I've been considering a second hand Monte having driven one and really liked it. I'd prefer one with climate control but don't see many, so I'd been thinking of going for one with aircon and retrofitting. I'd sort of assumed that CC was simply different electronics that slotted into the hole otherwise occupied by the standard aircon controls. But assumptions are dangerous...

 

Did ask a dealer but the guy I spoke to was much more interested in selling me a new car...

 

So, is it doable? If so, what's it likely to cost?

I enquired a little while ago as there was a couple of climate control units for sale on eBay.

I was told by the seller that it can't be retro fitted to manual aircon, it can only be used as a replacement for an existing climate control unit that's already fitted.

The only thing that can be retrofitted as far as I'm aware is Cruise Control but correct me if I'm wrong.

Logic says with the manual aircon unit, the controls are physically attached to the 'shutters' directing airflow etc whereas with climate the shutters are moved electronically ' therefore not interchangeable. I don't have pointy ears however. :-)

I only wanted it so it looked better than the dials but to be honest, I'm not bothered by it, I had dual zone climate on my last car and hardly ever used it.

It's only single control on the Fabia anyway, so would've been a waste of money as it the Monte Tech comes with manual aircon as standard.

There's no way I would pay £350 to upgrade from Manual aircon to Climate Control if it could've been done just for some buttons and digital numbers.

I looked at it from the 'looks prettier' aspect as well; have made initial enquiries of dealer whether dial controls for the manual system are available with chrome detailing; dealer said no, although the chrome detailed ones on Polo and Citigo appear similar; does anyone know if they fit the FL Fabia.

A friend of mine considered converting manual aircon to Climatronic in a Scirroco, the deeper he got into it the more it became clear it would have been easier to convert it to a Bugatti Veyron! He swapped it for one with it already fitted.

I've had Climatronic on a B5 Passat and dual zone Climatronic in an Alhambra and both were excellent. The "climate control" which was standard in my current Roomster SE+ is a very poor relative being noisy and irritating, the backlighting does not match the rest of the dash, even the control panel is a poor fit and looks like it's been bought off the internet

If you must have "climate control" then search for one with it already fitted, I'd swap mine in an instant for cruise, heated seats or bluetooth.

It is possible

 

do you want to do it when you know what is required.. probably not

 

lots of wiring needs to be changed

lots of the Air con parts need to be changed

the dash would have to come out, you wouldn't be able to use the car for days

buying the parts new or used would cost. If it were my car and I was doing it you would be better off having a donor car for the parts

you would need a workshop or garage as you won't get it done in a day

I confess it was 50% aesthetics and 50% convenience. The Monte I drove had CC, it looked rather nice and worked well enough on the journeys I've done in the car.

 

Those with the manual aircon knobs look kinda naff and my experience with other cars with manual aircon is that there's just constant fiddling with knobs to get the right temp.

 

Thanks for the advice on the retrofit. I guess I'll wait until something with CC comes along.