A/C Repair
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 362
Likes: 71
From: Texas
A/C Repair
The last few months I have been having some problems with serpentine belts busting on my SC400. I also noticed some squealing when the A/C was on and under a load.
A few days ago the A/C quit working while driving on the highway and the within a minute or two the serpentine belt busted. I had a spare belt in the car, but afterwards the light on the A/C would flash and no cold air.
A/C work is outside my comfort zone so I took it to a local mechanic. As I suspected they told me that the compressor was seized up and would need to be replaced as well as the condenser and a valve of some sort.
Their first total price was $3,000. After more checking around they called me back and told me they had found another distributor for parts and had also included a discount to bring it to a new total of $2000.
For those of you that have had A/C work done....does this sound correct? Is $2000 a fair price?
Any insight would be greatly appriciated!!
A few days ago the A/C quit working while driving on the highway and the within a minute or two the serpentine belt busted. I had a spare belt in the car, but afterwards the light on the A/C would flash and no cold air.
A/C work is outside my comfort zone so I took it to a local mechanic. As I suspected they told me that the compressor was seized up and would need to be replaced as well as the condenser and a valve of some sort.
Their first total price was $3,000. After more checking around they called me back and told me they had found another distributor for parts and had also included a discount to bring it to a new total of $2000.
For those of you that have had A/C work done....does this sound correct? Is $2000 a fair price?
Any insight would be greatly appriciated!!
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,857
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
The last few months I have been having some problems with serpentine belts busting on my SC400. I also noticed some squealing when the A/C was on and under a load.
A few days ago the A/C quit working while driving on the highway and the within a minute or two the serpentine belt busted. I had a spare belt in the car, but afterwards the light on the A/C would flash and no cold air.
A/C work is outside my comfort zone so I took it to a local mechanic. As I suspected they told me that the compressor was seized up and would need to be replaced as well as the condenser and a valve of some sort.
Their first total price was $3,000. After more checking around they called me back and told me they had found another distributor for parts and had also included a discount to bring it to a new total of $2000.
For those of you that have had A/C work done....does this sound correct? Is $2000 a fair price?
Any insight would be greatly appriciated!!
A few days ago the A/C quit working while driving on the highway and the within a minute or two the serpentine belt busted. I had a spare belt in the car, but afterwards the light on the A/C would flash and no cold air.
A/C work is outside my comfort zone so I took it to a local mechanic. As I suspected they told me that the compressor was seized up and would need to be replaced as well as the condenser and a valve of some sort.
Their first total price was $3,000. After more checking around they called me back and told me they had found another distributor for parts and had also included a discount to bring it to a new total of $2000.
For those of you that have had A/C work done....does this sound correct? Is $2000 a fair price?
Any insight would be greatly appriciated!!
Labor: ~200-300
2000 dollars?!! Tell that guy that quoted you to F himself.
If you were to walk into my shop and request a like OE setup, this is what you would get for pricing...
Expansion Valve: $89
Receiver Drier: $50
Reman Compressor: $750 (a stock OE is like $1300)
R12 Refrigerant: $128 32 oz @ $4
A/C Treatment/Dye (ICE32): $40
Compressor Oil: $10
Belt: $47
Labor:
Compressor: 1.1 hrs (unless it has traction control, then it's 3.0 hrs)
Receiver/Drier: 1.3 hrs
Expansion Valve:2.4 hrs (unless it has traction control, then 4.0 hrs)
Evacuate and Recharge: $79
@79 / hour = $458 (or $734 with traction control)
Sooooo.....
Parts: $1114.00 retail
Labor: $458 or $734
Total: $1572 or $1848 with traction control....
These are full retail prices, and what you should expect to pay at any independent shop... Keep in mind that any shop that would do the work would hopefully offer and stand behind a warranty, and that this is taken into consideration with parts selection... This typically means you will get a somewhat higher quality part than you would ordering whatever off of ebay...
a quick edit: the stuff you buy on ebay may be cheap, and may work well forever, however, if it were to die, you would be out EVERYTHING else - freon, labor, etc...
Expansion Valve: $89
Receiver Drier: $50
Reman Compressor: $750 (a stock OE is like $1300)
R12 Refrigerant: $128 32 oz @ $4
A/C Treatment/Dye (ICE32): $40
Compressor Oil: $10
Belt: $47
Labor:
Compressor: 1.1 hrs (unless it has traction control, then it's 3.0 hrs)
Receiver/Drier: 1.3 hrs
Expansion Valve:2.4 hrs (unless it has traction control, then 4.0 hrs)
Evacuate and Recharge: $79
@79 / hour = $458 (or $734 with traction control)
Sooooo.....
Parts: $1114.00 retail
Labor: $458 or $734
Total: $1572 or $1848 with traction control....
These are full retail prices, and what you should expect to pay at any independent shop... Keep in mind that any shop that would do the work would hopefully offer and stand behind a warranty, and that this is taken into consideration with parts selection... This typically means you will get a somewhat higher quality part than you would ordering whatever off of ebay...
a quick edit: the stuff you buy on ebay may be cheap, and may work well forever, however, if it were to die, you would be out EVERYTHING else - freon, labor, etc...
Last edited by mitsuguy; Sep 7, 2007 at 07:34 PM.
If you were to walk into my shop and request a like OE setup, this is what you would get for pricing...
Expansion Valve: $89
Receiver Drier: $50
Reman Compressor: $750 (a stock OE is like $1300)
R12 Refrigerant: $128 32 oz @ $4
A/C Treatment/Dye (ICE32): $40
Compressor Oil: $10
Belt: $47
Labor:
Compressor: 1.1 hrs (unless it has traction control, then it's 3.0 hrs)
Receiver/Drier: 1.3 hrs
Expansion Valve:2.4 hrs (unless it has traction control, then 4.0 hrs)
Evacuate and Recharge: $79
@79 / hour = $458 (or $734 with traction control)
Sooooo.....
Parts: $1114.00 retail
Labor: $458 or $734
Total: $1572 or $1848 with traction control....
These are full retail prices, and what you should expect to pay at any independent shop... Keep in mind that any shop that would do the work would hopefully offer and stand behind a warranty, and that this is taken into consideration with parts selection... This typically means you will get a somewhat higher quality part than you would ordering whatever off of ebay...
a quick edit: the stuff you buy on ebay may be cheap, and may work well forever, however, if it were to die, you would be out EVERYTHING else - freon, labor, etc...
Expansion Valve: $89
Receiver Drier: $50
Reman Compressor: $750 (a stock OE is like $1300)
R12 Refrigerant: $128 32 oz @ $4
A/C Treatment/Dye (ICE32): $40
Compressor Oil: $10
Belt: $47
Labor:
Compressor: 1.1 hrs (unless it has traction control, then it's 3.0 hrs)
Receiver/Drier: 1.3 hrs
Expansion Valve:2.4 hrs (unless it has traction control, then 4.0 hrs)
Evacuate and Recharge: $79
@79 / hour = $458 (or $734 with traction control)
Sooooo.....
Parts: $1114.00 retail
Labor: $458 or $734
Total: $1572 or $1848 with traction control....
These are full retail prices, and what you should expect to pay at any independent shop... Keep in mind that any shop that would do the work would hopefully offer and stand behind a warranty, and that this is taken into consideration with parts selection... This typically means you will get a somewhat higher quality part than you would ordering whatever off of ebay...
a quick edit: the stuff you buy on ebay may be cheap, and may work well forever, however, if it were to die, you would be out EVERYTHING else - freon, labor, etc...
Why does traction control add on 2 hours of labor too the compressor install??
Do driers from NAPA for $15 work well??
is replacing the expansion valve nessecary??
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