I had a free ac check on my 1999 Dodge Durango. I was told that the system was fine, and it just needed to be evacuated and recharged. I was told there were no leaks or any problems with the system. I paid 155 bucks for the evac and recharge. The AC was not running cold when I drove it home yesterday from the shop. It got a little cooler in a fifteen minute drive home, but never cold. Today I drove it for an hour and forty-five minutes. It was not cold at all. Same temp reading as outside the vehicle. I rolled down the windows and the temp dropped ten degrees. Did I get ripped off? Should I take the vehicle back? I talked to the shop on the phone. They said to bring it in and they'd find the leaks. Yesterday there weren't any leaks. What should I do?
Answers from the Automotive Experts
Hi Jeanette,
Question: Was you A/C working perfectly fine before the service?
Yes: Why bother to have any work done in the first place?
No: Recharging the system is the first place to start. If it leaks out again, then it will be an expensive job to replace parts.
Definitely bring your Durango back to the shop. You won't know until the technicians get a chance to look it over what the problem is.
I would suggest you don't go in with your guns loaded and ready to fire... Just tell them the A/C is not working, and could they check over the work they had already done being clear that you are not paying for them to check it over.... and then wait to hear what they find.
An older Dodge with high miles... highly likely that your A/C unit would need new parts and a major overhaul to work again. This is very expensive {around $1000 dollars)... which is why the first place to start is recharging the system.
All My Best,
Amy Mattinat
Jeanette,
It's possible that you still do not have a leak. They may have undercharged the system and just need to add more refrigerant. However, if your A/C was working well to begin with, I cannot think of any reason to have the system evacuated and recharged. I would definitely question why the shop did this in the first place if the air was originally working fine.
Suzanne