It's time for my 2nd service on my 1.4 petrol Octavia.

The mileage is 14500.

According to the "call centre" (now used by local dealer) Skoda advise an Air Con "recharge  etc" 

I have a prepaid 3yr service agreement but this Air Con recharge will cost me £70.

 

My wife has a 5yr old Fabia and Skoda have not advised this for her car and has never had an AirCon recharge.

 

So is this a "con" (sorry) or a genuine service requirement?

 

5 minutes ago, Flybar said:

It's time for my 2nd service on my 1.4 petrol Octavia.

The mileage is 14500.

According to the "call centre" (now used by local dealer) Skoda advise an Air Con "recharge  etc" 

I have a prepaid 3yr service agreement but this Air Con recharge will cost me £70.

 

My wife has a 5yr old Fabia and Skoda have not advised this for her car and has never had an AirCon recharge.

 

So is this a "con" (sorry) or a genuine service requirement?

 

Refrigerant does leak out of air-con systems on all makes of car (about 10% per year seems to be the widely quoted figure), so it's good practice to have the air-con re-gassed every few years (most manufacturers recommend every 2 years) or at the very least when the air-con isn't working very well.

 

I think you may be surprised at the difference if you have the air-con re-gassed on your wife's 5yr old Fabia.

My preference is to re-gas only when needed. My wife's Megane requires topping-up every year (Kwikfit ~£35), but my 3-Series and Octavia aircon were still running perfectly after 3-years. You can tell when it start running out because cold will start feeling less cold, and the car will take far longer to cool down or clear window-fog. £70 seems steep for gas which costs the dealer pennies and just a few minutes to topup.

Edited 27 February, 20179 yr by Orville

The coolant also contains lubricant for the system. I would get it done as per the schedule.

^^^ 

Just not by this 'Schedule' that seems to have become the latest Schedule / Guidelines since Brake Fluid Changes went from first at 2 years to 3 years.

Up-selling and there is 'Written Schedules' now, but then not many 'VW Finance owned / Fleet Vehicles'are following the Schedules that Private Owned vehicles are being advised to.

1 hour ago, Orville said:

My preference is to re-gas only when needed. My wife's Megane requires topping-up every year (Kwikfit ~£35), but my 3-Series and Octavia aircon were still running perfectly after 3-years. You can tell when it start running out because cold will start feeling less cold, and the car will take far longer to cool down or clear window-fog. £70 seems steep for gas which costs the dealer pennies and just a few minutes to topup.

I had a mk2 Octavia from new & when I sold it 8 yrs later the air con was operating perfectly & had never been re-gassed. It also spent months at a time off the road when I wasn't in the UK.

 

So, I agree, only re-gas as required

1 hour ago, Orville said:

My preference is to re-gas only when needed. My wife's Megane requires topping-up every year (Kwikfit ~£35), but my 3-Series and Octavia aircon were still running perfectly after 3-years. You can tell when it start running out because cold will start feeling less cold, and the car will take far longer to cool down or clear window-fog. £70 seems steep for gas which costs the dealer pennies and just a few minutes to topup.

I just did a check online & a Kwikfit branch in South London want 49 pounds, so your 35 pounds is very reasonable.

As above, if it ain't broke, then don't fix it. I also ran 5 years before I decided I needed a re-gas and did use the dealer who had an offer on at the time.

 

AC isn't like engine oil - you don't have to just service it based on time alone.

 

If it's chilling ok, just wait. You'll notice Skoda don't include it in the basic service package.

 

££££££ nice for Skoda.