Long time lurker, first post in quite awhile - I’m hoping the membership here might give me some advice before I proceed.

Bought my Fit sport in 2009 new and have, for the most part, taken it to the dealership to get inspected and usually fork out the cash to get whatever maintenance procedures they recommend. So I’ve felt confident that the car’s been taken care of by folks who know the Fit. But this last round of repairs has left me wondering if that’s true anymore.

During a heatwave in NYC, my A/C conked out while stuck in traffic. It’d blow cold at first then fade out to blowing hot air. Took it to the dealership and they said they’d need to run a leak test, so they put dye in the system and I had to drive it around. Evac and recharge was $450 - but if it pinpointed what was wrong, then ok. I guess labor is $$$ in NYC which I get - people should get paid well for doing a good job.

Took it back a few days later and they said the leak was in the compressor and condenser and that was $2600 to fix - which is a lot of money but I really needed to car to work because I’ve been traveling back and forth to Pittsburgh to help out with my aging dad every month or so.

Picked it up the day before a trip and it was blowing coolish air but not cold. I thought it’d get better during the drive on the highway but no. There’s an edge of coolness with an undertone of warm, and the air is still humid. It’s not blowing hot anymore, but it’s definitely not cooling the air in the car.

They told me to bring it back if there was anything wrong, so I did, and now they want to charge me $1000 to replace the suction and discharge hoses. I said I can’t afford anything else. They said they did a recharge anyway while it was there, but honestly, it’s now even worse than before.

What I don't understand is how they wouldn’t have caught leaking hoses the first time around. And also, if you have the whole thing apart (since it looks like a lot of work) a why not just replace the hoses, too? Plus they would have to disconnect those hoses to replace the condenser and compressor -is it possible they messed up the hoses or hose connections while doing the work?

My dad, who owned a body shop for 50 years (he’s retired now), says he thinks they don’t actually know what’s wrong and are just going down a list of possible issues. Replace the most expensive things first and work down the list. Get as much money out of me as possible.

The dealership used to be great, but lately it’s impossible to get a hold of anyone after you take your car in. No matter how many times you call, you never get through to a service rep. And they say you can text them, but that doesn’t work either. But I've gotten inundated with calls and emails asking if i want to sell my car. (I love my Fit and hope it lasts forever!)

l did get a call from someone asking me to tell them about my service experience so l'm going to call them back but I wanted to educate myself a little bit about the A/C fixing process first. I've been watching videos and reading posts, and I was hoping to get some opinions from the membership here as well.

Would this same thing have happened if I’d taken it somewhere else (but maybe for a little less money?). Or am I being taken for a ride by the dealership?

I would like to have A/C again and will eventually take it somewhere else.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

One of the reasons I sold off my old car (not a Honda) was that the A/C had failed. This was a car model that got a lot of love from indy mechanics and hobby owners, some of whom suggested that the problem could be as "simple" as a pair of gaskets that needed to be replaced and that it could cost as little as $40-50 -- except then you needed space and time to work on the car and the right tools and to evacuate and recharge the A/C because you'd had it all apart at that point and I had none of those. And no one would guarantee that that was the problem I had, either. I well could have ended up paying for more parts later. When I brought it in to a tech that specializes in my brand, they identified the compressor as the problem and that I was in for about $1500 to fix it. I took a pass.

I would get a second opinion. Surely in your area there must be someone who specializes in Honda besides the dealer. You could ask people you know or check out neighborhood Facebook groups (or Reddit or NextDoor or whatever social media you can tolerate; might even be a region-specific forum on this site). Find that person and have them check things out. Then decide how important it is to fix it quickly because there will be a premium attached to that, too. At least you'll have a better idea of what you're in for as far as money and time.

 

Thank you Steve-o for such a thoughtful reply! This is great advice. I have lots to think about and to research. I hadn't thought about the fact there are other repair shops that might specialize in Hondas or ones that focus on AC issues. Cost is at a premium in New York City but also there are tons of choices - good idea to ask around on local sites/pages. I'll wait before diving back in (and save up some money) - hopefully it will cool down in September anyway. Thanks again!

 

You paid way too much .......even for NY.......an evacuate and recharge $450???........You could have done that yourself.......get a vacuum pump from Harbor Freight...and a set of guages.......let out the refrigerant....pump a vacuum........find out how much R134 the system needs......each can is 12oz, so you can guestimate......lots of vids on YouTube on how to do it........And yeah, you're supposed to recycle the refrig, but really.....if it's leaking, it's going in the atmosphere anyway..........Z