Air con woes and seemingly extortionate quotes.

DanTheMan · 11 Jun 2013 at 12:32

I took my car in for an air con re-gas and service this morning, I was quoted £60+vat for it. They rang me up before and told me they have found a leak in the condenser pipe and have quoted me £190+vat for this fix. Obviously, I wasn't expecting that and I have no idea if it is extortionate or relatively reasonable. Any ideas?

ganesh · 11 Jun 2013 at 12:48

If you drive a ferrari that's probably quite cheap.

Myshra · 11 Jun 2013 at 12:52

Does the fix include a regas? As Ganesh hints at, price will vary according to manufacturer and the specific part that broke.

DanTheMan · 11 Jun 2013 at 14:23

The car is a mk2 Toyota Yaris. The fix includes the re-gas and service and a new pollen filter. I knew the compressor for a Yaris is around £200 but I was surprised that a pipe is near enough £100.

eatcustard · 11 Jun 2013 at 14:32

DanTheMan said:
The car is a mk2 Toyota Yaris. The fix includes the re-gas and service and a new pollen filter. I knew the compressor for a Yaris is around £200 but I was surprised that a pipe is near enough £100.

They are not cheap, I had a pipe go on a Mk1 Focus that was over £100 for the part, that was 7 years ago.

Dis86 · 11 Jun 2013 at 15:34

I'd advise you crack out your google-foo. Have a look at the prices for the part online. Pollen filter + regas isn't making the 190+VAT seem like too much of a sting, granted neither is a particularly time consuming job.

Uriel · 11 Jun 2013 at 15:35

Labour can be substantial on aircon work. If they're being thorough a full flush and regas of the system can take a while.

Tom_ed1987 · 11 Jun 2013 at 18:11

Sounds reasonable to me if price includes labour + recharge. The pipe will probably have to be ordered as one large section, and Toyota parts aren't cheap. They should replace the accumulator too of the system has been discharged and open to the atmosphere for a while.

DanTheMan · 11 Jun 2013 at 18:45

Well I ended up paying £222 for a re gas, leak fix, service and pollen filtering. He showed me the pollen filter and pipe which were both well beyond their best so I feel slightly better about things.

Plus, it is now ice cold which is marvellous

.

Phil W · 11 Jun 2013 at 19:21

Should smell a hell of a lot fresher with a new Pollen Filter, too.

pepsilol · 11 Jun 2013 at 19:52

I hit a wall.

Bought all the equipment myself which cost all off £140.

Gas cost £90 for 13.5 kg.

You guys do the maths

No more bending over for someone else when I need a regas or diagnostics.

Dale V · 11 Jun 2013 at 20:21

pepsilol said:
I hit a wall.

Bought all the equipment myself which cost all off £140.

Gas cost £90 for 13.5 kg.

You guys do the maths No more bending over for someone else when I need a regas or diagnostics.

any links to the equipment you bought?

Hawk Tuah · 11 Jun 2013 at 20:42

13.5kg of gas? Might be better to fix the leak.

andy_mk3 · 11 Jun 2013 at 20:47

You need to certified to handle the gas too though.

pepsilol · 11 Jun 2013 at 21:04

andy_mk3 said:
You need to certified to handle the gas too though.

Pfft.

Certified my arse

Halfords are happy to sell it in a can to any old bean!

andy_mk3 · 11 Jun 2013 at 21:11

pepsilol said:
Pfft.

Certified my arse

Halfords are happy to sell it in a can to any old bean!

I asked about that in another thread and apparently they do something to get round it. I find that very strange really.

It's ****** dangerous stuff in the wrong hands, it can do some damage to you!

RJC · 11 Jun 2013 at 22:08

pepsilol said:
I hit a wall.

Bought all the equipment myself which cost all off £140.

Gas cost £90 for 13.5 kg.

You guys do the maths No more bending over for someone else when I need a regas or diagnostics.

What are you going to use for pressure testing and did you purchase a vacuum pump?

Otherwise if you don't vac the system out you will be left with a load on non-condensibles in the system and will hamper performance!

Parts can be expensive I pressure tested my neighbours KA and found the leak on the discharge pipe, he later told me Ford wanted £130 for the pipe!

Nightglow · 11 Jun 2013 at 22:13

andy_mk3 said:
I asked about that in another thread and apparently they do something to get round it. I find that very strange really.

It's ****** dangerous stuff in the wrong hands, it can do some damage to you!

That's bit of a understatement , I knew someone a few years ago, killed himself doing it.

Clarkey · 11 Jun 2013 at 22:15

andy_mk3 said:
I asked about that in another thread and apparently they do something to get round it. I find that very strange really.

It's ****** dangerous stuff in the wrong hands, it can do some damage to you!

Talk about hyperbole, you could say the same thing about almost any household/automotive chemicals. I've breathed in plenty of R134a and never noticed any effects other than being a bit harsh on the throat.

RJC · 11 Jun 2013 at 22:16

Nightglow said:
That's bit of a understatement , I knew someone a few years ago, killed himself doing it.

Indeed, Ammonia is the worse as its highly toxic!

Even today I almost have my self frost bite! :eek:

Clarkey said:
Talk about hyperbole, you could say the same thing about almost any household/automotive chemicals. I've breathed in plenty of R134a and never noticed any effects other than being a bit harsh on the throat.

Same here, when I was apprentice and working with a engineer we managed to lose 300kg out of the machine due to a o ring failed, along with 50 litres of oil!