for the last umpteen years the A/C in my car has been broken. back then, after it stopped working, i had a mechanic speculate about repairing it. he estimated it would cost $1,500.
$1,500 is, to me, a lot of money. especially given that the car is so old (it was born in 1990). during those first few sweaty weeks i figured, "how long is this car gonna last, anyway? i can sweat out a summer or two without air conditioning!"
well, i'm here to tell you... hondas last for FRIGGIN' EVER.
i mean, jezus.
i estimate i've put about 100,000 miles on the car since the A/C pooped out. that's 4 times around the earth. (measuring, of course, at the equator... the hottest part!!) and this damned car is showing absolutely no signs of dying, either.
normally, this would be good news. i'm proud of my car's longevity. but i'm at a crossroads now, trying to figure out how much more time, money and sweat i should give it. i was willing to put in a new clutch in a couple of years ago ($500). i'm willing to do new brakes, or tires, or even an alternator or something.
because things break. a $500 repair is still less than 2 or 3 car payments. i still come out ahead in the end.
well, i took the car to get a big tune up last week and my mechanic casually mentioned the A/C. he said he can run a test on it for $68 that would tell him exactly what's wrong.
i said, "i know what's wrong... several years ago another mechanic told me that the inside of the compressor was flaking off and was clogging up the works... and that it would cost $1500 to fix it."
looking at him, you could tell that he was having a hard time stifling his laughter.
"flaking off??!?"
"yes, flaking off. at least that's what he said at the time..."
suffice to say, i had the $68 test run today. it took my sweet, loving mechanics more than 3 hours to figure out what the problem was, and i'm happy to report that nothing whatsoever is flaking off.
here's the report of what is wrong:
evaporator ($338.36)
expansion valve ($57.02)
a/c thermostat ($112.27)
receiver/dryer ($44.12)
labor ($206.00)