Using car air con, good for the car, or money down the drain?

facade

motorguy wrote: »

We've climate in all 3 of our cars (one dates from 2002)

"Demist" button for demisting window / heat to face.

Button up if you want it a bit warmer

Buttton down if you want it a bit cooler

I let it sort out the fans, heat, etc to make that happen for me.

I didnt pay any extra for it as the cars were bought used, and climate was standard spec.

Air con is primitive by comparison.

But you have operated the climate like it is aircon, by messing with the overrides, same as I have to
And climate was "standard " on mine too- which means I paid for it along with all the other toys I don't really need

BeenThroughItAll

trinidadone wrote: »

How frequently do you use your air con in the car?

I use the switch once when I buy a car, to turn it on. Then I don't touch it again, unless the car turns it off, or someone else does.

bigjl

My dad never turned his off as it was good for demisting. His first AC equipped car was a 97 Mondeo Verona that he bought new. And kept for ten years, never needed anything done to the AC system.

Make your own mind up about that.

I personally rarely use it but use it for at least 10 mins a week.

My wife never used the AC in her Clio, it was actually very good, it isn't fitted to the Berlingo, not much is to be brutally honest.

bigjl

facade wrote: »

But you have operated the climate like it is aircon, by messing with the overrides, same as I have to
And climate was "standard " on mine too- which means I paid for it along with all the other toys I don't really need

You know it is the first law of blokeness.

Have loads of toys that you don't need.

reddwarf2002

I find that I am better off leaving the A/C turned off as it causes a lot of condensation due to mainly short trips. As the car doesn't get enough time to warm up properly the A/C collects a lot of moisture which is released into the cabin once it is switched off.

facade

bigjl wrote: »

You know it is the first law of blokeness.

Have loads of toys that you don't need.

I think Old Age & Cynicism have fully set in now

When I had a 3 year old car, and thought I'd stay on the treadmill of getting a new one every 3 years I popped down the dealers to see the latest incarnation of my car.
The salesman came to bother me

It has white dials (but I like the black ones, with white numbers like on mine...)
It has foglights (but I haven't needed to use any for over 10 years...)
It has alloy wheels and low profile tyres (but I want steel ones that don't corrode & leak, with proper bouncy rubber sidewalls to give a smooth ride)
It has a sports exhaust (you mean that piece of trim stuck on the tailpipe?)
Are the mirrors heated like mine? No, not on this model
Does it have a full size spare wheel like mine? No, but you can order a spacesaver extra.

So the things I want, use & need aren't standard, but loads of useless bling is.

I kept the old one......

foxy-stoat

NBLondon wrote: »

I don't know if foxy has done the sums right:

You can drive way more economically if your smoother, no hard acceleration and no hard braking, than you could ever hope to achieve by keeping the A/C off.

motorguy

facade wrote: »

But you have operated the climate like it is aircon, by messing with the overrides, same as I have to
And climate was "standard " on mine too- which means I paid for it along with all the other toys I don't really need

The climate control will quite happily clear a windscreen all by itself without interference from me, however if i wish to direct it to do something else for me such as defrost the windscreen then there is a button to press.

The huge advantage of climate is that you tell it what temp you want and it does it all for you. With aircon you cant guarantee a particular temperature so it can be a nob fiddling exercise with the temp and blower controls to do what climate does automatically.

And you did get it free if it came with your used car - assuming there was no option to have it taken out and pay less?

Its standard kit on a lot of cars these days, so not an "extra"

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

You know it is the first law of blokeness.

Have loads of toys that you don't need.

I sometimes like a car to be "pure" - i'd a lovely little 1989 MX5 / Eunos a while ago - no aircon (other than the roof down), no electric windows, nothing. All it has was PAS.

Was the loveliest little thing to go for a run in it. Then i took it to work one day and remember why its nice to have little luxuries in your spec.

neilmcl

agrinnall wrote: »

I was in the 'leave it on' group until recently, when I discovered that after 60K miles the aircon compressor was in the process of seizing up and would cost £600 to replace. Instead I turned it off and sold the car, and in my new one I'm now trying 'use it when needed'.

You may find the system will last less due to intermittent use than when it's being used as it should be.