What have you done to your car today?

we regassed our 2011 pug 308 last year. ... admittedly it had been losing effectiveness for a little while before but i would say it lasted almost 10 years.... lets say 8 years for sure but probably longer than that.

our late 2012 nissan QQ i sold last week had never been redone. the air con still worked... not as good as new but well enough to cool the car on a hot day, i would not have considered regassing yet.
 
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kona786 said:
Out of interest... How long would you say it'll last from new? Factory new.... best case scenario?

Mines a 2016 car and I don't think it's been regassed. I've had it 4yrs.
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If you use it regularly to keep the seals from drying out then it should last a long time. My 2016 car has never been regassed and is still ice cold. I never have the AC turned off.
 
kona786 said:
How long would you say it'll last from new? Factory new.... best case scenario?

Mines a 2016 car and I don't think it's been regassed. I've had it 4yrs.
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Depends a lot on how often the AC is used.
Using it more helps keep the seals etc lubricated, which helps keep it working better. My car is 12 years old (but only owned by me for a few months), but has only done 50k miles, so likely was a 2nd car, or "little old lady" and the air con probably wasn't used much.

I've also got a 13 year old Fiesta (which we've had for 4 years), which as far as I know has never been regassed, and is still ice cold.
 
Armageus said:
Why do you only use it occasionally?
Even in Winter with the heater temperature turned up, you can still use Air conditioning - it dries the air, which helps to stop windows steaming up
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we only use ours on occasion as well.. maybe i am way behind the times but..... does it not reduce fuel economy as well as car performance. (the former could be a QI trap i suppose but the latter i noticed in the really old proton hire car we got in spain many years ago, when driving around the mountains we had to turn off the air con for some of the hills ... it genuinely made a difference to the cars power going up mountain roads)
 
Armageus said:
Why do you only use it occasionally?
Even in Winter with the heater temperature turned up, you can still use Air conditioning - it dries the air, which helps to stop windows steaming up
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Just habit I think.
I'm used to having older cars where could feel the performance hit when it was on.

How much horsepower do they use these modern AC systems? I'm guessing they're much more efficient.
 
I'd say worth getting it checked after 5-6 years, even if the aircon is working it doesn't mean it's got the right level of gas. In prep for a trip to south of France where it's 40C plus I got a regas in my last car at just under 5 years old and it had lost 40% of it's factory charge still worked fine but suspect it would have struggled in the high temperatures in France. I never turn the aircon off unless it cut the compressor at low ambient temperatures it was on every time I drove it.
 
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kona786 said:
Just habit I think.
I'm used to having older cars where could feel the performance hit when it was on.

How much horsepower do they use these modern AC systems? I'm guessing they're much more efficient.
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Can't say I've noticed a difference in power on the rare occasion it's ended up turned off and I've only got 100 horses to play with to start with :cry:
 
Dangerous Dave said:
I'd say worth getting it checked after 5-6 years, even if the aircon is working it doesn't mean it's got the right level of gas. In prep for a trip to south of France where it's 40C plus I got a regas in my last car at just under 5 years old and it had lost 40% of it's factory charge still worked fine but suspect it would have struggled in the high temperatures in France. I never turn the aircon off unless it cut the compressor at low ambient temperatures it was on every time I drove it.
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So with you keeping it on constantly it still lost about the same as occasionally it seems.

Yes if it were crucial I would get it checked earlier. But for now I'd go by feel. If it lasts me this year I'll get it done next year.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
I'd say worth getting it checked after 5-6 years, even if the aircon is working it doesn't mean it's got the right level of gas. In prep for a trip to south of France where it's 40C plus I got a regas in my last car at just under 5 years old and it had lost 40% of it's factory charge still worked fine but suspect it would have struggled in the high temperatures in France. I never turn the aircon off unless it cut the compressor at low ambient temperatures it was on every time I drove it.
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My 1995 Toyota Celica hasn't been re-gassed since I have owned it (2012) and still blows extremely cold to the point it is the coldest aircon I have. "They don't make them like they used too"

Just had my Saab and Suzuki re-gassed however as they last about 1-2 years before needing doing.
 
kona786 said:
Just habit I think.
I'm used to having older cars where could feel the performance hit when it was on.

How much horsepower do they use these modern AC systems? I'm guessing they're much more efficient.
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I'm not 100% sure but I think some modern cars modulate the AC in response to what the car is doing so you don't notice a loss in power from it.
 
As a general rule, air con should only need to be regassed if it has a leak somewhere. It certainly shouldn't be done regularly.

Many air cons have a very slow leak, which is why regassing improves them, and they slowly decline.

It's usually the condenser leaking (stones hit them, etc).
 
After nearly 6 and a half months and strangely coinciding with a mildly moany email I sent to my insurance company yesterday the garage they appointed to sort some crash damage magically found a front grille in stock this morning and it's booked in for next week.

Let's see how much more crashed it looks buy the time they've finished with it :D
 
I usually get it done on used cars as/if I don't know the history, then generally leave it a few years, though the dealer bugs when it comes up to about 2 years LOL with all dire warnings. Not had a problem so far.
 
pinkpound said:
Oh the joy of a 19 yr old son :eek:

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My 18 year old step son says "hold my beer"

Managed this on Friday night:-

Backed one of my cars (Fiesta), into the other one of my cars (Wife's Kuga)

dPwRzsI.jpg

OiXGI01.jpg


Will be an expensive lesson for him
 
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