Air con regas already

[TazUddin]

Just started realising that the aircon on my 2019 corolla wasn't blowing as cold air as before. I just done the Mrs car at kwik fit so could immediately tell the difference. So called Toyota dealers as its only been a year of ownership and they said to bring it in. I took it in today and they are saying that warranty won't cover it and I would have to pay. Now I'm baffled as its barely hot enough to be using air con in the UK and it's already run out of gas. Spoke to the manager and he goes he won't be able to do anything but give me a discount on a refill £99 instead of £129.99. I refused and called Toyota UK and they said they would have a word and see what can be done. Just wanted to know if anyone else had this issue as I recall an earlier post in regards to this but can't find it. Thanks in advance.

The car has done 16k and its a hatchback design 1.8 on a 19 plate.

[RUToyota]

Certainly unusual for sure...I would hope that even given any warranty issues/arguments, the dealer...or Toyota, will sort this out to your satisfaction.

[AndrueC]

I've never had to have any A/C equipped car regassed (I change every three or four years). Personally I think this is a fault and I'd be expect a free regass and investigation. Don't forget that we've already had someone on here whose vehicle was apparently shipped with insufficient gas. I would be tempted to play the environmental card, ask if they want to develop a reputation for building vehicles that leak gas.

[Stivino]

I can think of three good reasons that Toyota should do this for free.

1. Customer relations.

2. The environment.  It's surely not a good thing that the gas is leaking out so readily.

3. Reputation.  They don't want to get a bad name for supplying a poor quality product.  They should want to repair it so that they understand the problem to ensure that it is an isolated problem.

My Avensis is 12 years old, the A/C has never been topped up and it works perfectly.

If yours isn't working after one year, it has to be covered by their warranty.

[TazUddin]

Funny thing is the service manager was also trying to blame the new gas. 

[Stivino]

7 minutes ago, TazUddin said:

Funny thing is the service manager was also trying to blame the new gas. 

If it's the new gas, all their new cars will have it so, they're going to be in a whole lot of trouble.

New gas my @$$!

[TazUddin]

Just spoken to Toyota UK head office and they are saying they are having a word with the dealer and want to try and arrange a "good will gesture" and sort it for free. Wonder how many others had to pay for it!

I've attached the Toyota UK head office number below for anyone dealing with the same issue.

Dealers should call me this afternoon but will keep all updated.

0344 701 6202

[FROSTYBALLS]

The new gas has been in use in cars since 2014 - our 2015 i20, 2016 Aygo and 2020 i20 have all had this gas without any problem.

What you haven't said is, since you've had the Corolla, how often has the air con been used? Air con should be used regularly throughout the year, at least once per week. It can be used in winter in conjunction with the heater for better demisting.

[Rambler56]

3 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

What you haven't said is, since you've had the Corolla, how often has the air con been used? Air con should be used regularly throughout the year, at least once per week. It can be used in winter in conjunction with the heater for better demisting.

I have family and friends (fortunately few) who would rather sweat in a stuffy car than switch the air con on, citing the impact on the fuel economy (the same ones that are happy to drive 10 miles to get 1p per litre of their fuel!).  Not using the air con is one of the main reasons for the system breaking down.  Replacing the components can be a dashboard out job (dependant on vehicle) and can be eye wateringly expensive.  For all the gadgets and gizmos that you find on modern cars that many try once and turn off in settings (lane trace for example) the air con is one thing that you need to use on a regular basis.  Whilst failure of anything on a new car is a pain it's not entirely unusual (whether a poor PDI or error during build) and it's why you should always do a full check of ALL areas/functions of the car on collection or as soon as possible after collection (paint/panels/lights/switches/drive train/toys etc).  

[TonyHSD]

Toyota hybrids cars and many others even without using air con at all the air conditioning compressor works at some percentage all the time and in hybrid cars from time to time to maintain seals and general health of the system. (Correct me if I am wrong) .
If everything done correctly in the factory with some or without use the air con should be good for at least 3-5 years. Dealers should not even think about telling any customer that air con regas needs after a year of ownership and it’s not covered under warranty. These cars seems having an issue with the air con system, I also believe that the other member that has his Corolla recently without gas was not a manufacturer defect but some fault with a component of the system, just waiting more people start complaining about it and Toyota will take it seriously. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

4 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

These cars seems having an issue with the air con system, I also believe that the other member that has his Corolla recently without gas was not a manufacturer defect but some fault with a component of the system

The member who recently posted re a problem with their air con had only recently had the car new, rather than having owned it for around a year.

[AndrueC]

6 hours ago, TazUddin said:

Funny thing is the service manager was also trying to blame the new gas. 

My previous car - a Honda Jazz - had the new gas and it lasted over three years before I sold it.

[TazUddin]

6 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The new gas has been in use in cars since 2014 - our 2015 i20, 2016 Aygo and 2020 i20 have all had this gas without any problem.

What you haven't said is, since you've had the Corolla, how often has the air con been used? Air con should be used regularly throughout the year, at least once per week. It can be used in winter in conjunction with the heater for better demisting.

I have used it even in winter for several minutes a week just to keep everything moving as I was told this many years ago by a mechanic. So the system doesn't seize or something

[Luke717]

On 8/4/2020 at 10:45 PM, TazUddin said:

Just started realising that the aircon on my 2019 corolla wasn't blowing as cold air as before. I just done the Mrs car at kwik fit so could immediately tell the difference. So called Toyota dealers as its only been a year of ownership and they said to bring it in. I took it in today and they are saying that warranty won't cover it and I would have to pay. Now I'm baffled as its barely hot enough to be using air con in the UK and it's already run out of gas. Spoke to the manager and he goes he won't be able to do anything but give me a discount on a refill £99 instead of £129.99. I refused and called Toyota UK and they said they would have a word and see what can be done. Just wanted to know if anyone else had this issue as I recall an earlier post in regards to this but can't find it. Thanks in advance.

The car has done 16k and its a hatchback design 1.8 on a 19 plate.

I had an A/C problem with my brand new Corolla that I picked up at the end of June.Not quite the same as your situation but maybe my experience may help.

I took the car back to my local dealer who saw it immediately as a warranty issue if there was a fault in the A/C system. They contacted Toyota UK who told them to examine the car and test the system. Turned out it wasn't fully gassed at the factory before delivery. Worse, that fact escaped every quality check and the PDI. But once the system was properly gassed by the dealer, the A/C has been doing its job perfectly.

Here's the thread of what I posted about it in this forum - 

 

[TazUddin]

Toyota have agreed to do the re-gas for free now. Service manager was meant to call yesterday but didn't. Waited until today and had to call the dealer myself. I have a friend who works at Lexus in there service department and he's told me becuase of COVID-19 dealers are trying to push to make that extra money from customers. Seems like they put warranty work on the back burner. They said a couple of weeks to fit me in. 

[Luke717]

Good result! 👍

And to quote a great tip I received from @TonyHSD - make sure the dealer notes this in the service record as a warranty fix. Then check it's listed in the service section in the MyT app.

[bigblock]

On 8/5/2020 at 3:32 PM, TonyHSD said:

Toyota hybrids cars and many others even without using air con at all the air conditioning compressor works at some percentage all the time and in hybrid cars from time to time to maintain seals and general health of the system. (Correct me if I am wrong) .
If everything done correctly in the factory with some or without use the air con should be good for at least 3-5 years. Dealers should not even think about telling any customer that air con regas needs after a year of ownership and it’s not covered under warranty. These cars seems having an issue with the air con system, I also believe that the other member that has his Corolla recently without gas was not a manufacturer defect but some fault with a component of the system, just waiting more people start complaining about it and Toyota will take it seriously. 

Looks like it's only the 1.8 corolla that's having issues at the moment (on this forum anyway). Just waiting for the first 2.0 corolla with aircon problems.

[DaveST]

Late in joining into this topic, but my Corolla Touring Sport 1.8 which is almost 2 years old (and hasn’t done 10k miles yet) seems to have aircon which doesn’t work properly, especially on the driver’s side. I phoned my dealer to see if it could be checked, since the car is still under warranty. The receptionist immediately said, “an air-conditioning check is chargeable, and you should have it on frequently”. I wasn’t happy about this at all, and there is no mention of this in the car handbook as far as I know, and I’ve never had a problem with my previous 5 Toyotas.

I’ve made an online booking to have the annual service next month, and requested a re-gas (although I don’t yet know the cost from the dealer). The default position with the Corolla is for the air-conditioning to be off, which is understandable as a fuel-saving measure. If it should be turned on regularly, as explained elsewhere in this chat, then surely it should be made clear to the owner at the time of purchase.

I’m expecting to have a serious (and potentially difficult) conversation with my dealer next month when my car is serviced.

[Stivino]

IMHO they are at the ham, keep pushing and resist any form of payment is what I would do.

[AndrueC]

25 minutes ago, DaveST said:

The receptionist immediately said, “an air-conditioning check is chargeable, and you should have it on frequently”. I wasn’t happy about this at all, and there is no mention of this in the car handbook as far as I know, and I’ve never had a problem with my previous 5 Toyotas.

I don't know if it's in the handbook but this has been a requirement for all A/C equipped cars for years now. I thought it was common knowledge that it needed a couple of minutes every month or so to keep the seals lubricated.

Mind you that being the case I don't see why it can't run itself every now and again. Should be easy enough to pick a temperature and fan speed that was fairly unobtrusive.

Personally since I've moved to cars with climate control I just set them to 19.5c and leave them to do their thing all year round but that presumably means it doesn't get much running over winter.

Does anyone know if the A/C compressor comes on to reduce humidity when defogging the windscreen?

And an other related question. I have three portable A/C units at home and two of them don't get used often even in summer (even this year!) yet they show no signs of problems. What's so special about car A/C systems?

[TonyHSD]

28 minutes ago, DaveST said:

Late in joining into this topic, but my Corolla Touring Sport 1.8 which is almost 2 years old (and hasn’t done 10k miles yet) seems to have aircon which doesn’t work properly, especially on the driver’s side. I phoned my dealer to see if it could be checked, since the car is still under warranty. The receptionist immediately said, “an air-conditioning check is chargeable, and you should have it on frequently”. I wasn’t happy about this at all, and there is no mention of this in the car handbook as far as I know, and I’ve never had a problem with my previous 5 Toyotas.

I’ve made an online booking to have the annual service next month, and requested a re-gas (although I don’t yet know the cost from the dealer). The default position with the Corolla is for the air-conditioning to be off, which is understandable as a fuel-saving measure. If it should be turned on regularly, as explained elsewhere in this chat, then surely it should be made clear to the owner at the time of purchase.

I’m expecting to have a serious (and potentially difficult) conversation with my dealer next month when my car is serviced.

Air conditioning can only be used when necessary, summer months for example and should last long years even with minimal use. Using ac all the time to prevent seals dried or gas escape is only a myth as there are many more myths in car industry. Regas can be done every 2-4 years as periodic and preventative maintenance, cabin filter change every 20k miles or two years , I will highly recommend to change pollen filter with each yearly service or every 10k miles. 
There had been cars that never had ac turned on for years and after I press the button the ac kicks in and blows ice cold air. My current car has its ac re gassed  back in June 2020 and the ac been used rarely ever since with some long periods without any use at all and at the beginning of this summer I started to use it  often as obviously it’s too hot and the ac works as good as new and can freeze you inside the car if chosen lower setting. No argument. 

[Dylanfan]

The main reason for using the ac on a regular basis is the keep the seals lubricated. There is no need to use it for long periods, just run it for a couple of minutes every week or so. I’ve only had one car, years ago, that had a problem and I found out it had been standing unused for over a year before I bought it.

[Dylanfan]

I don’t find that the ac increases the fuel consumption by very much on modern cars. Years ago this was very much the case, I had a Citroen CX that increased the consumption by something like eight mpg.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Often air con (especially as regards re-gassing) only carries a limited warranty within the new car warranty. 

An air conditioning check isn't included within the usual service schedule, and the owners manual doesn't mention specifics of the service schedules

Air con is useful in winter as, when used in conjunction with the heater, provides dehumidified air which helps demist the car more quickly.

[Swanthecat]

I run the AC continuously year round in all of my cars. Helps defogging in the winter and generally keeps the car fresher all year. Never had any issues