The '99's in for a new evaporator, $1300 #$&#$&^#$!

[98LXand99LC]

I had the compressor replaced in March of '05 and I brought it back in because it wasn't cooling well about 6 months later. They said it was low on refrigerant and charged it up for me. Well a couple of weeks ago my wife takes my car and comes back and says "your air is not blowing cold." Sure enough, it's not as cold as it should be. I took it back to the dealer and he called me back and said, "you sitting down?" Not good. $1,300 for the evaporator replacement. Made sense, because I've noticed that the carpet under the golve box has been damp.

Anyway, I did a search and didn't see any post where someone had replaced their evaporator in a 100.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

I'm not an expert on this though I found a shop in Tucson that did A/C work reliably on my '93 for pennies on the dollars compared to Toyota. I don't buy $1300 whatsoever.

 

[NMuzj100]

A good reminder to the rest of us to turn on the A/C every now and then to keep it lubed up.

 

[calamaridog]

The evaporator core is a little more than $300. Is this a labor intensive job?

And why did he tell you to sit down when clearly he wanted you to bend over

 

[SWUtah]

And why did he tell you to sit down when clearly he wanted you to bend over

LMAO, the service manager must of been sitting in a chair with a big hard on, when he was talking to him on the phone

 

[Tinkerer]

The last time someone asked if I was sitting down was when I got a quote for a replacement LX outside mirror.

The "sitting down" thing must be a common thing with dealers quoting prices.

 

[98LXand99LC]

The evaporator core is a little more than $300. Is this a labor intensive job?

And why did he tell you to sit down when clearly he wanted you to bend over

That's pretty funny there, funny boy! $300??? Hmm, what else is involved with the job? This guy has done work for me before and it's been reasonable.

 

[SWUtah]

That's pretty funny there, funny boy! $300??? Hmm, what else is involved with the job? This guy has done work for me before and it's been reasonable.

Sounds like for around $95 per hour it must be a 10+ hour job based on the book. You need to find a shop that has the book but knows how long it really takes and then charges you for the real time it will take to do the job. My old shop where I use to live always did most jobs for half what the dealer quoted.

 

[NMuzj100]

Agreed, sounds like a job for Cdan and a local Auto AC shop.

 

[LEXUSBEN]

That's pretty funny there, funny boy! $300??? Hmm, what else is involved with the job? This guy has done work for me before and it's been reasonable.

I checked in my system and here's what I came up with
Evap - 465 retail
labor 5hrs

evac and recharge system 1.5
freon 40

rec/drier 295 retail
labor 2.1

Remember these are Lexus inflated for the parts anyway. I can't remember if the dash needs to come out for the evaporator to be replaced.

One other thing that no one has mentioned yet is you definitely need to replace the receiver/drier when you do this. This should always be replaced when ever
a major component of the a/c system is replaced. Sounds like you may have had water in the system at some point - this is bad because when it mixes with the freon it turns to acid. If the dessicant in the receiver/drier is unable to absorb anymore water out of the system then it is circulated throughout the lines and components. Was the rec/drier replaced with the compressor??
Hope some of this helps.

ben

 

[calamaridog]

So here is an approximate breakdown of the prices of Toyota parts from a "discount" source. I'm sure Dan will be similar to these prices.

Compressor - $540
Condensor - $525 w/o rear AC, $340 with rear AC
Drier - $190
Discharge hose - $30
Evaporator core - $300
Expansion valve - $70
Suction hose - $130

So let's say you replace the Evaporator core and the Drier for $490 in parts and pay 7 hours labor at $90 per hour for $630. Your up to $1190 which doesn't include the recharge.

So I can see where you could get a quote for $1300, but I still don't buy it.

I believe you can order the parts and pay an AC shop to do the labor and save much more in the labor department. I don't think you need to pay dealer rates of $90+ or 7 hours for the job.

I would shop around some if you want to save some cash.

 

[spressomon]

FYI: Last summer my LC just wasn't cooling effectively. I took it to a trust worthy shop and they quickly determined the problem to be a bad fan clutch. They replaced it with OEM and the A/C has worked great ever since! Might be something to check at least...

 

[98LXand99LC]

Thanks guys for the responses. I got him to do it for $1100 and they also did the F&R Dif service and I paid for the Xfer case service.

 

[ff347]

Oh crap, didn't you PM me about the wet floor thing a few months ago?

 

[98LXand99LC]

Oh crap, didn't you PM me about the wet floor thing a few months ago?

Yes. I thought maybe the drain was clogged. Not so lucky.