Garage Capor Stories #4
This is a story of a customer who came today with a Renault Capture. He had a pressure switch replaced and his AC still would not work,
He was told by an Auto-Electrician that his compressor was faulty and to get it replaced. He rang the main dealer and was quoted £1400 to have a new one fitted.!! I looked and the compressor is only £235 brand new.
He managed to buy a secondhand one from Ebay and his local garage only charged £80 to fit it. Even if he purchased a new compressor it would have only been around £320 supplied and fitted, compared to the main dealer's price of £1400, saving a massive £1080.
After this, it still did not work!! I put diagnostics on and it came up with a fault "Open Circuit, Ground to earth fault". I advised him to take it back to the garage that fitted it, as it may just be the connector that was loose, and to check the wiring is not shorting to earth. I could not check due to restrictions in getting to the compressor as it needs to be on ramps.
This is another example of dealers trying to charge the earth for AC repairs, this is why customers don't want to get their AC fixed due to high perceived costs, but most of the biggest repairs like condensers and compressors should only be a couple of hundred pounds at most not into the thousands. This is one of the highest estimates I have seen, to be honest, they are usually around £600-£700 at dealers and garages but this is still too high.
