Air con - worth it?

Overthetop

I have aircon on my Puma which I used once, I was going up a steep hill and found that the car did not have as much power as when the aircon was off. I also, like others here, believe that it uses more fuel to run it.

mkbean

I wouldn't buy a car without air-con, i think thats a pretty common attitude even with smaller cars these days.

mistyarthur

There was a thread on here ages ago about air con and fuel and its nothing like 10per cent. It's much of a muchness if your going to drive around with your windows open instead. I have aircon and don't use it all the time but if its really hot or if the car is fogged up I wouldn't be without it.

harveybobbles

Most stuff these days has it as standard, so in a few years to come when it's time to sell, you will find it hard to shift.
As for the people who say aircon uses more fuel, well it's probably no more than the drag caused with the sunroof and/or windows down...
I use aircon all year round.
It's great in the winter for de-misting the windscreen. And as its name says, it conditions the air making the cabin more pleasant.

poe.tuesday

I always had cheap cars without aircon and never had any probs, I now have a car with aircon and I would not buy a car which didn't have it, I do a lot of tavelling and the noise of the road with the windows open is now unbearable, it's lovely to shut the windows but still be cool on a hot day

AdrianHi

Air conditioning on a new car is a must have IMO for the utility value alone but also for resale.
There have been studies done on running ari con. vs. opening windows now and the answers is there is no real difference on fuel used, just get yourself comfortable and turn off the air con if you don't need it to keep cool. If you get auto air con / climate conditioning you just leave it on all the time.


Lastly, about buying that Corsa. DON'T!!!!!
It is substantially cheaper to lease this car, no amount of 0% finance from the Vauxhall dealer will compensate for the vast discounts the leasing companies can get these car for and they pass the saving on to you.
Entry level Corsa with air con is a 163+ a month depreciation car over 36 months.
You can lease the exact same car for 133 a month over 36 months.... it's a no brainer!
If you really think you need to "own" the car (who cares) you could always try and buy it off the lease company when it is 3 years old. Cars are always nothing more than a monthly expense until they enter the scrap yard.

iolanthe07

I wouldn't buy a car without A/C now. It doesn't seem to make any difference to the fuel consumption either.

cookie_monster

Most cars now have air con as standard, so wouldn't pay £800 to have it fitted. Have you thought about a different make or maybe a pre-reg one with air-con? It doesn't add that much to the value of the car.

Crabman

I don't have air con at the moment but would like it in future. I've heard from several places it's not significantly more in terms of fuel consumption than the drag from opening windows. If it does cost significantly extra, it depends whether you're willing to pay that for the comfort.

thescouselander

iolanthe07 wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a car without A/C now. It doesn't seem to make any difference to the fuel consumption either.

I totally agree. I've done a few experiments going to and from work with the air con on one time and off the next (resetting the computer each time). There was no noticeable difference in fuel consumption either way.

I wouldn't buy a car without air con now. It definitely de-mists the windscreen faster as well as making things more comfortable on a hot day.