Repair Shop Scams

[Dangermouse]

My buddy told me a story of his experience at a repair shop on Friday. He was getting new tires on his truck (so they were already getting at least $800 worth of business) and he asked them to top off the A/C system while he was there as it wasn’t as cold as it used to be, thinking they’d charge him for a can of Freon (R134 or whatever his car has)

They quoted him $107 + tax to do this!

When he queried when a can of R134 had started costing around $100 they said that they couldn’t just add a can as they didn’t know how much “Freon” was in the system. Therefore they had to remove it all and then refill it with the correct amount.

[dmc6960]

When he queried when a can of R134 had started costing around $100 they said that they couldn’t just add a can as they didn’t know how much “Freon” was in the system. Therefore they had to remove it all and then refill it with the correct amount.

Technically that is the absolutely correct procedure!!! The shop did nothing wrong, and if I ran a repair business I would never "top off" anyone's AC without evacuating, checking for leaks (pressurized nitrogen), vacuuming, then recharging with proper amount.

[nullset]

That is correct, but they should measure what's in there and reuse it. Then they only charge for what they put back in.

"Freon" is not R-134a, though. R-12 ("Freon") is MUCH more expensive than R-134a. Some people think freon is a generic term, but it's not.

--buddy

[Roman Legion]

I will tell you a scam.. My Father took his car in for inspection and the car has less than 25k miles on it (2008 Chrysler Town and Country) and they told him the brakes were bad.. I check it myself and I do drive the van on occasion.. It was still in good shape.. I called B.S. and he took it to the stealership where they told him not only were his brakes bad but so were his rotors.. This van is bad with tires; design flaw? The van in it's short life and low miles has already changed tires 10 times.. No exaggeration.. 10 times! I can vouch for the rotors and brakes being good, but WTF with the tires?

[dmc6960]

That is correct, but they should measure what's in there and reuse it. Then they only charge for what they put back in.

"Freon" is not R-134a, though. R-12 ("Freon") is MUCH more expensive than R-134a. Some people think freon is a generic term, but it's not.

--buddy

Correct on the "freon" term, had to look that up! But $100 is reasonable labor time to evacuate and recharge, plus the additional refrigerant used, plus flat out use of the evac machine.

[Dangermouse]

Well I was using Freon as a generic term as I don't know exactly what is in his car (8 years old). I know it's not R12.

No mention was made of testing for leaks, evacuation, etc. Perhaps that's where the problem lies - in their explanation of the costs. It's an 8 year old car with 260k on it so I would expect a little "freon" loss (sorry buddy)

I have had several shops here "top up" my AC when it is blowing "less-cool". Seems fairly common for the smaller places, but probably a dealership wouldn't do it.

Roman, who has been paying for all those tire changes?

[Roman Legion]

Roman, who has been paying for all those tire changes?

My Father has been paying for them..

[nullset]

8 years is normal for it to need a recharge. The proper fix, still, is to evacuate, measure what you took out, verify that it can hold a vacuum, and recharge.

For extra thoroughness, pump in some inert gas (DRY!) and make sure it holds pressure, then evacuate and recharge.

Cooling capacity and operating pressures can't tell you how much liquid refrigerant is in the system.

--buddy