The a/c in my wife's 2011 Buick Regal is malfunctioning. It fails to cool in city traffic, and only cools a little bit on the highway.
So I took it to the dealership to have it checked out. They quoted me $1,111 for a new compressor.
Now I could be wrong, but logic suggests that if the compressor has failed then I wouldn't have any air at all. Only the hot air recirculation from inside the vehicle, right?
I think they misdiagnosed it.
Perhaps intentionally.
What say you?

 

Sounds like either a leak, low on freon, or maybe the compressor is going but not gone yet.

maybe a 60% misdiagnose?

 

Did you try one of those 20$ refill kit?

 

Many shops will try to over sell like that. I recently had a customer come in who was quoted 3k for a full replacement of the ac system by a dealership....I recovered the r134a(1/3 the amount that belonged there) did a vacuumn test(which it passed) and recharged the system fully. Sent them on their way for around $150.

that's not always the case though. Most likely cause is a leak, and low refrigerant due to the leak.

 

Just ask them to explain to you what's wrong with your compressor and how they came to that diagnosis. If they're legit, they shouldn't have any problem doing so. It could be leaking from the compressor, or the compressor could just be worn out. Or they could have misdiagnosed it. But I wouldn't be too quick to accuse them of doing it intentionally.

 

The thing is, they charged me $150 just to tell me that. I don't feel like I can trust them. I told them it was cooling sometimes. They said the compressor never engages at all. It was 95 degrees here today. I had cool air coming from the vents while I was on the interstate on my Therefore the compressor must be working at some capacity.
I think I'll take it somewhere else on my way home from the stealership.
I'm taking it elsewhere.
Thanks ya'll. 👍