Hi all

my fabia is coming up to 3 years old this year and the air con is working well, however I wondered whether an air con service which includes a re-gas is worth it ?. I know that as part of this service, they treat the system with antibacterial chemicals etc. 

has anyone had it done? 
Is it recommended or is it a waste of money ? 
I've been quoted £140 which seems to be the Skoda dealerships going rate 

 

Short answer - (my opinion and experience only) full air-con service, maybe, or too soon or too frequently.

 

Longer answer - it used to be in at 4-years/40k-miles, my wife's Fabia was done at 5 years and 41k-miles, whether it was worth doing I don't know.  You can change (and upgrade) the cabin filter yourself if you want and spray in antibacterial there and other places.

 

I changed the cabin filter on my neighbour's car (that hardly ever leaves the hardstanding) as the cabin smelt musty and it was very dirty and damp, I gave that area a quick wipe clean with whatever was under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom (forget what) and the smell went away, the few times I've test run the air-con since there's no smell.  AFAIK the air-con on the car hasn't been touched but it's a very low mileage Korean car from 2005 not a over-complex VW and from 2020.

 

I'm all for regular servicing and maintenance of the whole car (which often boils down to clean and lubricate) but other than changing the cabin filter and perhaps cleaning I'm not sure the air-con service needs doing too regularly or wait until it something plays up but Sod's Law and how you feel about leaving it can come into play.

 

Edited 19 June, 20232 yr by nta16
wrong word

£140!!!!   Waste of money if its working fine.  At most they'll change the pollen filter and let off a £10 AC disinfectant 'can' in the car.  They might even check the AC refrigerant pressures by VCDS or similar if your lucky. 

Yup, if the chiller still seems to be chilling the cabin well enough, then I tend to leave it alone.

changed or even hoovering out the cabin filter at every (home) service is a good idea, I tend to buy Mann Frecious versions of these filters from whoever is selling them cheapest. Mahle now market their version maybe quite cheaply from ECP, they have their own name for the one that is same idea as Frecious - just check the full description on the ECP website, it should include “fungicide”, basically there tends to be 3 options for these filters:- basic, carbon coated and then fungicide- which also has the properties of the carbon version. It really depends on your personal allergies etc

I’ve tended to buy one of these “bombs” from ECP and run that through the system (see instructions, tends to be, with all windows closed, the the AC on recirculate and place the “bomb” in the rear seat well, and set it off, close doors after exiting the car - leave like this for ?? minutes, open car doors, switch off, remove now empty “bomb” - job done! But, I tend to do this while replacing the cabin filter, so, remove old filter, cover up the empty filter housing, run the cleaning routine using the “bomb”, after that fit the new filter.

 

The other details of the alternative to Mann is a Mahle ie Knecht which is similar their trade name for that is CareMetix.

Edited 19 June, 20232 yr by rum4mo
Added in extra info on Mahle ie Knecht equivalent.