I called my indy to schedule an appointment to diagnose & repair my AC. When I mentioned that I would like to keep it R12 he said "that could be difficult" because he would have to get some and its expensive. He said it would be $60 per pound!!! Does that sound like the price is right?

He clearly has a child about to go to college....and he needs to save up some money...

Go to Ebay, to the '' completed items' section.... search for R12 or Freon ( but be sure in the post they mean R12 freon )...
and it will show you the current prices...

You can get your license for about $20 , open book test over the net...and buy it yourself if your indy refuses to give you a reaonsonable deal on it...

I recently had the A/C in my 300SDL serviced in Austin Texas and they charged $30.67 per pound for Freon R-12.

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1991 M-B 560SEL Arctic White/Grey 99,000 Miles
1987 M-B 300SDL Ivory/Palomino 229,000 Miles (sold but never forgotten)
2006 Volvo XC70 Blue/Beige
1999 Porsche Boxster Arena Red/Savanna Beige
1986 Porsche 928S Goldweiss/Brown

Actually, the $60 number doesn't surprise me that much. I was quoted the same price per pound to refill an R-12 system, from a completely different shop a couple of years ago. This is why I'm converting the truck to R-134a.

Maybe it's a California thing...? *shrug*

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

California or not, they are taking you to the cleaners at $60 per pound. I don't deny anyone a profit, but 300% markup is more than I'm willing to stand still for.

The post saying that they paid $30 in Austin is more inline.

Have a great day,

what is the site to test for the license?

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

www.epatest.com

section 609

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Nello Tare

1982 300D (266,001 mi.) looking and running great

Previously owned:
1976 450 SLC
1983 300D
1976 300D
also
1982 Jaguar XJ6 (loved, but gone)

www.imaca.org $15.

After calling about 4 different places, $60 per pound was the average going rate. Highest was 65, lowest 57!!!

Every heard of " collusion".... ?
they know what the other guys are charging and are just taking advantage of it..

We are saying that if you buy it yourself you should be able to get it for half that or less....
And the closer to winter you get the lower the price should be...

I understand what youre saying, mang, but I once read somthing here that I took to heart. "Bringing in your own parts to save money is like bringing your own ingredients to a restaurant to save money." Even if I could get that stuff myself i'd still need to bring it to my indy because i dont know AC at all.

how old do u have to be?

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Ok... So the first person to answer your question should have said " That sounds like a great price".....
We are pretty oriented towards ' do it yourself' and ' frugal'...
So we are telling you how to avoid $60 a pound charge for R12...
That is the only alternative to paying what your local guys are asking.... ( that I can think of )....

And I appreciate your wisdom!!! As you just pointed out, I just wanted to see what alternatives there were. (and i DONT mean R12 alternatives).

I'd suggest that refilling your own AC system is a fairly simple and straight forward process. Kits are readily available (hoses and connectors) at most all autoparts stores and are relatively inexpensive. I am not sure what vehicle you are working with, but I am failry certain that a qualified person on the forum could lead you through it very easily, if there is not already a post on it. Of course, the instructions in the kit should tell you everything you need to know. Again, I stress that it is fairly simple.

Secondly, if your system has a slow leak, a regular R-12 "touch up" could get expensive as well at $60 a pound. Of course you will isloate and repair (or have repaired) the leak so that you won't be letting that bad, bad R-12 escape and destory the ozone .

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I may sound like an idiot, but don't let that fool you...I'm not as smart as I seem.

'84 300DT Light Ivory 215K

Atlanta Metro, GA