Air con advice

[Ashnak187]

I have a bit of an issue with the air con in my vectra Sri 1.9 CDTI

Since buying the car in October 2010 the air con didn't appear to be working and as this is the first car I have owned with air con I wasn't too sure until I tried the air con in my dad's Signum which was ice cold.

I contacted the dealership I got the car from and they took a look and informed me that it just needed re-gassing which they did and attempted to charge me £90+vat for needless to say I refused to pay as the air con should have been working when I bought the car.

The air con has worked fine since the re-gas in January but recently I have noticed that the air con is turning on but not working.

Today I have spoken once again with the dealership as the car is still under warranty I have the car booked in for tomorrow afternoon for the air con to be checked but they have told me that if the system needs to be re-gassed or if the condenser was stone damaged I would be charged for any repairs that were needed.

So my question is does this sound right or is the dealer trying to take me for a ride with the car still been under warranty any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Handyandy-UK]

I would say that if they were happy enough to admit the system was 'gas free' a while back then they have already accepted a fault. They should have checked the system for physical damage back then - the system failing yet again might well have been caused by damage since, but unlikely given this appears to be a recurrence of the original fault.

You're probably looking at an uphill battle to get a warranty repair out of them.... best result I would guess would be a 50/50 between you and them.

Fastest result would probably be you replacing the condenser yourself and having the system checked and regassed at your local Kwik Fit. There you're looking at around £130 for generic parts and around £40 for regas.

[Ashnak187]

I would say that if they were happy enough to admit the system was 'gas free' a while back then they have already accepted a fault. They should have checked the system for physical damage back then - the system failing yet again might well have been caused by damage since, but unlikely given this appears to be a recurrence of the original fault.

You're probably looking at an uphill battle to get a warranty repair out of them.... best result I would guess would be a 50/50 between you and them.

Fastest result would probably be you replacing the condenser yourself and having the system checked and regassed at your local Kwik Fit. There you're looking at around £130 for generic parts and around £40 for regas.

I thought I may be looking at an uphill battle to be quite honest.

Was thinking that if it was just a re gas I would just take it to kwik fit and pay £40ish for it and worse case fix it myself for a lot less.

To be honest I'm not holding my breath for the dealership to help out and to be honest they aren't doing themselves any favours as most if not all my family are vauxhall car owners and won't be using this dealer due to their poor customer service and after sales care.

Thanks for the info

[MickAP]

I've, or rather a specialist air con service centre tried to get my condensor replaced under warranty, and failed. The warranty company said if stone damaged then they wouldn't pay, failure in any other way like corrosion then they would.
The warranty was one of these third party type things and would required "a possible inspection of removed parts" so garage said we can't say it's corroded if it's not.

I had to foot the whole bill for replacement.

Mine was rather as you described, and in the end it was as said the condensor after trying a regas first elsewhere earlier.



Mick

[Wolflinn]

I have a bit of an issue with the air con in my vectra Sri 1.9 CDTI

Since buying the car in October 2010 the air con didn't appear to be working and as this is the first car I have owned with air con I wasn't too sure until I tried the air con in my dad's Signum which was ice cold.

I contacted the dealership I got the car from and they took a look and informed me that it just needed re-gassing which they did and attempted to charge me £90+vat for needless to say I refused to pay as the air con should have been working when I bought the car.

The air con has worked fine since the re-gas in January but recently I have noticed that the air con is turning on but not working.

Today I have spoken once again with the dealership as the car is still under warranty I have the car booked in for tomorrow afternoon for the air con to be checked but they have told me that if the system needs to be re-gassed or if the condenser was stone damaged I would be charged for any repairs that were needed.

So my question is does this sound right or is the dealer trying to take me for a ride with the car still been under warranty any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Fair and the standard response imo
Had mine done under the same circumstance.
You can not hold a dealer responsible for stone damage.
They will re-gas with a dye, you then take it back after a couple of weeks to check for leaks, if the leak is a fault rather then a stone hole they will pay in full, apart for the price of the first re-gas.
Mine was a fault (a lot are) in fact I was out of warranty by the time the repair was gone and still got if foc.

[chewy71]

when they re-gassed it, they should have done a 'dye test' - they then look at the car aircon system thru UV goggles to spot any leaks. Sounds like they haven't done this.
I have a 2008 SRI which I had re-gassed in May 2010, again in April 2011 (free of charge) and again last week! I've had 2 dye tests done on the car, condenser checked etc and apparently nothing is wrong with the system!

So,.... you're not the only one!

[Ashnak187]

Taken car in today and they have said that it is the condenser that is leaking due to stone damage, which I was expecting them to say I did mention to them that it hadn't really worked fully when I purchased the car back in October last year and that they had regassed it back at the end of January this year so could the original issue be that the condenser was damaged when I first purchase the car only to be told that they would have done the dye test last time also.

They have quoted £458 for a new condenser which they could have fitted me tomorrow, which I have declined thanks to the useful information available on this forum about replacing the condenser yourself so will start to save up the pennies and get one sourced and fit it myself and save some money.

Although they have forgotten to replace the two caps that cover the points you would use to regas the air con so will have to go back and get them to sort that out.

[Handyandy-UK]

Have a gander here.... I have used this bunch before and been very impressed with their prices, quality and speed.

http://www.automotive-air-conditioni...L&Model=VECTRA C&part=Condensers

Things might not be as expensive as you think.

[Bigtee]

These condensors can be repaired just like a radiator and heater matrix.

Take it to a radiator specialist a garage will want to sell you a new part.

[Ashnak187]

Have a gander here.... I have used this bunch before and been very impressed with their prices, quality and speed.

http://www.automotive-air-conditioni...L&Model=VECTRA C&part=Condensers

Things might not be as expensive as you think.

Nice one Handyandy will check them out