Is This Believable???

I have had a nightmare trying to sell my '98 Saturn SL2.

6 months ago when I last used the A/C, it was working quite well. Then
someone tried to use the A/C and told me----to my shock----that it was
not working. The compressor did not engage. I had to pull the car off
the sales lot to try to get the A/C fixed.

Diagnostic work on the A/C showed a leak at some seal near the
compressor. I am told that this leak cannot be repaired except to
replace the compressor. I am already out $125 for the diagnostic work.
The shop now tells me that to replace the compressor will be $2200 parts
and labor!!! Is this believable or unbelievable???

Since the car is MAYBE worth $4000 with a working A/C, that means I'll
probably be paying someone to take it off my hands since the A/C does not
work.

(Please do not tell me about giving it to charity...if I made enough
income to itemize deductions, I would not be owning a car, used or new,
like a Saturn or any GM product in the first place.)

I have put about $7000 into a car I have driven for 16 months.

It is true that I bought it used, and the first owner was probably a
rental company, but when you see the defects at 133,500 miles (some of
these were even present when I bought it at 107,000 miles!), you know you
don't own a Honda or Toyota given the same care/maintenance:

* regular transmission cooling failure leading to transmission failure
* rod knock which will probably require a rebuilt engine in 10,000 miles
anyway
* low brake pedal after bleed of brakes (master cylinder failure?)
* now an A/C compressor failure

I have taken a major bath on this Saturn, and I am pretty sure that the
risk I took on trying a GM product has not paid off. I am pretty good
about taking care of cars, so I don't know if this would have happened
had I been the original owner.

 

The shop now tells me that to replace the compressor will be $2200 parts

That is insane. I would never go to that shop again. Get a list of the
parts, and go shopping on eBay. Have a shop do the discharge & recharge,
but the parts swapping probably isn't too difficult and can be done by the
average driveway mechanic.

Well, drive it for a few more years and it will be well worth the money
you've put into it.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

Last year my compressor seal went out as well. I converted mine over to 134a
and used some leak detector and stop leak. So far so good.

Anyway, at that time, I think it was 6th Planet auto parts offered me a good
used compressor for around $100. Maybe someone else knows this guy and can shed
some light.

James1549

 

NO, I dont find any of this story credible at all, nor is this typical of
how ppl treat thier Saturns. If you bought the car as a used rental, then
you should have assumed that it was treated like a rental: beaten to sh*t by
renters, as most rental cars are known to be.

That many failures on a 98 Sl is not reasonable or typical, you bought a
lemon obviously. We have a 98 SL1 from a college student and it has been
perfect since.
Even the 94 SL2 I bought that was owned by 2 sepearte teenage girls has cost
me very little to have restored to almost new condition, mechanically and
cosmetically.

We just has Saturn replace the A/C system, compressor and all for $1500.,
including labor on our 93 SL1 so the quote you have is totally bogus in
contrast. I would look elsewhere.

It seems that you have either a bad disposition or bad past experience with
GM cars, that's too bad, most people have had good luck, especially with
Saturns. Saturn owners are generally known to treat thier cars well and keep
them in good condition, contrary to you comparison to Honduhs and others.
sorry you feel that way, but stop buying lemons then blaming GM. I have
owned many Fords and many GMs and the GMs have always been more reliable.

Lastly, you got ripped off on the diagnostic. Get another mechanic. As said
in the previous post, I concur about 6th Planet Used Auto Parts. I have
dealt with Joey, the owner before. He can be slow with shipments sometimes
because his business is busy, he is a good guy and is known to ship quality
parts and will save you money.

marx404

 

I absolutely agree. Unfortunately, I am going to resume being an ex-
patriate again when I resume living overseas in about 3-4 months, so my
selling the car is a must.

But now that I am not so hot under the collar about this quoted estimate,
-----keep in mind, this quote and discussion was on the phone, but I
intend to get this in writing as proof, and I will put it on the web so
that the doubters can see I am no liar----I am beginning to think that I
took this to the wrong shop. Hell, even the local Saturn dealership was
going to put a rebuilt engine with 3 y/36K mile warranty for an in-
writing $3600 estimate, and we all know how dealerships are famous for
their high prices (don't we)?

One other thing bothered me: this service shop said that the state of
California required them to run this A/C panel of tests as part of their
work in evaluating the repair to the A/C system. Does anyone know if
this is so, or have I been jobbed?

 

What is typical of how people treat their Saturns?

Or of how people treat their Hondas?

Rule: It's not the car make/model that finds the good or bad owner.
It's the good or bad owner that finds the car make/model.

I did not say I did. I said I suspect that it came from a rental place,
largely because of the high miles on it in so few years.

I agree that a rental car is the whore of vehicles: just about
everyone's been in it.

No, not a lemon. Lemons hardly get 20,000 miles. Any car that makes it
to 133 K miles gets respect. If it fails at 133 Kmiles, it means the
owner(s) don't get respect.

Okay, so you got someone who treated it right, and maybe you should take
a chance on the lottery too.

Are you trying to suggest something about MY ownership?

I intend to call around. When I wrote that post, I was steamed having
just been given this news. I intend to get that estimate in writing and
post it on the web. If I don't get it in writing, I will call the
California BAR.

My first car was a '64 Peugeot 404 (bought in 1977), a 4-speed column
shift (what a beauty to look at and repair!). My second was an '84
Escort (lost in '89 when a girlfriend totaled it when hit by another
car). The next one was a '90 Tercel, which I had until '93 when I moved
out of the United States. Overseas, I owned an '86 Ford Taunus, a '94
TOFAS Sahin (FIAT builds them), and a '96 Civic (has no emission controls
on it AT ALL). Show me the GM car in all that.

However, when I got back to the U.S. and needed a car in a hurry, I said,
"Well, maybe I have been unfair to GM. Let's try out this used Saturn."

Yeah, it's really unfair that Saturn/GM cars depreciate like rocks
falling off cliffs, and Hondas and Toyotas can practically be re-sold at
60-70% of their purchase value once the loan's all paid off, right?

Learn the definition of lemon, and maybe I'll learn to appreciate GM.

Years ago when I was test-driving used Camaros, with all I could do to
stop my teeth from chattering from the vibration, I thought about why
would anyone by a gas guzzling load of bricks like this?

He quoted me $114 and change, and I imagine he intends to charge that.
When I get to the shop tomorrow a.m. to pick up the car, I will get the
bill and the estimate, and post it to the web so that you can see how
much a liar I am (or not) and how much a rip-off artist the shop is (or
not).

The Chilton manual---which is what I have----does not even give advice on
servicing the A/C for legal reasons (it says). I would not know how to
service this anyway, and don't have the full set of Craftsman tools. Too
many shops around here say they do not accept customer-supplied parts to
install in the car. If get halfway through a job trying to fix the A/C
and cannot, I seriously doubt any service shop is going to touch the job,
and they may even tell me that their lawyer tells them not to mess with
an A/C system that the customer already touched.

From the time I left the U.S. in 1993 and got back in mid-2001, it seems
that everyone and his lawyer has gone crazy, and especially in the car
sales and service industries. I wish for simpler times.

 

run don't walk from that shop. a search on autozone.com
showed a compressor and clutch reman 199.00 with a
10.00 core. seeing how it is a 1998 it is already an
r134a system and you can also buy that at autozone or
napa or advance auto etc along with a gauge to charge
your system. also if you want to replace the condensor
and accumulater that'll cost you about 200.00 so as you
can see if you can wrench it yourself you can save.

I also find it hard to believe others who have responded
actually paid 1500 to have a system replaced at a saturn
dealer. I don't get the dealer only thing. esp when your
vehicle is getting up there in years. If you are not one to
work on a car, then I can see finding a small shop to do
the work but at 77 an hour labor and almost 25% added
to consumer cost on parts you are just paying way too
much.

 

Here is the evidence of my particular encounter. Indeed, I heard
correctly that the estimate was $2200:

http://hume.realisticpolitics.com/ACestimate.html

The shops probably know that they can get you. They are probably aware
that repair manuals sold at bookstores do not tell you how to service the
A/C in particular, and that more often than not, there are special tools.
I could start taking things apart that I probably know nothing about, and
end up creating more havoc. These guys ring up the fees on these/certain
services for a reason.

I violated my own rules in comparison shopping. I should have called
this shop to ask how much it charges for certain basic services such as
oil/filter change and smog check. I did, and I learned they charge
$34.50 for oil change and $80 for smog check (does not include cert).
Those are approximately TWICE what one would have to pay at many other
places in the same neighborhood.

 

I had my 93 Saturn converted to 134a for about $550 two years ago. This
included a new compressor and accumulator. Lood around, there has to be at
least one honest shop in your town.