Focus air con problem - cost to diagnose

PauloMN

Long story short, my mother's Focus C-Max has something wrong with the air con. She brought it to Appleyard for them to look at it, they hooked it up to some machine but that showed no fault. Has to bring it back again today for them to check if it's an electrical fault.

This is going to cost the grand total of €170 for diagnosis! Now I'm a tad annoyed at this as I feel it's a complete rip off, and it sounds like they don't have a clue what they are doing either if they need her to bring the car back again today. Surely a competent garage can diagnose a problem like this reasonably quickly?

Any air con experts out there? Is this a rip off, should I give these guys a call to vent my anger? :mad:

djimi

Whats the problem with the A/C?

How new is the car? Did she only buy is recently? Is it still under warranty?

PauloMN

'07 car bought new in Esmonde Motors. Don't think it's still covered, pretty sure it was a 2 year warranty. As for the problem, I haven't seen it myself, all she said to me was that it wasn't cooling the air.

She wouldn't have a problem paying for a fix, it's just paying €170 to find out what's wrong with it just sounds off the wall.

Jaysoose

Weird i have a 07 focus zetec with the exact same problem....ac is switched on and the light is still there...air not cooling at all.

robtri

sounds like a possible problem with the gas.... maybe needs a re-charge or has a small leak some where.

a small independant that deals with air con be btter person to check

si_guru

No gas pressure. My Berlingo did the same. Quick refill fixed it - 50 quid in the UK at Kwik Fit.. but be aware.. there might be another problem which is letting the gas out and a regas will only be a temporary fix!

Divorce Referendum

Jaysoose wrote: »

Weird i have a 07 focus zetec with the exact same problem....ac is switched on and the light is still there...air not cooling at all.

Same on my 05 focus. Cant be arsed getting it fixed yet though as im a little short on cash. It must be a common thing on the foci?

.Longshanks.

Cracked air con gas pipe is a fairly common problem on a lot of cars. Might be cheaper in the long run to get pressure test done first....

Nonoperational

1 Hours labour is a reasonable cost at a main dealer for diagnostics on the A/c system. Thats about €70.

.Longshanks.

gpf101 wrote: »

1 Hours labour is a reasonable cost at a main dealer for diagnostics on the A/c system. Thats about €70.

My local mechanic done mine for €30 & I had a cracked pipe. Turned out the new part + labour + re-gas + vat was coming in at €550 or so via my Opel dealer!
I got the dealer to put in a claim....my car was 5 months into year 3 of a 2 year warrenty (cheers for the heads up R.O.R) & they're met a proportion of the cost. Stung me for €198 INC vat in the end up

Nonoperational

Ya it's unlikely its just run out of gas, there is most likely an underlying problem somewhere. It's pointless to just regas it without any diagnosis. It could be anythig from a leak to a shot compressor or sensor. Loads of potential problems, needs to be diagnosed.

Anan1

Try John Kenealy, he's good and not too expensive : http://www.carairconditioning.ie/ He's mobile too.

bbability

More than likely a small leak somewhere. Get the gas refilled and see how it goes...

I getting a rotten smell when I start the A/C in the Verso at the minute. I've changed the pollen filter and used one of those Air Con Bombs to try a get rid of the smell but its still there...

Nonoperational

bbability wrote: »

More than likely a small leak somewhere. Get the gas refilled and see how it goes...

I getting a rotten smell when I start the A/C in the Verso at the minute. I've changed the pollen filter and used one of those Air Con Bombs to try a get rid of the smell but its still there...

Thats shocking advice I must say.

bbability

gpf101 wrote: »

Ya it's unlikely its just run out of gas, there is most likely an underlying problem somewhere. It's pointless to just regas it without any diagnosis. It could be anythig from a leak to a shot compressor or sensor. Loads of potential problems, needs to be diagnosed.

Your looking for some work obviously...

If you cheaper than a gas refill well then knock yourself out and pm the guy

beam99

I've been told by a fella i know in ford that this is a common problem, that they have found the systems low even when doin the pre delivery check, and they have to top them up, and that the the air con gas is not covered by warrenty. I reckon your system is just low on gas.

PauloMN

Update is after another day in Appleyard - and €170 - the air con is fine, but the computer is not working. €1200 to fix. Ford won't do anything on it according to the dealer.

Now, not sure if this is the main ECU or some other "computer", but I don't understand how the computer could be working fine except for how it handles the air con?!?!

At €1200, I think she'll be leaving it. Disgrace on a well kept, 3 year old car with 24k kms on it.

Nonoperational

bbability wrote: »

Your looking for some work obviously...

If you cheaper than a gas refill well then knock yourself out and pm the guy

Looking for work? Are you for real? I couldn't fix an aircon system if I was the last man in Ireland. But not filling a broken aircon system with gas without having a clue what's going on is basic basic car knowledge. Your only making yourself look foolish. Especially when you were dead wrong

You sure ford won't help out? I'd kick up a bit of fuss if I was you. Too new to have a failing ac system. Vw covered 50% of a 1000 quid aircon bill on my 4 year old golf.

smokie2008

PauloMN wrote: »

Long story short, my mother's Focus C-Max has something wrong with the air con. She brought it to Appleyard for them to look at it, they hooked it up to some machine but that showed no fault. Has to bring it back again today for them to check if it's an electrical fault.

This is going to cost the grand total of €170 for diagnosis! Now I'm a tad annoyed at this as I feel it's a complete rip off, and it sounds like they don't have a clue what they are doing either if they need her to bring the car back again today. Surely a competent garage can diagnose a problem like this reasonably quickly?

Any air con experts out there? Is this a rip off, should I give these guys a call to vent my anger? :mad:

Typical Appleyard, I worked there for years and used to be embarrassed as hell working the front desk and giving people their cars back STILL broke and charging them €170 for stuff like that. Your problem is most likely just no gas in the system, just look up an aircon guy in the yellow pages and they come out in a van and do it in your driveway for half the price!!

PauloMN

smokie2008 wrote: »

Typical Appleyard, I worked there for years and used to be embarrassed as hell working the front desk and giving people their cars back STILL broke and charging them €170 for stuff like that. Your problem is most likely just no gas in the system, just look up an aircon guy in the yellow pages and they come out in a van and do it in your driveway for half the price!!

Well I'll take a look at the documentation she got back. For €170, I expect a full report on what they found (or didn't find). I'm pretty angry about it as it sounds like they didn't know what they were at, and she can do without €1200 bills tbh. I asked her to get an itemised bill so I can see what checks they actually carried out.

As regards Ford, I'll write to them myself. I have no idea how much effort they expended in trying to get assistance from Ford on this matter, probably not much. Who knows, maybe Ford have instructed the dealers not to be bothering them with claims out of the warranty period, but it's worth trying to get something on a personal basis.

As for Appleyard, the same clowns broke the washer filler cap off the car during a "service" and left it caught down in the engine bay. Raging even thinking of the money they charge to let monkeys loose on the car. :mad:

Nonoperational

Ya it's definitely worth emailing ford. There is a duty under consumer legislation that a car be of a quality that will hold up for a reasonable amount of time. 170 for diagnosis is an absolute disgrace also.

I had a very similar problem and VW main dealer charged me 60 for diagnosis and gave me a pro forma invoice showing the parts and costs. They then put in a goodwill claim to VW for me. I also emailed VW. In the end they are paying for parts.