Just had a text from my local dealer suggesting an “aircon service” with the car approaching 2 years old. Is this necessary / a good idea? Or just a con? I do note that Skoda does recommend an aircon service every 2 years so if I don’t have it done, is there any implication for the warranty? My last car - a Subaru - ran happily for over 10 years, never had an “aircon service” and the aircon was always fine. Not that it gets much use in Scotland, mostly just for demisting the windows!

Incidentally I downloaded the service schedule from Erwin and whilst it mentions the usual DSG, Haldex services etc there is no mention of an aircon service.

25 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Just had a text from my local dealer suggesting an “aircon service” with the car approaching 2 years old. Is this necessary / a good idea? Or just a con? 

No, not necessary

 

Yes, its called upselling, the skoda service is overpriced.

 

You can get an aircon regas for about £30-£40 at many tyre places.

 

Only really necessary when a/c gets weak/starts making funny kettling noises indicating low gas which in most cases isn't for at least 5 years.

 

Run your a/c regularly (doesn't have to be on constantly) to stop seals drying out and leaking.  Don't forget to switch off your a/c for 3 or 4 minutes and run the fan before you finish your journey to dry out the evaporator. That way bacteria won't get the chance to breed and give you smelly sock syndrome.

 

If the a/c develops a fault/stops working during warranty then provided its not due to physical damage such as stone damage to the condenser, Skoda should fix it. It is not on their warranty exclusion list

 

www.skoda.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Brochures/Warranty-Booklet-single.pdf

 

 

Edited 25 January, 20188 yr by xman

To do it properly you have to pump out the system, really pump it out to almost vacuum, then add the appropriate volume of refrigerant.

 

If it isn't leaking then you are not losing refrigerant and it does not need a formal service.  If it is leaking then you don't need a service - you need the leak fixing.

 

To keep smells down try full heat for 10 minutes followed by full cool for ten minutes - or is it the other way round. We have never had a smelly aircon system.

Unless its obvious, you cant really check its leaking unless you remove and weigh the gas.

 

For R134a* filled systems, all places dealers,independents,tyre depots, kwikfit, back street garages etc use similar a/c servicing machines that connect via two hoses to the a/c that automatically go through the following steps

 

1. Vacuum out any refrigerant gas and suspended pag oil.

2. Weigh the gas and oil.

3. Hold the vacuum for approx 20-30 minutes to determine if there is a leak, if there is any leak, the procedure is aborted and customer is informed of a leaking system which by law they cannot refill.

4. Refill the system with the required amount by weight of new refrigerant and replace the recovered oil with new oil, plus a nominal amount extra.

 

It takes about an hour in total. Costs around £40 at most tyre places depending on the time of year (summer is more expensive)

 

*Note: Skoda cars built from MY17 onwards use the newer R1234yf refrigerant, which as yet most places do not have. So in that case it can only at present be serviced at a dealer. It is considerably more expensive (no competition) and even Skodas fixed price servicing does NOT include these cars.

 

All cars will lose refrigerant over a number of years from the seals, very slow leakage is normal and doesnt require repairs.

 

Edited 26 January, 20188 yr by xman

Thanks guys, I think I will give a miss this time. Maybe have it done when the car needs a major service in ~1 year.

 As said above you do not need it done if your AC is working also as advised above. My car after nearly six years is still fine and the wife's Yaris is still fine after almost 14 years.

Edited 26 January, 20188 yr by Danny 57

The A/C on my Ford was working perfectly with no smells but when it went in for a service the dealer kindly did a free A/C disinfect. After that the car stunk, not a nice stink but a really bad stink. Dealer agreed it stank and said it did before. I stood my ground and they eventually did a proper clean of the system which returned it back to its previous state. Always refused A/C services since. If it works leave it well alone.

On 1/26/2018 at 11:40, xman said:

Unless its obvious, you cant really check its leaking unless you remove and weigh the gas.

 

For R134a* filled systems, all places dealers,independents,tyre depots, kwikfit, back street garages etc use similar a/c servicing machines that connect via two hoses to the a/c that automatically go through the following steps

 

1. Vacuum out any refrigerant gas and suspended pag oil.

2. Weigh the gas and oil.

3. Hold the vacuum for approx 20-30 minutes to determine if there is a leak, if there is any leak, the procedure is aborted and customer is informed of a leaking system which by law they cannot refill.

4. Refill the system with the required amount by weight of new refrigerant and replace the recovered oil with new oil, plus a nominal amount extra.

 

It takes about an hour in total. Costs around £40 at most tyre places depending on the time of year (summer is more expensive)

 

*Note: Skoda cars built from MY17 onwards use the newer R1234yf refrigerant, which as yet most places do not have. So in that case it can only at present be serviced at a dealer. It is considerably more expensive (no competition) and even Skodas fixed price servicing does NOT include these cars.

 

All cars will lose refrigerant over a number of years from the seals, very slow leakage is normal and doesnt require repairs.

 

 

My Qashqai used that R1234yf refrigerant...  Cost around £250 for a recharge and that was if you could find a dealer who could do it!! Mine (2014 model) suffered from a AC condensor failure in the middle of a summer period (along with 800,000 other Qashqais worldwide). Given that the car had a fixed glass roof it really was a mobile greenhouse and spent nearly 3 months just sitting on the drive. Nissan were useless, the dealer did their best to expidite a replacement but Nissan in their infinite wisdom decided to change manufacturer of the failed unit at the height of the crisis. Eventually got it fixed and sorted all free of charge (didn't expect otherwise) but got rid of the car a few months afterwards (following other issues)...

 

Thankfully my Superb is an MY16 car...

Just checked BOC site and R1234yf is approx 2.5x price of R134a. Plus a new much more expensive a/c machine is required (by law). So don't expect to see it offered in Kwikfit very soon.

 

I read some time ago that because Dupont's patent on R134a had run out and because it was a massive US revenue earner, US officials lobbied for world rule changes to the newer patented gas and succeeded with the use of many brown bags. Even Mercedes, when they crash tested an S class with the stuff and it burst into flames (yes, R1234yf is flammable) and complained, were ignored.

 

Politics, big money, we pay. Same old story.