Buttnit

Greetings to all. I was wondering who has had problems with their A/C? My 2004 Aveo, fresh off the warranty, smoked the A/C compressor at 39,800 miles. Being a mechanic, I diagnosed the problem, contacted the local Chevy dealer (since the warranty had just expired and they had performed an inspection at 36,000 miles), and they deferred me to the GM hotline. Talked to Mike at GM, and he stated my self diagnosis (ASE Certified Master Tech) was not good enough, and I had to take it to a Certified GM mechanic. At that point, he would entertain a warranty claim. So, down to the dealership, and lo and behold, and $85 later (one hour minimum diagnosis charge), my A/C compressor was diagnosed as bad (heck, it had a loud knocking sound coming from it - tough to diagnose). Now, you all will like this. Dealership estimated cost of repair - $1100, plus tax. Yep, 1/6 the value of the vehicle, and more than 1/4 the value of the trade I was offered while looking at new Chevy's. Well, GM contacted me and said they would pay for 75%, since I did not have the vehicle serviced everytime at the dealership (I run synthetics, so I have only changed the oil like 6-8 times, and 4 of those were at the dealership). And the best part of the 75% reimbursement is, I have to pay the grand up front, then submit my claim. Well, I found a compressor on eBay for $75, another $15 for shipping, already had a can of R-134 sitting on the garage floor for a suburban project, and a $5 dollar can of oil. Had the system evacuated, went home, slapped it all together, and for less than $125, got sweet, cold air blowing on the 100 degree hot desert days. And Chevy is wondering why no one buys their cars anymore. The dealership wanted to charge me $700 for a new compressor!! So, anyone that has had problems, please post and let the rest of us know. By the way, the whole repair took me 30 minutes, to include recharging the system. Dealership wanted to charge 3 hours. Whatever happened to flat rate charges??

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