Quote:
Originally Posted by speeder
Sorry, but this is incorrect and bad information. I have owned many old Mercedes-Benz cars with A/C, including some as old as 1970, that did not need everything replaced, had great compressors, etc.. A reputable shop will not replace expansion valves for no reason or open the system unnecessarily if it does not leak. The dryers do not just "go bad", they can last literally forever if system is never contaminated. I have never spent anywhere near $1500 on A/C repairs on these cars and have had many that I simply had charged and they worked great. From the ad's description, the A/C may even be operating, (compressor engages, some freon in system, etc.), but needs a charge to be ice cold. Or it may blow hot and have no freon, it's impossible to know from that piece of paper.
MB cars of that era have excellent A/C systems and they are usually fine. I have replaced compressors a couple times but they are around $200 new.  |
If you walk into a shop with a system that's depressurized, they will replace the expansion valve and the dryer. What you do under the shade of your tree is irrelevant.
At any rate, I think we can agree that for the AVERAGE person, that's not mechanically inclined, a bad a/c system is a $1500 deduction on any car.
I used to live in the South US. Any running beater with bad a/c was $500. Same car with good a/c? $2000. Guess why?
G