Car's AC shot

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
Took my car to the dealership garage this morning. The AC is not working properly. I had hoped it was just that the coolant needed to be topped off. No such luck. The service advisor said the condenser is "not engaging". Both the condenser and clutch will need to be replaced and will cost almost $800 to replace. Would you put that money in a 16-year-old car? I've been working around it by doing what they did the the old days before AC - roll down the windows. Doesn't work too good if it's raining (which it's done almost every day here since mid-July) - then I close the windows and the windshield fogs up.
 

Deb, this is what you told me back in December.

"Once I get all the parts replaced, eventually I WILL have a new car." The problem is I like my old car. Buying a new one these days will have so many bells and whistles I'm paying for and probably wouldn't even use.
 
I'd get another estimate from another garage beside the dealership, they always charge much more for service and parts. If you like your car and intend to keep driving it, then of course you should fix what is broken and pay the price. Other option is to buy a new car to replace it.
 

The estimate sound reasonable. Our daughter had the A/C fail on her 2014 Honda. The compressor was OK but the magnetic clutch that engages the system quit . The estimate was around $750 and this from a mechanic that I've done business with for 25 years or so. Her husband ordered the parts for $160 or so and did the job at home. Not an easy job but he's a good "home" mechanic although it's not his profession.

If you like the car, it's in reasonably good shape, the oil has been changed regularly ( very important for long life) AND the mileage isn't too high, you can probably keep running the car for a decent length of time.

My last Honda Accord is now being used by my college student grandson and it has 221,000 on it and still runs well.
 
How long do you plan on keeping this car? If you were to replace it, unless you plan on paying cash what would you expect your monthly cost to be ?
the math.

12 months $66.66 24 months $33.33 or cost of new for X amount of years & ?

Then there are tires, battery, hoses, wipers, oil changes or regular upkeep to think about. What works better for you financially long term?

Some prefer low mileage used with a limited warranty as a replacement for an older car that is beginning to nickle & dime them.

Does seem strange to me to need an a/c for the short time there is any appreciable heat in upstate NY.
 
As I recall, this isn't the first time you have had trouble with your car. My experience has been that when big ticket things start to go wrong it's time to start looking for another car.

I wouldn't buy a brand new one, though (you take a huge hit in depreciation the minute you drive it out of the showroom). I'd look (as I did when my 13-year old car had transmission trouble in 2016) for a late model used car with low mileage and a reliable Carfax report of good maintenance. That's what I did and I found a car that was almost new and saved thousands over the cost of a new one of that same make and model.

In my area, dealers list their used inventory online with pictures and good descriptions online so you can see what's out there without leaving home.
 
The rule is.

If the repairs cost more than the value of the car then the money is best spent somewhere else.

But having said that. I had the motor changed in my old vehicle and it cost more than the car was worth but I am still able to drive it for 10 years or more.

So you have to look at the whole picture and what you can afford.

Presently I am looking at leasing instead of buying a vehicle and having to lay out all that money.
 
I worked at dealerships for years and leasing is not the way to go. I always buy a low mileage demo that still has the warranty and not many miles on it. I bought my Corolla with 5000 miles on it in 2008 and now has 27000 on it. I have kept it serviced and its in great shape. I don't drive like I used to so since I have been retired I don't put many miles on it. It will probably be the last car I will buy.
 
terry123 said:
I worked at dealerships for years and leasing is not the way to go. I always buy a low mileage demo that still has the warranty and not many miles on it. I bought my Corolla with 5000 miles on it in 2008 and now has 27000 on it. I have kept it serviced and its in great shape. I don't drive like I used to so since I have been retired I don't put many miles on it. It will probably be the last car I will buy.
Click to expand...


Yep I agree I bought my Citroen with 5000 miles on the clock the same way ..and it kept going for 14 years without any problems...


Deb if you live somewhere HOT then you need to get the AC done... if not...just open the window..don't pay out on an old car unless absolutely necessary!!
 
If you know a young mechanic where you live,
ask him to fit a reconditioned one for you, they
are available on Ebay.

Mike.
 
debodun said:
Took my car to the dealership garage this morning. The AC is not working properly. I had hoped it was just that the coolant needed to be topped off. No such luck. The service advisor said the condenser is "not engaging". Both the condenser and clutch will need to be replaced and will cost almost $800 to replace. Would you put that money in a 16-year-old car? I've been working around it by doing what they did the the old days before AC - roll down the windows. Doesn't work too good if it's raining (which it's done almost every day here since mid-July) - then I close the windows and the windshield fogs up.
Click to expand...

If your quote above is accurate, RUN, not walk away from this service adviser. First off, here is the description of a condenser... basically is a radiator positioned between the car's grille and the engine cooling radiator in which the gaseous refrigerant shreds heat and returns to a liquid state. The liquid then flows to the evaporator inside the dashboard, where it cools the cabin. Wheeew what a mouthful. gist is, no moving mechanical parts. I would definitely get a second opinion. I wrote a long winded response to this, but, upon re-reading I realized I may have gotten too technical for most.
 
terry123 said:
I worked at dealerships for years and leasing is not the way to go. I always buy a low mileage demo that still has the warranty and not many miles on it. I bought my Corolla with 5000 miles on it in 2008 and now has 27000 on it. I have kept it serviced and its in great shape. I don't drive like I used to so since I have been retired I don't put many miles on it. It will probably be the last car I will buy.
Click to expand...

Leasing has it's benefits. The biggest one being a much lower monthly payment on a new car rather buying it. Other benefits are you always have a new vehicle and the vehicle is always under warranty. When leasing you also don't get hit with the instant depreciation when you drive it off the lot as you do when buying a new vehicle. Vehicles don't retain value like other things do, buying them outright with much higher monthly payments isn't always the best way to go. If you can come up with the down payment for a lease vehicle every 3 years and don't want to be bothered with repairs down the road, a lease can be very beneficial. We currently lease one vehicle and own (with payments) another vehicle. We like having one new vehicle all of the time, especially for taking road trips to visit family in Canada once or twice a year. We usually get the low mileage lease which is cheaper because we only put about 7K miles on it per year and that includes those Canada trips.

Demo vehicles are great if you can find them. They usually get scooped up by dealership employees before they hit the lot. I was lucky enough to get a 1997 Ford Ranger 4x4 demo with 8K miles on it in 1998 for $14,500. The book value on the truck at the time was about $21K. I drove that truck for 18 years and only put 90K miles on it. We used it as a trade in for my wife's new lease vehicle in 2016, they gave me $1200 for it, not bad.
 
JimW said:
Leasing has it's benefits. The biggest one being a much lower monthly payment on a new car rather buying it. Other benefits are you always have a new vehicle and the vehicle is always under warranty. When leasing you also don't get hit with the instant depreciation when you drive it off the lot as you do when buying a new vehicle. Vehicles don't retain value like other things do, buying them outright with much higher monthly payments isn't always the best way to go. If you can come up with the down payment for a lease vehicle every 3 years and don't want to be bothered with repairs down the road, a lease can be very beneficial. We currently lease one vehicle and own (with payments) another vehicle. We like having one new vehicle all of the time, especially for taking road trips to visit family in Canada once or twice a year. We usually get the low mileage lease which is cheaper because we only put about 7K miles on it per year and that includes those Canada trips.
Click to expand...

While leasing may have benefits for some, it also has what I consider down sides. First and foremost, I dislike the idea of paying sales tax, doc fee's, title, registration, and licence fee's, per-mile penalty. All this for a car you don't own. Oh yeah, if you live in a state with personal property tax, you pay that also.
I guess if someone wants to drive a new car every 3 years, and MNO, go for it, but not for me.
 
debodun said:
Took my car to the dealership garage this morning. The AC is not working properly. I had hoped it was just that the coolant needed to be topped off. No such luck. The service advisor said the condenser is "not engaging". Both the condenser and clutch will need to be replaced and will cost almost $800 to replace. Would you put that money in a 16-year-old car? I've been working around it by doing what they did the the old days before AC - roll down the windows. Doesn't work too good if it's raining (which it's done almost every day here since mid-July) - then I close the windows and the windshield fogs up.
Click to expand...
If you really like the vehicle, and parts are not obsolete....fix it.
$800 is next to nothing, compared to getting another vehicle (new, used, whatever)
 
There comes a time when one decides money and inconvenience of reliability dictate keep or buy. I sold my 04 truck recently because it simply was costing too much to maintain. Now living in a condo I cannot work on it like I used to. Even repaired I felt I could not trust it on long trips around the country. I bought a new on when the dealerships were offering large rebates and I am ruthless on sales people so they are always happy to sell me so they can get rid of me. I would not buy a demo for two reasons. One, you don't know if it was abused and second is personally I don't want another persons vehicle but that is just me. Today's used vehicles are much better than those of decades back because competition dictates manufacturers build more reliable, quality vehicles. That said, my last truck had serious things things wrong with it and to the average buyer they would not have known had I not told them up front. Don't ever buy from an auction because the people that are selling them have no idea if there are problems with the cars so you are taking a serious gamble. Last word on repairs, they are not guaranteed for long periods of time for a reason!!
 
squatting dog said:
While leasing may have benefits for some, it also has what I consider down sides. First and foremost, I dislike the idea of paying sales tax, doc fee's, title, registration, and licence fee's, per-mile penalty. All this for a car you don't own. Oh yeah, if you live in a state with personal property tax, you pay that also.
I guess if someone wants to drive a new car every 3 years, and MNO, go for it, but not for me.
Click to expand...

No doubt there are pluses and minuses on both sides, I think it comes down to personal preference more than anything else. We do both own and lease and in each case we're happy.
 
One more little thing here.

I quit twisting wrenches long ago (about the time when electronic ignition did away with points, condensers)

And learned this, thru trial and error;

A lot of folks have their favorite mechanic
Some are really good…really good

However

The dealership, say you drive a chevy, and it’s a chevy dealership, can fix your chevy…. blindfolded.
No mystery.
Same with parts.

But, like good, and not so good independent mechanics, there’s good dealerships, and ones that will fix yer budget for ya
 
Gary O' said:
One more little thing here.

I quit twisting wrenches long ago (about the time when electronic ignition did away with points, condensers)

And learned this, thru trial and error;

A lot of folks have their favorite mechanic
Some are really good…really good

However

The dealership, say you drive a chevy, and it’s a chevy dealership, can fix your chevy…. blindfolded.
No mystery.
Same with parts.

But, like good, and not so good independent mechanics, there’s good dealerships, and ones that will fix yer budget for ya
Click to expand...

To add to your point, if you are confident with the dealership go ahead and use them exclusively to service your ride if you plan in buying the same kind in the future. The reason being you will get more in trade in if they can access all of your service records for your trade in.
 
debodun said:
Took my car to the dealership garage this morning. The AC is not working properly. I had hoped it was just that the coolant needed to be topped off. No such luck. The service advisor said the condenser is "not engaging". Both the condenser and clutch will need to be replaced and will cost almost $800 to replace. Would you put that money in a 16-year-old car? I've been working around it by doing what they did the the old days before AC - roll down the windows. Doesn't work too good if it's raining (which it's done almost every day here since mid-July) - then I close the windows and the windshield fogs up.
Click to expand...

You said "condenser"...but what you probably mean is "compressor". You can expect to pay between $750 and $1000 for a new compressor/clutch...depending upon the make/model of the car. If the car is in basically good shape...no dents, rust, etc., and has no other mechanical problems, a few hundred dollars is far cheaper than buying a new car. However, if the car is showing its age...and looks like it, spending hundreds of dollars on something worth only a couple of thousand, may not be money well spent.
 
I was only considering getting the AC repaired because we've had an exceptionally hot and humid summer here in the northeast U.S. Keeping the windows open works okay if it's not raining (which it's done here every day since the beginning of the month). When I close the windows, then the windshield fogs. Then only solution to that is turning on the heater, and who wants to do that when it's already 90°F?
 
Gary O' said:
One more little thing here.

I quit twisting wrenches long ago (about the time when electronic ignition did away with points, condensers)

And learned this, thru trial and error;

A lot of folks have their favorite mechanic
Some are really good…really good

However

The dealership, say you drive a chevy, and it’s a chevy dealership, can fix your chevy…. blindfolded.
No mystery.
Same with parts.

But, like good, and not so good independent mechanics, there’s good dealerships, and ones that will fix yer budget for ya
Click to expand...

I started out in the mechanics trade when I was 16 years old in 1979 and stayed in the trade for 13 years until 1992. I remember being one of the few mechanics left at the Ford dealership I worked for that knew how to set points. I got a few calls in the years after from friends of mine in the trade that asked me if I had time to swing by and set the points in a car for them. I also fielded requests for help in adjusting carburetors after fuel injection took over. It was actually fun to work on cars back then, not so much once computers took over.
 
terry123 said:
I worked at dealerships for years and leasing is not the way to go. I always buy a low mileage demo that still has the warranty and not many miles on it. I bought my Corolla with 5000 miles on it in 2008 and now has 27000 on it. I have kept it serviced and its in great shape. I don't drive like I used to so since I have been retired I don't put many miles on it. It will probably be the last car I will buy.
Click to expand...

What if you are old and don't have the liquid assets to lay out. Isn't leasing an option? Can't you lease the low mile demos or any car in the lot? You can do anything if you have the money. If you don't you have to look at other options.
 
fmdog44 said:
To add to your point, if you are confident with the dealership go ahead and use them exclusively to service your ride if you plan in buying the same kind in the future. The reason being you will get more in trade in if they can access all of your service records for your trade in.
Click to expand...

Having been in the mechanics trade and having worked for a couple dealerships, I would only bring my car to a dealership for service under two conditions. One is if the repair falls under warranty or a service contract and you won't be paying for it. Two is if the problem is computer related because the dealership will have all of the up to date equipment to diagnose and fix the computer problem. A lot of garage mechanics can't afford the equipment required to diagnose computer problems and most don't have the proper training. Other than that there are always qualified mechanics that will do the required repairs at a much cheaper price than the dealer will. Dealerships charge through the nose for cash repairs and for the most part are not worth the extra expense. Service records have little to no effect at a dealership for a trade in. Their main objective is getting you to buy a new car, not nickle and diming you on your trade in because you didn't get regular oil changes and you most definitely will not get back in trade the extra money you paid the dealership to do your regular maintenance.
 

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