I?ve recently heard adverts on the radio for aircon recharges at Kwik Fit for £44.95 with the option of a clean for an extra for £19.95. Now, I wouldn?t normally go near Kwik Fit but this does look tempting, assuming they know what they?re doing.
Does anyone have any experience of this service, good or bad?
Thanks,
DB
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I have previously posted my own views on this particular service by this particular company on this forum, but they have been removed.
Let me just say that I believe you've answered your own question!
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'....assuming they know what they?re doing.'
a rather rash assumption IMHO
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To be fair they may have found their niche with this service and it could be the best thing since sliced bread....
Any experiences from people who have used the service?
Thanks,
DB
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Not used the KF one, but did use a fast fit one early last year for one of our cars - was ok, but not the quickest and was done by some young chav wannabe, so didn't fill me with confidence. Am now having my car done today at my local independent, £65 all in, so same as KF once you add the extra in - I know where I would rather spend my money, but each to their own!!
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Idependent what TU? Are you using an aircon engineer or a normal garage?
Cheers.
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I use a place that does this service for about £60 - so about the same as Kwik Fit.
I last used Kwik Fit in 1994.
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Here's what Dave N (our resident AC expert) previously had to say about Kwik Fit's AC service. (with a slight edit from me thrown in)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=41...5
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I find their advertised guarantee a bit weak. If they can't get a 10% improvement, then you get it for free. So, if you system is getting low and is chucking the air out at say 15C, if they can get it down to 13.5C, they rate that a success!
Or am I misinterpreting their ad?
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I find their advertised guarantee a bit weak. If they can't get a 10% improvement then you get it for free. So if you system is getting low and is chucking the air out at say 15C if they can get it down to 13.5C they rate that a success!
Does it say which temperature scale they are using? If not I would insist on "absolute"!
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My experiences of this company some 15 years ago lead me to vow never again.
So I have not.. and won't
madf
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Idependent what TU? Are you using an aircon engineer or a normal garage? Cheers.
Just my normal garage, not an A/C specialist.
To be honest when I had it done at the fast fit place the price was cheaper then anywhere else, but by the time they had charged extras for the dye etc it came to the same as a specialist or good quality indy.
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well Diesel Boy, you have answered your own question & wise you are as well!, what will you do if something goes wrong whilst filling & testing or if there is a secondry fault!.
With air-con its best to stick with a specialist who will have experience & will know what to do & what to look out for & who will understand any faults lurking depending on pressure readings.
You have the additional risk of having your system contaminated if the air-con plant has recyled gas it shouldn't!. specialist with experience use gas analyzers to test system contamination.
Its not unknown for systems to be charged with propane gas! so you have been warned & with good advice from most other postings
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DieselBoy, when was the last time you changed the pollen filter? May be worth trying this first and see if results in an improvement in the airflow.
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I have a pal who runs an independent A/C regassing etc outlet - he charges around £65.
He's very scathing about the services on offer at some other well known centres and even more so about the do it yourself kits...:-)
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I have a pal who runs an independent A/C regassing etc outlet - he charges around £65. He's very scathing about the services on offer at some other well known centres and even more so about the do it yourself kits...:-)
I am sorry, I have to do this, its fits the bill perfectly.
"Well he would, wouldn't he"
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>I am sorry, I have to do this, its fits the bill perfectly.>>
Despite the cynicism, you are incorrect. I've never had any reason to use his services to date but, in view of one or two earlier threads on the subject, I've chatted to him about air conditioning in cars, how to look after it properly etc on several occasions.
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Stuartli,
As we are in the same neck of the woods - please could you give me details of your contact?
Thanks,
DB
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By their own admission in the advert they will not do the job properly as they claim:
"In under an hour, our specially trained technicians will show you the difference in your Air-Con system."
Ask an aircon specialist and they will tell you the system must be under vacuum for AT LEAST an hour to recover the moisture in the dryer and ensure the system is clean otherwise you get the damp, musty smell inside the car. That's before they start with re-gasing.
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How can you get a damp musty smell in the cabin if the aircon system drier still has moisture in it? The system drier doesn't come into contact with the cabin air at all. I agree with you that the vacuum needs to be applied to the system for a good time to dry and clean the interior pipework etc.
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How can you get a damp musty smell in the cabin if the aircon system drier still has moisture in it? The system drier doesn't come into contact with the cabin air at all. I agree with you that the vacuum needs to be applied to the system for a good time to dry and clean the interior pipework etc.
I'm getting my evaporators and dryers mixed up...
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kwik fit have always worked on the distress purchase principal and i see this as another arrow to their bow
tom farmer would definately approve
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It looks like you have all confirmed my thoughts, no matter how much I thought they should be given the benefit of doubt.....
Cheers y'all. Now looking for a decent specialist in Liverpool/Warrington/Southport area....
DB
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Just come across your postings.
Ask one of the mods if they will provide you with my e-mail address (you require a mobile number) and I'll forward it to you. {Details passed on - DD}
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Just had the climate control on my 2000 Primera regassed at the local Perth Kwik Fit for the advertised £44.95
It's gone from no effect at all to icy cold. They also tightened up the handbrake and freed of some sticking rear brake calipers for the princely sum of £15.
No complaints here about Kwik Fit al all. In the past the Great Yarmouth (or was it Lowestoft?) branch patched up a detatched exhaust from our Citroen ZX way past closing time on a Sunday afternoon for no charge. The Morcambe branch similarly tightened up the exhaust manifold bolts which hold it on to the engine again for no charge after we went in convinced the exhaust was on the way out on our Carina E.
(have I spelt 'Morcambe' wrong by the way?)
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No complaints here about Kwik Fit al all.
They are all individual franchises and will vary substantially. In one I had my exhaust tied on with a bit of thin wire (had no effect, needless to say, they didn't try to charge). I'm sure most people can relay a KwikFit horror story.
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They are all individual franchises ...
that is news to me. can you provide any evidence to back that claim?
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My sister-in-law was a teacher at a special needs unit. Guess where she bumped into many of her ex pupils?
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I think flunky may be thinking of Hi-Q.
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>> They are all individual franchises ... that is news to me. can you provide any evidence to back that claim?
As far as im aware there ALL owned by PAI partners (private equity group) they were sold in 2005 by another equity group. I believe Ford have previously owned them too.
Lee
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Ford certainly owned them but sold them when they set up "RapidFit".
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Had my Goona regassed there, no problem.
The other bits, of course, which they try to stick you with to take the price level up to normal levels? Just don't have 'em.
I always show interest in what they're doing, make friends with them, etc, watch them - and then they do a proper job.
My local branch also match best prices for new tyres, etc, which is good, as they're certainly better equipped than most other places: Like, they use torque wrenches to replace wheel nuts, for instance.
I can't fault them.
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I?ve recently heard adverts on the radio for aircon recharges at Kwik Fit for £44.95 with the option of a clean for an extra for £19.95. Now I wouldn?t normally go near Kwik Fit but this does look tempting assuming they know what they?re doing. Does anyone have any experience of this service good or bad? Thanks DB
It doesn't need cleaning. Just run it fully hot once a month through ALL vents and that kills the bacteria.
vbr.....md
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>>It doesn't need cleaning. Just run it fully hot once a month through ALL vents and that kills the bacteria.>>
I do something very similar - fully cold for 10 minutes and then full heat blast afterwards whilst on the road; however, I also spray the interior with Neautrodol, Oust or Dettol about once a month with the car on the drive, put the A/C in recirculating mode and then leave the engine running for about five minutes.
See: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14 for useful info.
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I'll give that a whirl Stuart, thanks for the tip... Also going to give your mate a call in the next few days to see when he can fit me in. I assume he's Southport based?
DB
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Yep.
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Aircon on a 1.4 Honda Civic (01) has not been as cold as it should be, and been looking at finding someone to recharge (or even considered the can of death from halfords)
Kwikfit use a "cooltech 650" which is a automatic recharge machine. The machine is hooked up to the high pressure and low pressure ports, and the car details need to be selected from the inbuilt database.
Before they start, Kwik fit measure the current temp (in my case 8 degrees), and the pressure on the HP/LP points with aircon off. When aircon is on the pressures should drop. If they do not, then kwik fit would not carry on with a recharge as this suggests a problem with the system.
In my case, IIRC the system says I need 625gr +/- 25gr, and 140ml oil, and the system then goes through the built in program.
As long as the right car is selected, there is not much that the operator can do wrong.
According to the form from Kwikfit, they recovered 500gr of 134a, and replaced 625gr. After recharging, my aircon is working at about 3deg.
Interestly the pressure on the LP port (before recharge) was 3.6 bar which is about 52psi. According to the interdynamics can of death a normal range is 25-45psi, but the system still needed 125gr of 134a - this seems to prove that the fill level cannot be determined by a simple pressure gauge?
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Had my Accord done at Kwik Fit last week. It took just over an hour and went from doing nothing (23C outside) to putting out air at 3C. I was very impressed, and happy with the job.
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The equipment that Kwik-Fit use is virtually idiot-proof - they work on the principal of fast turn-around and cheap labour (i.e. no complicated jobs taken on) - vac it down and refill it.
I know a guy who used to be a manager at a 'major national fast-fit chain' depot (he's now the 'chargehand' at a local independent fast-fit type place). Apparently they go through a training programme which aims to enable them to get £300 of any customer that walks through the door. That's their target. Apparently they are told that most people will pay up to £300 if they can be convinced that repairs are necessary. If its more than £300 then the customer is likely to walk and get another quote.
I'm sure most people in the BR wouldn't fall for these tactics, but an aweful lot of people do...
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Ive seen this first hand aprilia as you can open an account with these fast fits and have a £400 balance once opened, its very easy to get on the ride as it were.
Brakes are the favourite and it usually comes in at £395 it always amazes me that the discs pads shoes and cylinders come from the same factors that i use for an all in figure of less than £60 but amazingley on the customers invoice these same articles retail for £190 plus labour
free enterprise
I will just add that its normally women these fast fits target and the women are usually happy to be stung,so everyone is happy
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Brakes are the favourite and it usually comes in at £395 it always amazes me that the discs pads shoes and cylinders come from the same factors that i use for an all in figure of less than £60 but amazingley on the customers invoice these same articles retail for £190 plus labour
Brakes (or 'friction parts' as the 'business managers' like to call them) are everyone's favourite. Limited customer resistance to sale becaseu its a safety issue, highest mark-up of any factored part, straightforward work with little chance of unexpected problems giving a labour time overrun.
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Can't comment on KF's air-con service but can report that our local KF was extremely helpful and polite when SWMBO's now defunct Skoda was last MOT'd. A lot of advice was freely offered and a bodywork fault notified and repaired FOC before a pass certificate was given. 100% marks so far as we are concerned.
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Just had the Mondeo's air con re-gassed at my local Kwik-Fit, they had an offer on for £34.95 so I gave it a bash, took 45 mins in total, 30 mins of that was vacuum of the system, the machine then checked for leaks, then sorted the oil and gas out. Temperature before regassing was 22.6oC when finished 2.6oC its now freezing cold :) to be fair they did a good job, the machine did it all for them, even they couln't of messed it up. Just comnnected the high and low pressure valves, keyed in the make and model and left the machine to do its business. Never thought I'd say it, but I recommend it. Especially for £35.
thanks
Lee
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All we need now is some hot weather so you can try them out..
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Had ours done there too. No Problems this end
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Must confess, given the rather warm weather yesterday and the Scenic's somewhat lacklustre air-conditioning, I decided to give them a try. No booking, just turned up. Job done an hour later. Air-con is working brilliantly (they're claiming 7.4 deg C at the centre vent with an ambient temp of 24 degress - doesn't feel unlikely). £44.95 well spent IMO.
You get a report as well with lots of (meaningless to me) "high and low" pressure figures, as well as the weight of refrigerant recovered and the amount added.
They hook it up to a machine, tell the machine what type of car it's connected to, press "go", and the machine does it's thing. Aside from inputting the wrong car, there's very little room for error. Oh, and not so much as a hint of "do you realise your front pads need changing sir" (they do). Did the job I paid them to do and left it at that.
Anyway, the job's a good 'un as far as I am concerned.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 04/05/2008 at 12:01
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But did they do a leak test? If you have a leak it will have been a total waste of money.
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I had a A/C service and leak test somewhere else. The new refridgerant included a fluorescent dye which they then looked around for it with a UV lamp, but most pipes and valves are hidden behind bumper, panels, bulkhead etc..., and it was not working again a week later - diagnosed as a faulty pressure switch which I changed myself (behind bumper) and still didn't work, so took it back and told them, and they found that I needed a new pipe as one had a leak, so check thoroughly for degrading performance over the next few weeks.
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If it's leaking (and it's an if), I'll deal with that separately. It's a risk I'm more than happy to take for £45.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 04/05/2008 at 15:55
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I had mine done there 12 months ago, now not working. I phoned and booked an appointment to get it done again.... when I arrived they told me they couldn't do it, everyone was driving in to get theirs done and they were busy! The fact I was booked in didn't appear to matter so I drove off in the heat to find a reputable workshop. Oh well at least I wont have to return again next year cause it's not working I will be taking somewhere they actually do it and guarantee it.
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WD, have you used the AC regularly since it was last topped up? Seals dry up if you don't and leaks occur**. You MUST use it regularly - even in winter.
Unless you've got a leak (dry seals for instance) the refrigerant shouldn't have escaped in a year.
**Not Kwik Fit's fault if that is the case.
You shouldn't need to have an AC system topped up yearly.
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I would never use Kwikfit again since they did the tracking on my car a few years ago and got it wrong. Front tyres wore down on the edges in 1000 miles, Kwikfit denied any responsibilty. A rival tyre chain found the tracking was out by 8 degrees!! I'm surprised the car even stayed on the road!
If they can't be trusted to get the tracking right, what chance air conditioning?
Edited by Sofa Spud on 24/05/2010 at 15:38
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I've always used the DIY kits - they work fine for 2 or 3 recharges.
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My £45 "regas" job at KF 2 years ago was a waste of money as the aircon was soon back to square 1. I then paid about £95 for a more comprehensive test + oil & regas last year at an independent and the aircon is still effective. I would not consider using KF again for aircon work because of this experience.
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Mine seems to have largely died, although the motor is making a weird whirring noise when the A/C is switched on so I suspect it could be something mechanical and a regas wouldn't achieve much. I do remember when the aircon on my Hyundai died during a heatwave and I had the car done under warranty fortunately and to repair the motor was a 3 hour job, so now that I have a car well out of warranty A/C I can live without. Also I have been regularly using it as a demister in winter and tested it on cold as well.
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KwikFit recharged mine on the Yaris for £25 - winter half price offer - in March. Temperature fell from 7C to 3C at outlet.
Totally satisfied . Took 75 minutes.
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