Why is air con not covered by service or warranty in this day and age.

HansOndabush

I've got two cars and using the air con on either slugs performance. On one it feels like driving through treacle. 
To those that say leave it on the whole time, why do you think
a) There is a button to enable it?
b) How can you get cooling without expending energy and hence some cost?

BTW the air con button on my Mercedes to turn it off is actually marked 'economy'!

fred246

HansOndabush said:

I've got two cars and using the air con on either slugs performance. On one it feels like driving through treacle. 
To those that say leave it on the whole time, why do you think
a) There is a button to enable it?
b) How can you get cooling without expending energy and hence some cost?

BTW the air con button on my Mercedes to turn it off is actually marked 'economy'!

Maybe it should be marked 'false economy'.

AdrianC

HansOndabush said:

I've got two cars and using the air con on either slugs performance. On one it feels like driving through treacle. 
To those that say leave it on the whole time, why do you think
a) There is a button to enable it?
b) How can you get cooling without expending energy and hence some cost?

A typical modern aircon compressor will consume about 4bhp.

For most cars, that's absolutely insignificant - they're aerodynamic enough that a 70mph cruise probably only requires about 20bhp at absolute most, with the revs sat at a point at which full throttle would deliver multiples of that.

happyc84

motorguy said:

niktheguru said:

I'm actually getting quite annoyed about this. When a car is within warranty and getting dealer services, why when the air con isn't working well is it not covered by standard warranty......the dealers just say "its not covered and it needs a regas", yet if anything else is wrong with a car it will get fixed, they replace the screenwash and engine oil, why not ensure the air con is up to scratch. It's no longer a luxury like back in the day, it's standard on the vast majority of cars these days.

Anyone agree or am I wrong?
My car is 2 years old and due for its second service, I'm sure they will say the air con needs regassing (as it doesn't get as cold as quickly anymore)

Aircon generally stops working for one of three reasons

• Lack of use so the seals dry and leak.  Needs to be kept on or used frequently. 
• A leak in a pipe of joint (likely caused by a stone chipping a pipe)
• The Aircon condenser is leaking (likely caused by a stone hitting it)

Theres a lot of protection in an engine bay to prevent this but sometimes tiny stones / debris get through (and travelling at maybe 70MPH).

Hence why "aircon not working" is not covered.  Theres a chance its a faulty part but they wont investigate that in the outset as 98% of the time its one of the above.

Our a/c stopped working just outside warranty - failed resistor part. Franchised garage didnt pick up on the fault just before the warranty finished. Local garage did a good fix.

Grumpy_chap

AdrianC said:

HansOndabush said:

I've got two cars and using the air con on either slugs performance. On one it feels like driving through treacle. 
To those that say leave it on the whole time, why do you think
a) There is a button to enable it?
b) How can you get cooling without expending energy and hence some cost?

A typical modern aircon compressor will consume about 4bhp.

For most cars, that's absolutely insignificant - they're aerodynamic enough that a 70mph cruise probably only requires about 20bhp at absolute most, with the revs sat at a point at which full throttle would deliver multiples of that.

On my Focus, 1.6 petrol, 99 bhp, 75 kW, I definitely notice the change in engine tone and revs if the air con kicks in while in town / idling.

AdrianC

Idling, sure, when it's barely producing any power. That's why the engine management feeds a tiny bit of extra fuel and air in to increase the idle speed while the compressor's running.

Petriix

Well, suckered in by all this talk, I gave the auto climate control a go today. It did make the car a lovely temperature, but at the expense of about 0.5 miles per kWh or roughly 10% worse efficiency.

The price of that was basically zero though because 9kWh came from the solar panels this morning and the forecast over the next few days suggest that we'll be fully charged again for free.

niktheguru

So, car went in to the garage for the service. Asked them to look at the air conditioning.....got the response i expected......
So the technician thinks its not getting as cold as it should be by a few degrees and thinks it needs a "regas"
When I asked as to why this happens, i was told "gas evaporates"
No mention of leak or anything wrong, just that it needs a regas.
The charge, anywhere from £65 to £150......the charge only known when they do it.
For a 2 year old car owned from new, this is wholly unacceptable, and yes we have the air con on all the time (you actually have to turn it off manually), and we have been working throughout the pandemic so the car has been in use daily, so none of the "disuse" excuses.

coffeehound

It seems cars made after 2016 have R1234YF refrigerant which is more costly than the old R134a for which there are some £30 - £36 regas deals still around.

coffeehound

Groupon has a deal for R1234YF regas at ATS for £87 fixed price 

https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ats-euromaster-aircon-recharge-and-clean-1?deal_option=022d8940-0ff4-4fea-8223-619d719c644e

R1234YF locations
https://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/consumer/groupon-r1234yf-ac21