Dear All,

after a recent loss of aircon on my octy vrs tdi I took it to the dealers hoping for a warranty fix. I'd bought the car in October last year as approved used from Alex Lawrie Liverpool.

Was told in first instance that I'd need to pay for the re-gas as it's a 'servicable item' - as though it just runs out over time (which I don't think it does without a fault somewhere but there we go). I negotiated a lower price for this (as they'd wanted £70 at first!). Anyhow, car went in yesterday and they say the condenser has a hole in it - damage most likely caused by a stone. Therefore its not a warranty job and the quote to fix?......£514! I nearly thought he'd misheard me and told him I didn't actually want his wife n kids, just my aircon fixing!

To add insult to injury I was charged £26 for the diagnosis. They've advised me that I might be able to claim on my insurance but I can't - although I've got no claims protected my excess is voluntarily high.

My question to you good people is this - can reconditioned condensers be had? are they available off scrapped cars etc? if so where and how much? Is fitting one a difficult job?

Any help greatly appreciated,

cheers,

Blindhorse

I paid £600 to have the condenser replaced on my vito at the main dealer. It's the smaller radiator at the front of the car which I suppose if you've already been under the bonnet repairing stuff yourself this should be pretty easy. Personally I've never attempted any repairs to a car so I paid the £600 but it did make me think with any future problems I should first have a go tackling them myself.

I'm guessing there will be plenty skodas that have been hit from behind sitting in scrap yards?

You'd think the air con system would be standard parts across all spec's too.

Good luck

Can they show you the damage?

Not uncommon for a condenser to be damaged. Also as the dryer is built in a second hand swap isn't really viable as that should in theory be changed if the system has been open to atmosphere.

Not uncommon for a condenser to be damaged. Also as the dryer is built in a second hand swap isn't really viable as that should in theory be changed if the system has been open to atmosphere.

+1

...and if the condenser has been open to air for some time, the desiccant can turn into an abrasive slush and that will quickly wreck the compressor.

Just got my car back yesterday from having the compreser changed under warranty! :-) sorry to rub it in,

Find an independent air con specialist - it will be significantly cheaper than the quote you got.

There are plenty about, I can recommend Drury Lane Garage in Oldham if that helps, but I am sure there are plenty of others nearer Liverpool.

I spoke to someone who has been working with industrial air con units for 20 yearshe claimed modern air con units do not need a "re-gas",the reason why some air con units needed recharging is because the standard of gas changed and it could leak through the pipe of older units.

I didnt beleive him and he verified his claim by saying "when did you last "re-gas" your fridge?",then it seemed to make sense.

Yes but your fridge doesn't do 80mph on the motorway and doesn't go over speed humps etc does it.

this is true,just posted to see other peoples opinions on the matter.

i will be getting mine regassed soon anyway so i will know whether it is bs or not.

It does drop over time. Max permissible drop is around 100 grams per year iirc.

I thought it was illegal to release refridgerant into the atmosphere?

I have a feeling it was bs and he just didnt want to refill my a/c at mates rates

I thought it was illegal to release refridgerant into the atmosphere?

I have a feeling it was bs and he just didnt want to refill my a/c at mates rates

It was BS

I must say that other cars I have had have gone years without noticably losing refrigerant, but they also had significantly more (2-3x) amount of refrigerant in to start off with. My Octy is 525g ish, a previous car was 1300ish from memory.

Also, fridges and dehumidifiers etc. do lose some refrigerant over time, usually indicated by the compressor becoming noisier.

It is now illegal to release R134a to atmosphere yes, carries a very hefty fine.