Hi guys

A couple weeks ago I bought a 2014 Octavia elegance 1.8 from the first owner that's done 112k km.

Appearentely he has had the A/C checked multiple times at the dealership since 2018, they did a computer test and regassed it a couple times, until late 2019 when they told him the evaporator is bad and need to be replaced for about 1300€.
He kept regas it until he sold it to me, I regassed it not knowing that whole saga because the first two weeks was good, then left vents blew chill air while right vents blew neutral air.

It was good for a few weeks and now the problem is back.

I got it checked at a highly recommended VAG specialized repair service and they told me the same- replace (original) evaporator for about 1180€.

Question is, should I get it replaced at one of those places, or maybe look for an A/C service that will maybe do it for cheaper using alternate evaporator? Is the pricing normal? (I'm located in Israel).

Anyone thinking it could be something else? Or the evaporator could be fixed? 

Thanks!

Really depends on your budget - if 1300euros is acceptable, then that is your solution.  However, I might suggest getting a spare evaporator part from a Scrapped car of a similar age and see it can be swapped across.

The problem with replacing the evaporator is that it is deep within/behind the dashboard. So labour costs will be a high proportion of the overall bill.

Years ago I got the "evaporator is leaking" story from a dealer. Good job I didn't go ahead with the horrendously expensive job,  it was actually leaking from the compressor shaft seal, found eventually when, after the a few years regassing c/w UV dye, I spotted a stain under the compressor. 

 

I doubt they have actually detected a leak in the evaporator. Was there dye in the footwells? Did their probe go haywire when placed in a vent? Or was it a case of they couldn't find a leak in the usual places so it must be the evaporator?

 

No doubt there is no guarantee that changing the evaporator will fix your AC properly.

 

Try and find an AC specialist that has all the correct equipment and training for a second opinion.

Edited 2 August, 20214 yr by xman