Worth fixing air conditioning?

Nuclear Fusion · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:22

The air conditioning on my 2010 Peugeot 308 has stopped working, unfortunately the condenser is leaking so have been quoted £280 to replace it and regas. Two questions: 1) Is that a fair price? 2) Do you consider it to be worth fixing at that cost? It's getting quite warm now so it would be nice to have, but it's also quite a lot relative to the value of the car...

Kenai · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:26

One hot day in a car with no AC and I would happily spend £500 to fix it

[TW]Fox · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:28

What does the value of the have have to do with it?

Can you buy a reliable functioning car with working Aircon for 280 quid?

adolf hamster · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:41

Kenai said:
One hot day in a car with no AC and I would happily spend £500 to fix it

pretty much this

Puzzled · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:42

Ring a few garages and ask for a quote, if they are pretty close then you have your answer. But yeah I'd get it fixed, cars without A/C are not cool!

Nuclear Fusion · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:45

[TW]Fox said:
What does the value of the have have to do with it?

Can you buy a reliable functioning car with working Aircon for 280 quid?

I suppose it doesn't really. I was thinking in terms of it being a lost cost when it comes to selling compared to a higher value car where buyers would actually pay more for it to be working.

acake · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:51

just had the same done to my 15 plate focus and at the same price.so to your questions its yes on both counts

sigma · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:51

[TW]Fox said:
What does the value of the have have to do with it?

Can you buy a reliable functioning car with working Aircon for 280 quid?

Well if the car is worth £300 then that does become a factor in my eyes.

Nuclear Fusion said:
I suppose it doesn't really. I was thinking in terms of it being a lost cost when it comes to selling compared to a higher value car where buyers would actually pay more for it to be working.

How soon do you plan to sell?

mushtafa · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:53

£280 sounds very reasonable. Quoted one for a Renault Trafic last week, was around £500 just for the condenser.

Nuclear Fusion · 2 Jul 2017 at 14:57

sigma said:
How soon do you plan to sell?

Whenever a bill comes up that makes it uneconomical to repair probably. Trouble is knowing when that is going to happen I suppose.

sigma · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:01

Nuclear Fusion said:
Whenever a bill comes up that makes it uneconomical to repair probably. Trouble is knowing when that is going to happen I suppose.

Have you set yourself a target value of the breakdown?

sanaxe1 · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:07

Nuclear Fusion said:
Whenever a bill comes up that makes it uneconomical to repair probably. Trouble is knowing when that is going to happen I suppose.

It would seem your already at the point.

[TW]Fox · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:09

sanaxe1 said:
It would seem your already at the point.

A 280 quid bill is not uneconomical on a 10 plate car.

rodenal · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:12

The price sounds fine but you could also quite easily bring it down by either buying a cheap new condenser or one from eBay and fitting yourself then having the system regassed. You shouldn't work on a gassed system so might also have to allow for it to be purged first (though it may well already be empty I guess)

Probably end up circa half the price you've been quoted.

HoneyBadger · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:26

Nuclear Fusion said:
The air conditioning on my 2010 Peugeot 308 has stopped working, unfortunately the condenser is leaking so have been quoted £280 to replace it and regas. Two questions: 1) Is that a fair price? 2) Do you consider it to be worth fixing at that cost? It's getting quite warm now so it would be nice to have, but it's also quite a lot relative to the value of the car...

I'd pay the £280. For me, aircon is a basic requirement these days.

Jono8 · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:28

acake said:
just had the same done to my 15 plate focus and at the same price.so to your questions its yes on both counts

Shouldn't that have still been under warranty?

Nuclear Fusion · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:48

Hmm, I had thought about doing it myself but I haven't really done any car repairs before (first car).

acake · 2 Jul 2017 at 15:52

Jono8 said:
Shouldn't that have still been under warranty?

nope hole in it

Holst1981 · 2 Jul 2017 at 18:02

If that £280 could be put towards a better car I might be tempted to put up with it.
But if your likely to still own it next summer I would get it fixed.

Id be reluctant trying to fix it myself.

Phil W · 2 Jul 2017 at 18:15

A condenser will be around £50-100, re-gas around £50. So if you consider labour as well it's probably not too unreasonable depending on what has to be removed to replace the condenser. May as well change the drier at the same time.