14 month old car needs aircon regassing

24

Comments

  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    grumpyoldwoman wrote: »
    I do think that The Car People, who we bought it off, should have checked it was working before they sold it
    ...
    It's harder to prove that the aircon wasn't working when they sold it though,
    So how do you know they didn't test it, and that it wasn't working?

    With non-climate heating like yours, it's easy to test - just turn the heat to full cold.

    TBH, over the winter you really should have noticed anyway - because the dried air from aircon clears misted windows far more effectively than just warmth.
  • almillar
    almillar Posts: 8,621 Forumite
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    You don't turn it down or up, the whole point of A/C is that it self regulates the temperature to a set value.

    That's not air conditioning you're describing, that's climate control. Set a temp, and the system gets, and stays there. With the help of air conditioning which may include filtration, dehumidification, heating or cooling of the air.
  • pinkshoes
    pinkshoes Posts: 20,074 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    S
    TBH, over the winter you really should have noticed anyway - because the dried air from aircon clears misted windows far more effectively than just warmth.

    TBH, most people would really NOT notice such a difference!!

    I bought a car with aircon that did not work. At least Masda are being more proactive than Renault were, as by carrying out a leak test, it indicates that the aircon just wasn't used properly prior to you buying it. Perhaps it has been sat in a showroom, or the previous owner just didn't have it switched on often enough??

    (mine proved to have several leaks, which took Renault a whole 2 years to figure out, then they refused to fix it despite it never having worked! - they did in the end!)

    I would just recommend keeping an eye on it, making sure it does always run cold.
    Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
    Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')

    No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)
  • missile
    missile Posts: 11,684 Forumite
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    I would suggest that ANY Mazda dealer should honour the manufacturer's warranty and they ought to have recharged A/C for free.
    "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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  • Richard53
    Richard53 Posts: 3,173 Forumite
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    Strider590 wrote: »
    You don't turn it down or up, the whole point of A/C is that it self regulates the temperature to a set value. Turning it up or down does NOT make it heat or cool any faster
    I know what you are saying here, and ideally that's how it should work. But my Ford had CC and I had to juggle the temp setting to keep it at a comfortable temp. 19 in hot weather and 21 in cold weather. If I left it at 20, it felt too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer. Probably just my perception, but it gave me a feeling of control :)
    If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not a nice person.
  • nickcc
    nickcc Posts: 2,265 Forumite
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    On many cars the aircon comes on automatically when you put the demister on, you may therefore have been using the aircon without realising which should have prevented the seals on the compressor drying out. I would still suspect a leak somewhere in the system even though the system was presumably tested using ultraviolet dye. There are many places where you would be unable to see the uv dye.
  • grumpyoldwoman
    grumpyoldwoman Posts: 212 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    So how do you know they didn't test it, and that it wasn't working?

    With non-climate heating like yours, it's easy to test - just turn the heat to full cold.

    TBH, over the winter you really should have noticed anyway - because the dried air from aircon clears misted windows far more effectively than just warmth.

    We had the air con switched on all the time, right through the winter, because I know it helps to demist the windscreen, and we never had the aircon in the old car off. From the time we bought it, October, we only ever had the temperature set to heating or neutral - neither hot nor cold - so the air coming out wouldn't have felt cold anyway. I just presumed it was working, I had no reason to think it wasn't. It was only when the weather started getting warmer that I turned the temperature dial down a bit. When it didn't seem to be getting colder I turned it down all the way and it still didn't get any colder. I knew then that something was wrong but never expected it to be out of gas so soon.

    The Mazda dealer didn't seem to think it was unusual. They said you should have it serviced every two years but when we said the car was only just over one year old they just sort of shrugged. I did wonder if Enterprise could have purposely disabled certain accessories, like the CD player and air con (by removing all the gas). This may sound daft but we had to hire a car from Enterprise in 2010 while we were having the ABS on our car fixed, and that one, a Vauxhall Insignia, had the cigarette lighter/AUX disabled so we weren't able to plug anything into it.

    It may well be fine from now on, we'll just have to wait and see. The other thing is that since my husband retired last year we only do about 20 miles a week so even with the aircon on all the time we shouldn't have used up all the gas. Time will tell I suppose, I could be worrying for nothing, but my husband has lost confidence in it now and is talking about trading it in. I think that's a bit drastic seeing as otherwise it's a lovely car.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    grumpyoldwoman wrote: »
    I did wonder if Enterprise could have purposely disabled certain accessories, like the CD player and air con (by removing all the gas).

    No.
    This may sound daft but we had to hire a car from Enterprise in 2010 while we were having the ABS on our car fixed, and that one, a Vauxhall Insignia, had the cigarette lighter/AUX disabled so we weren't able to plug anything into it.

    No, it was broken. A previous hirer had probably blown the fuse.
  • grumpyoldwoman
    grumpyoldwoman Posts: 212 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    No. ...and... No, it was broken. A previous hirer had probably blown the fuse.
    You don't happen to work for Enterprise, do you? ;):D

    Re the cigarette lighter, the actual bit that heats up to light a cigarette was missing too. I presumed they'd taken it out to prevent you from setting light to anything in the car, but most people who smoke carry lighters so that would be a bit pointless. :rotfl:
  • nickcc
    nickcc Posts: 2,265 Forumite
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    I thought one of the conditions of hire was that you didn't smoke in the car, probably the reason why the lighter was removed/disabled.
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