $180 to $450, and a remanufactured one $150 to $350.

It takes 1.5 to 3.0 hours to replace one caliper with pads, hardware and a brake bleed on most luxury imports, by that shop’s count. Its labor rate is $145 to $195 an hour, and it puts dealers at $185 to $250 or more.

Roda’s price moves with the caliper design, an electronic parking brake, new or remanufactured parts, and whether both sides are replaced.

What the Carmakers’ Own Parts and Times Come To

These are caliper jobs the carmakers put a job time on, at $132 an hour, Tekmetric’s US average from June 2026. The parts are priced on the carmakers’ parts websites on October 16, 2026:

GM pays 1.3 hours to replace both rear calipers on a 2020 Equinox, with the brake fluid drained, filled and bled. Its left caliper is $76.71, the right $101.07, four hose washers $2.36 and the brake fluid $5.86.

Each GM caliper also carries a $40 core charge, a deposit you get back when the old one goes back.

Toyota pays 1.1 hours for a front caliper on a 2018 Camry and 0.2 hour more for the other side. Its calipers are $131.50 each, two fitting kits $46.15 and two hose gaskets $16.40, plus brake fluid.

Ram pays its dealers 0.7 hour to check both front calipers of a 2021 Ram 1500 and replace one, and 0.9 hour to replace both.

Big trucks cost more. GM’s shielded rear calipers for the 2019 to 2025 Silverado and Sierra 1500 are $645.45 each, and GM’s bulletin calls fitting them a customer paid repair.

What Owners Paid

Here are the brake caliper bills owners reported to NHTSA, the US road safety agency, with a link to each complaint:

• A faulty front caliper on a 2020 Volkswagen Jetta wore the inner pad down to metal, and the mechanic’s bill was $541.07, filed in July 2024.
• An independent shop replaced the failed right rear caliper, the hoses and the ceramic pads of a 2016 Ford Fusion for about $600, filed in December 2025.
• A mechanic fitted front pads and rotors, rear pads and the left rear caliper on a 2011 Jeep Liberty for $620, filed in August 2026.
• After a piston blew out of a caliper, a shop fitted aftermarket rear calipers, rotors and pads on a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan for $863.23, filed in June 2024.
• A Mazda dealer quoted $875.20 to replace a rear caliper on a 2018 Mazda6 with 18,700 miles, just after its 36 month warranty, filed in April 2024.
• Tesla quoted about $886 for a failed rear right caliper on a 2020 Model Y with a parking brake warning, filed in September 2026.
• Rear pads, rotors and both rear calipers, whose pistons would not release, came to $1,314.49 at Les Schwab on a 2021 Jetta, filed in January 2024.
• A Chevrolet dealer asked $2,400 to fit the updated rear calipers with dirt deflectors on a 2021 Silverado 1500, filed in August 2023.

So owners paid or were quoted $541.07 to $886 when one caliper was replaced, and $863.23 to $1,314.49 for both rear calipers with new rotors and pads.

Bigger brakes cost far more. A Dodge dealer billed over $5,000 for new calipers, discs and pads after the Brembo front calipers of a 2021 Durango seized at just over 40,000 miles, filed in January 2025.

Is the Caliper Really Leaking?

Before you pay for a caliper because of a wet spot, ask the shop to check what the fluid is. GM, Kia, Hyundai and Subaru have all told their technicians that grease or oil from the factory can look like a brake fluid leak.

On its Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, Colorado and Canyon models, GM’s technicians clean off the grease, press the brake pedal 20 times and look again before calling it a leak.

Kia’s test is simple. Draw lines with a pen on paper and wipe the fluid across them with a cotton swab: if the ink smears, it is brake fluid, and if it does not, it is assembly oil that can be wiped away.

Subaru wrote its 2024 bulletin for all its models to cut down on caliper replacements that were not needed.

Why a Caliper Sticks

A caliper squeezes the pads against the rotor with one or more pistons. When a piston or a slide pin sticks, the pad keeps rubbing, which is why one pad wears out long before the others.

The Austin shop blames heat that hardens the rubber seals and dries the grease on the slide pins. On the 2019 to 2025 Silverado and Sierra 1500, GM found mud packed into the rear calipers holding the pads against the rotors.

A stuck caliper also ruins pads and often rotors, so the bill grows the longer you wait. My brake pad guide prices the pads and rotors on their own.

Recalls That Replaced Calipers Free

Check your VIN on NHTSA’s recall page before you pay, because some calipers were replaced free:

• Nissan recalled 14,054 2021 Rogue models whose rear calipers may miss an internal bushing and leak brake fluid. Dealers replace them free under recall 21V286.
• Chrysler recalled 21,183 2015 and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango models built from December 9, 2015 to January 14, 2016, whose left front caliper may crack. Recall 16V168 replaces it free.
• GM recalled 166 2020 Equinox models whose rear calipers had the wrong grease, which can swell the seals and make the brakes drag. Recall 19V704 replaces both free.
• Ram checked the front calipers of some 2021 Ram 1500 trucks, about 290 of which may have a cracked piston, and replaced those free under notification W82.

Tesla’s recall 21V387 for 2019 to 2021 Model 3 and 2020 and 2021 Model Y cars checks and tightens loose caliper bolts free.

One Caliper or Both?

The carmakers do both ways. Toyota’s Camry bulletin replaces both front calipers, while Ram’s notification replaces only the caliper that is bad.

If one caliper failed early and the other side is fine, one is often enough. Ask the shop to show you why the other side needs one before you pay for a pair.

A new caliper means a brake bleed, and many shops suggest a full flush if the fluid is old. I priced that job in my brake fluid guide, and the hoses that feed the caliper in my brake line guide.

Brake Caliper Questions You Might Have

Where These Prices Come From

• Luxury Auto Works, Brake Caliper Replacement (updated August 28, 2026), Austin, Texas, and Roda, front brake caliper replacement, Washington, D.C. area.
• GM recall bulletin N192270920 (2019), GM bulletins 21-NA-089 (October 2024) and PIT5479H (September 2025), Toyota T-SB-0088-22 (September 2022), Ram W82 (February 2021), Kia PS675 (August 2020), Hyundai 20-BR-002H (November 2020) and Subaru 06-90-24 (June 2024), on NHTSA’s website.
• Part prices, checked October 16, 2026: GMPartsGiant 13595652, 13595649, 21012386, 19353126 and 85140318; ToyotaPartsDeal 47750-06321, 47730-06321, 04947-0E031, 04947-06130 and 47389-50021.
• Tekmetric, Average Auto Repair Labor Rates by State, June 30, 2026, and the owner complaints to NHTSA linked above, read October 16, 2026.

I hope this helps you replace the caliper that is really stuck, at a fair price. If you have any questions, you can email me at costcheckr@gmail.com.