Aircon not very cold?

[m4rkw]

6 minutes ago, Britprius said:

The only way you can safely use the car is if the compressor is disconnected "there is a plug, and socket arrangement in the supply cables. Once disconnected the plug, and socket ends should be well taped up to prevent water entry into the high voltage plugs.

John.

I wouldn't drive it. Have it towed to the place that will do the work, add that to Halfords bill.

[Lost it]

On 7/7/2019 at 3:14 PM, jpower said:

Holding my head in Pain/Vain

i just wanted a less hassle car, arrgghhh. 

Really feel for you bud. But these guys on here seem to know what they are talking about, and that's the basis of any good forum. Help and advice when you need it.

[LexusPartsDirect]

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-ux/lexus-ux-2018-present/lexus-ux-cooling-heating/lexus-air-conditioning-system-cleaner/

This might help!

[m4rkw]

Just now, LexusPartsDirect said:

https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-ux/lexus-ux-2018-present/lexus-ux-cooling-heating/lexus-air-conditioning-system-cleaner/

This might help!

How? How will this £7 spray help this guy determine whether his entire AC system needs to be replaced or in fact doesn't? Please enlighten us.

[LexusPartsDirect]

Apologies, it will not. I did not read the thread fully!

[jpower]

Here we go, looks like it's time to get legal involved.  Seems like they want to play stupid saying after investigating the fact the aircon is still working there is no need to correct for potential issues, and if something does happen then to get back in contact with them and they will have an engineer inspect the vechicle. 😡

[m4rkw]

Just now, jpower said:

Here we go, looks like it's time to get legal involved.  Seems like they want to play stupid saying after investigating the fact the aircon is still working there is no need to correct for potential issues, and if something does happen then to get back in contact with them and they will have an engineer inspect the vechicle. 😡

Just wow. Effectively vandalised a car under the pretence of work and now disclaiming any responsibility. I think I'm going to stop shopping at Halfords, discount or no discount.

[m4rkw]

@jpower Since the dealer had the work done on your behalf you may have better luck just making it their problem, tell them you want it sorted properly with paperwork to prove it was done or you'll reject the car.

I suspect if you go down this path what will end up happening is they'll take the hit of you rejecting the car and then simply sell it on to someone else without telling them the AC system has been contaminated. Not great for whoever ends up buying it but at least you'll get your money back.

[jpower]

21 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

@jpower Since the dealer had the work done on your behalf you may have better luck just making it their problem, tell them you want it sorted properly with paperwork to prove it was done or you'll reject the car.

I suspect if you go down this path what will end up happening is they'll take the hit of you rejecting the car and then simply sell it on to someone else without telling them the AC system has been contaminated. Not great for whoever ends up buying it but at least you'll get your money back.

I don't feel right doing that to be honest, plus the dealer will probably argue as I mentioned above as his machine was broken they left me the option to get it done and reimbursed.  There is no paper trail other then the reimbursement for the regas.

I'm thinking Citizens Advice Bureau and Watchdog as it looks like they will continue to regas hybrids.

[DanD]

You may also consider contacting the motoring press. WhatCar, TopGear, AutoExpress, Honest John etc. They can provide good advice, but primarily they may support you in getting your problem resolved. No company - Halfords included - want bad publicity.

All of these magazines have a section dedicated to drivers who have had long running issues that they cannot manage to get fixed.

[m4rkw]

8 minutes ago, jpower said:

I don't feel right doing that to be honest, plus the dealer will probably argue as I mentioned above as his machine was broken they left me the option to get it done and reimbursed.  There is no paper trail other then the reimbursement for the regas.

I'm thinking Citizens Advice Bureau and Watchdog as it looks like they will continue to regas hybrids.

Fair enough, and good on you.

Might be worth pointing Halfords at this thread and asking them if they want it permanently etched into the internet record that they did this and refused to resolve it. I would write a formal complaint letter to their head office rather than trying to get it resolved in the store.

[Britprius]

Again I say get in touch with Lexus "it does not matter what branch or how far away" and ask for there advice concerning the use of the wrong oil, and an estimate of how much to repair the damage. You then have proof to Halfords of the problem, and it's associated likely cost.

John 

[Thackeray]

1 hour ago, jpower said:

I'm thinking Citizens Advice Bureau and Watchdog as it looks like they will continue to regas hybrids.

As it probably comes under the heading of consumer affairs, the "Which? Legal" service might be helpful. I have no idea what they're like and have never used them. But they ought to know about the issues that arise when buying products that cause problems and what your rights are. You can also talk to them on the phone, whereas the Citizens Advice Bureau seems to involve going to an office and waiting around for a long time.

For example, they have a template letter on the website that can be used when a car is damaged while being worked on. This seems to be the case here.

[jpower]

Thank you, very helpful info.  I think I have made some progress directly.

I now have an email from said company quoting what manufacturer told them it starts by saying

Quote

Yes we state our product is not suitable for Hybrid cars.

and includes 

Quote

If a different type of oil makes its way into one of these compressors, and if the insulation on the windings has somehow become damaged or compromised and electrical issues may occur.  The greatest risk is that the oil may conduct high voltage to the compressor case or connected components.

So in my mind that looks like sufficient evidence of admission to liability.

There solution on the other hand looks like a bunch of crap:

Quote

All that needs to be done to this vehicle's AC is for the refrigerant to be recovered, the system vacuumed and fully recharged with R-134a refrigerant and Dielectric compatible oil.

Halfords Autocentres should be able to carry out this for your customer. The cost for should be no more than £100."

I have seeked out technical advise from two very good specialist in the area, one of them being a trade AC specialist.  And they said exactly what I thought doing a vacuum will not get all the oil out, they also think its highly unlikely that the AC compressor is damaged as yet.  The actual proposed cleanup and change of some parts is £750.

Firstly they charge £60 for a regas, I do not see how they could even do the job for £100, nor do I believe they have the right equipment or gas/oil to regas and quite frankly I don't trust them to sort it out.

So hopefully we are now just in an argument about the correct cleanup. Fingers crossed.

Lastly I just want to mention a top top man/business - Steve @ http://www.fullcircleonline.co.uk who I have never done business with, ever, has gone out of his way to advise, get information from other sources, has called me and walked me through all sorts of cases and yet I have not spent 1p with them.  Really restores your faith in humanity.  I will def be using them for my future business, so damn impressed.

[jpower]

So I got a bunch of money transferred into my bank account from so called retailer and have booked in for Monday to get this sorted out. 😀

I will be chasing up with them however if they are going to continue offering this service to Hybrid cars or if they are putting some action into place.

I feel a touch relieved today.

[m4rkw]

@jpower Congrats! I would also push to a written apology for them setting out the facts of what occurred. Beware of agreeing to anything containing the words "full and final settlement" or similar. I know it's unlikely that the compressor may fail as a result, but you want to make sure you've not given your rights away if it happens.

[jpower]

5 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

@jpower Congrats! I would also push to a written apology for them setting out the facts of what occurred. Beware of agreeing to anything containing the words "full and final settlement" or similar. I know it's unlikely that the compressor may fail as a result, but you want to make sure you've not given your rights away if it happens.

So this part gets a little technical for me.  How it played out was that they made the offer to pay the bill for the repair and asked for bank details, there was no full and final... The proceeding email they sent did say full and final... however I have not responded to that eMail for the same reason as you mention above.  Now I'm thinking you can't say full and final after the fact and you have no correspondence from me agreeing.  Surely that makes it not full and final or am I wrong and my accepting the funds and paying for the repair it becomes implied?

Complicated 💩

[m4rkw]

The bank transaction won't have a time recorded against it, just a date. So might be hard to defend when you can't easily prove that the money was sent before they sent that other email.

[jpower]

1 minute ago, m4rkw said:

The bank transaction won't have a time recorded against it, just a date. So might be hard to defend when you can't easily prove that the money was sent before they sent that other email.

Got it, however the email trail is easy to follow and the offer I accepted did not have full and final. Going to go with that to be honest I just feel relieved to know my family not going to get a shock on the motorway this summer or the car going to shutdown like a windows 7 machine, because its been bugging the hell out of me.

[rich1068]

Astonishing thread. I've only just read the whole thing because I just thought it was someone wondering why their AC wasn't very cold. Eye opening!

And as far as Halfords are concerned, I find they struggle to take 15% off my purchases. Like others here I certainly wouldn't trust them to work on my car!

[Illogan]

Extremely interesting thread, and thanks to jpowerand everyone who commented, advised and assisted.

 

It's a great advice and warning for anyone with an aircon problem - (or any other problem to be fair)

always research and ask questions of the knowledgable BEFORE you attempt to repair, and, most importantly, never trust Halfrauds to even change your light bulbs - they'd only manage to put them in back to front.

 

On a personal note, as I am looking to purchase my very first Lexus, this thread may yet prove invaluable.

 

Thank you

[jpower]

UPDATE: So the car is back with me, work was all done and I feel a whole lot better.

My latest email from Halfords said that our stores are aware not to recharge Hybrid vehicles.  If any is passing a Halfords and happens to have a spare couple of minutes, it would be quite interesting to see if this is really true at the store level.

[Herbie]

Excellent - so what work was actually done in the end?

[jpower]

10 hours ago, Herbie said:

Excellent - so what work was actually done in the end?

Compresser was taken out along with the receiver and expansion vessel. They had a dryer ordered from Lexus. The system was then flushed and the compressor was then cleaned up of any oil, they mentioned the windings looked good and seemed not to have been contaminated as yet. Then was all put back together a new receiver unit was put in. Then dye test, no leaks, followed by gas and oil that should go in the system. That's as detailed as my knowledge goes. 

[m4rkw]

Sounds like a good result, congrats.