Where do recommend to go for A/C work?

[96ToyoCam164K]

Not to overemphasized with my other A/C thread (which seems to be getting ignored)...but where would you take your car for A/C?

It just seems like some shops are clueless about it sometimes. I've tried shade tree shops...but I've had enough issues with those. They seem to just half-do it and it lasts a few months (or weeks) and messes up again. Then you have the franchise companies which just seem to charge ridiculous cost for work. Are most recharges really $100?

Apparently a shop I went to today wanted to do that but Im sure the system has enough freon. This would have been the 3rd time this year I get a recharge. And then some of them just seem to guess on things...often immediately pointing to the compressor or evaporator. Uhhh.....will my car ever have steady A/C? Why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fenixus]

normal vacuum & recharge service at my local shop is $120. if the shop does that they also probably can do everything else related to it including compressor/clutch/pipes/seals replacement. question is what parts you want to use, as aftermarket ones are not always a long lasting choice (especially the budget ones)...

if your gas is leaking that fast (3 times a year) then you have a significant leak. ask the shop to run an UV glowing additive leak test on the a/c components to pin point the leaky part with UV light (or whatever other method they prefer).

[LynchburgCSI]

I would NEVER pay a shop to recharge my system. I agree with fenixus. Normally, a new charge of refridgerant with "leak stopper" in it would work. But for a system that needs recharging that often... run UV dye refrigerant through the system to find the leak.

[EEngineer]

come to canada

[projektvertx]

You guys pay 120$ for an a/c recharge I paid 60$ at the dealership, the also ran the special dye and inspected the whole car Now I feel good about only paying that much...

But yeah, run the dye, as Lynch said, to recharge that often, you have a mjaor leak somewhere....

[fenixus]

in NJ/NY area there is too many cars (and people) so mechanics set the prices as high as they want to with no worries they loose customers if all of them stick to same price level.

idk, maybe my local mechanic is overpriced (he charged me $150 for replacing flex pipe too haha) ... i think they lost their minds (all local mechs) actually considering the quality of labor they do and parts they use...

you don't want to know our local dealership pricing (does $200 for transmission flush sound fair?)

other local prices (various artists):

how about $800 for a projector retrofit with your own HID kit and clear lens ?

or maybe $500 for labor only (my own parts) on timing belt/wp job down to oil pump seals change (5.9hrs book time labor) ?

$150 for brake pads (part+labor) ?

$150 for VSV for EGR replacement (my own part) <- this was the first quote i heard ... was able to beat it down to $90 (1.5hrs book time)...

you gotta love the NYC metro area... hence why i'm learning all this stuff myself... i would go bankrupt if i let the shop do all this stinky job

[LynchburgCSI]

My recent A/C charge: $7.00. I already had the $10.00 connector tube with the pressure gauge though.

edit: My work:
radiator swap in a 96 avalon... $180
radiator swap in a 96 camry... $90
all new tokico struts and H&R springs... $580
New flex pipe and muffler: $110

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by fenixus

in NJ/NY area there is too many cars (and people) so mechanics set the prices as high as they want to with no worries they loose customers if all of them stick to same price level.

idk, maybe my local mechanic is overpriced (he charged me $150 for replacing flex pipe too haha) ... i think they lost their minds (all local mechs) actually considering the quality of labor they do and parts they use...

you don't want to know our local dealership pricing (does $200 for transmission flush sound fair?)

other local prices (various artists):

how about $800 for a projector retrofit with your own HID kit and clear lens ?

or maybe $500 for labor only (my own parts) on timing belt/wp job down to oil pump seals change (5.9hrs book time labor) ?

$150 for brake pads (part+labor) ?

$150 for VSV for EGR replacement (my own part) <- this was the first quote i heard ... was able to beat it down to $90 (1.5hrs book time)...

you gotta love the NYC metro area... hence why i'm learning all this stuff myself... i would go bankrupt if i let the shop do all this stinky job

Jesus... Thank god I live in an area where things are cheap

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

My recent A/C charge: $7.00. I already had the $10.00 connector tube with the pressure gauge though.

That would work I was just lured by the free XX point inspection, I forget the number... It was a chance for me to test the dealership's honesty as well as get the car checked out, I wanted to see what they would pull up on the car, knowing that all the car needed was a set of pads in the front, and the tires are soon nearing the end of their life...

[fenixus]

pretty much you have to know what you want from mech when you go to them here and even then you need to argue about labor charges, because most of them double the labor rate at first (so they can drop it when you start bitching) ... very annoying habit ...

guys i have to post it here as i always do when i see thread on a/c recharge. what you do when recharging the a/c with a can of gas from the auto parts store is good and works, but is still a short term solution.

here is why:

you do not release all gas before recharging, so you do not test if system holds vacuum.
if you have major leak then this test (part of recharge) would fail. shop uses machine to suck the gas out (eco-friendly) instead of venting it to atmosphere.

meaning you just top up whatever there already is in there and there can be lots of things like moisture (from leaky parts) which will cause gas compression problems in a long run.

also since you have to add gas it mean that you do have a leak (minor) and together with gas the oil leaks out too. so when you keep recharging gas only at some point the compressor may start running dry and will seize up.

having moisture in a/c system also decreases its efficiency and is not very healthy for a/c system parts.

so, bottom line is, a DIY a/c recharge is fine as a temp solution, but eventually you still SHOULD let the shop do the vacuum (removing gas and moisture and testing if system has no major leaks already) and the recharge once in a while, e.g. every 2 years or so.
they use a machine to do this job, it also detects oil and can suck it out if needed (e.g. before taking system apart for repairs).

just letting you know.

[zythr]

Originally Posted by fenixus

in NJ/NY area there is too many cars (and people) so mechanics set the prices as high as they want to with no worries they loose customers if all of them stick to same price level.

idk, maybe my local mechanic is overpriced (he charged me $150 for replacing flex pipe too haha) ... i think they lost their minds (all local mechs) actually considering the quality of labor they do and parts they use...

you don't want to know our local dealership pricing (does $200 for transmission flush sound fair?)

other local prices (various artists):

how about $800 for a projector retrofit with your own HID kit and clear lens ?

or maybe $500 for labor only (my own parts) on timing belt/wp job down to oil pump seals change (5.9hrs book time labor) ?

$150 for brake pads (part+labor) ?

$150 for VSV for EGR replacement (my own part) <- this was the first quote i heard ... was able to beat it down to $90 (1.5hrs book time)...

you gotta love the NYC metro area... hence why i'm learning all this stuff myself... i would go bankrupt if i let the shop do all this stinky job

This is the cost of owning a vehicle. Your mechanic has expenses too, (rent, taxes, insurance, etc), so it's not surprising the costs he is passing on to you.