Just before I started including a/c repair in my repertoire, I got quotes on two cars from the trusted local mechanic. Both times the quote was considerably higher and more comprehensive than the job really needed. DIY a/c repair can pay off considerably returns. I can understand the mechanic wanted to replace almost everything to ensure a good fix and avoid a return customer, plus you don't really know what's wrong until you start tearing into some of these jobs.

On these two jobs, one was quoted $700 when it really just needed a new $25 relay, the other was quoted $1500 (more than the car's worth) when it only needed a new compressor and clean up the spring-lock couplings ($350 diy).

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K