Is this a fair quote on air conditioner repair?

[Deeceer]

When I bought my '98 T4 in Spring last year the aircon was in need of a regas which the previous owner had done as part of the deal. It worked fine through most of summer (though struggled mightily against the worst of the heat) but seemed to be getting less and less cool through Autumn and when I switched it on a couple of months ago it was cooling not at all. I figured there must be a leak for it to have needed regassing when I bought it anyway so took it into an aircon place today to get it examined and a quote on repair.

They came back with the news that the tubular bag of dessicant that absorbs moisture (I assume this is part of the dryer) had split open and ejected its contents into the system. Said this is not uncommon in older T4s.

They have quoted $765 for an R134 service and drier, TX valve and liquid line. Pressure test and labour.

Does anyone know if this sounds about right?

[Transporter]

Book it in for re-gas only somewhere else, to get a second opinion and a new quote. If there is something wrong with A/C they have to test it before they re-gas it, so they will find out anyway.

[Deeceer]

As it turned out, I took the van to a German mechanic who I used to use years ago (I thought he'd retired until a friend told me he was still in business) and he just smiled when he heard the diagnosis of the first mob. Then he asked how slowly the cooling had gone away and suggested regassing the system along with a leak sealer and dye. Now my aircon works again... Total cost incl labour was $485 (and also included oil change, diesel oil filter and pollen filter.)

[Transporter]

Yeap, there are too many sharks out there.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Haha I thought it was a bit suss that you paid $485 for a regass....lucky the rest were free eh! :p

IMO, you've gotta be on your toes with VW's. They've got weird problems that only guru's seem to be able to diagnose properly!!

[Seano]

The aircon in my T4 failed first at the O-rings where the engine bay pipework goes through the firewall. The next failure was in the compressor. The o-rings on the shaft behind the pulley failed big time and the dye that was already in the system ended up splattered all over the engine (looked spectacular in UV).

Basically all of the fails were gradual and mechanical and very straightforward for an air-con specialist to diagnose and repair. Not cheap for sure but not complicated either.