What should I do, just bought a little mazda demio from private individual, had it checked out by my local garage but just realised that the air cond doesn't work. Is it a big deal, can I get it fixed not too expensive? I guess it is buyer beware. we checked most other things like the tyres, etc. but did not put on the air con.
aj.2.,
Mar 28, 5:49am
May just be a fuse blown, check those. Also may be a worn switch, but not likely . Also check that all the wiring is in place, and not come off any where, under the bonnet . If the pump is gone, can be serviced, but does cost a bit. But they usually make a noise if this has happened.
stevel_knievel,
Mar 28, 9:26am
Wind down the window.
mugenb20b,
Mar 28, 1:21pm
Look for a place that does automotive air conditioning repairs, they can quickly tell you what the fault is and how much it will cost to repair. If you have a compressor failure or a gas leak in the evaporator coil then that will be expensive to fix. Every other fault shouldn't cost too much.
A couple of things you can do is lift the bonnet and check that all the drive belts are in place and check that it's actually got an A/C compressor. Some people remove them when they pack up.
tamarillo,
Mar 28, 3:45pm
As mugen says. But let me ask what doesn't work. Do fans and controls work and do you get heat? If so does the light come on when you press ac button. If not thetes not power to it so look for problem there. If it does, does the pump kick in? If engine is idling you will notice change in idle rate when it kicks in. You'd probably notice drop in power if your going up steep hill too. If it does kick in that's good, might just need a regas. That's $150 tops. If not kicking in it might be more serious, but don't despair, sometimes even if all it needs in re gas the pump won't start as it detects there isn't enough gas. But worth checking belts to pump are operating well. Your yellow pages will find an auto air con place, indeed I use a mobile service so they come to me. Very much buyer beware with this. Not a wof issue!
robotnik,
Mar 28, 4:19pm
Ask the seller to come to the party and contribute say 50% to the repair. They must known the A/C was not working so they failed to disclose a known fault. You probably have a case in the Disputes Tribunal I would suggest.
jason_247,
Mar 29, 3:14am
get it checked out. then as said above ask the seller to do 50%. if they say no suck it up move on and pay for it yourself. or say screw it its winter soon i dont need A/C. not that expensive to fix anyway.
no point going to the tribunal over it. it would cost you shitloads to be told you should have checked it.
its on the AA checklist so i presume you didnt get one.
akgaragesale,
Mar 29, 3:31am
Not so, there's no obligation for private sellers to disclose any faults, that's why a thorough inspection is advised. If they advertised it without mentioning air con and you found out it does have it after purchase, but doesn't work. no comeback. On the other hand, you can take a private seller to the disputes tribunal if they listed the car as having air con, but didn't mention it wasn't working. Dealers are liable under the CGA for any faults not disclosed at time of purchase.
kecal,
Mar 29, 3:47am
the buyer had it checked out buy garage, garage didnt do proper job either why not ask garage to help pay? seller may not have known a/c wasnt working . buyer beware as far as i see.
robotnik,
Mar 29, 4:26am
The Contractual Remedies Act applies. The private seller should not mislead the buyer. If the buyer asked the seller if everything was functioning and the seller answered in the affirmative then they could well be misleading the buyer, as very likely the seller would have known the aircon was not working.
franc123,
Mar 29, 4:51pm
How do any of you know that the previous owner even used the A/C? They may have not known about any issues, if its an older car its probably just a bit low on refrigerant, people in this country have weird ideas about aircon, including that you don't need to use it in winter lol, it should be used all year round not only for the health of the refrigerant system but for the greatly enhanced demisting ability. It doesn't just keep you cool in summer. Get it checked out and see what the problem is first, and preferably use someone else for future pre purchase checks.
cabrio1,
Mar 29, 5:05pm
Take them to court over an aircon fault, I'm sure some individuals would. Myself I'd just take it to an aircon specialist pay the couple of hundy for a full A/C service and move on. Always pays to check every little thing on an inspection and negotiate at the time, made the same mistake myself more than once.
richynuts,
Mar 29, 5:52pm
Really thats jumping to conclusions dont you think? Not everyone uses aircon I know my wife never uses the aircon in her car. Op had the garage checkout the car so why did they not check it if its so important?
a.woodrow,
Mar 29, 6:12pm
How's that MG of yours going?
kazbanz,
Mar 29, 7:17pm
First of all---how old is the Demio? Ie is it the 97-2002 model or the 2002-2007 model? By the AC doesn't work please say EXACTLY what doesn't work Ie can you feel the pump cutting in-revs at neutral drop etc
sw20,
Mar 29, 8:33pm
What a load of tosh.
brycer,
Mar 29, 9:00pm
Wouldn't use whoever checked it out again. Only takes a few seconds to see if it can blow cold air and I thought would be checked as is a common problem if previous owner hasn't used for some time. Lesson learnt for next time, but too late for this one
socram,
Apr 5, 6:02pm
I bought a car from a neighbour and happy to accept it with a quick test drive. Found out later that air con didn't work. Tough. Neighbour made no claims whatever so I'll just have to take it in.
As the car was cheap, anything expensive can wait. It won't be used in winter anyway, so yup, it will be windows open for me.
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