im new to this, so be nice...
summer's here, and my AC just went out. I have a 2000 a6 2.7t with about 63,000 miles on it. When I called Audi, they said I need to take it in for climate control, and it will start at about $500 to fix. I don't want to spend that much for them to just add a little freon in it. Can I fix this problem myself, or should I have the Audi people deal with it? After 60k miles, should I bring it in for a tune up?

 

Juliet -

That's an interesting diagnosis based on what? It could be lots of things, the simplest being a freon leak. The worst could be a lot more costly than $500. (My wife maintains that anything that breaks on my A6 automatically costs at least $1000 to fix.)

Find a good independent shop that knows German cars andalso services air conditioning. Alternately, find a shop that specializes in A/C and ask if they have/can work on Audi's. At least get a second opinion from them. If it turns out you need Audi OEM parts, you then can choose whom you want to do the work.

 

AC is the very bane of our existance as an independant repair shop! That being said, first we performance test the system to make sure it will hold vacuum and if it shows no leaks we'll add oil dye (in case there are leaks so we can find them) and charge the system with 134.

One thing we see a lot of here in SoCal is AC not being used for months and then a rash of failures. What we tell most of our customers is run the AC at least once a month to circulate the oil through the lines and keep them from drying out and cracking and hence leaking.

An AC service costs about $250-$300 from us but if there are deeper problems the price tag goes up from there.

Good luck!

 

Must be using different currency in CA. A/C service in upstate NY is around $100. If you can put air in a tire, you can probably figure out how to add a little refrigerant. It is very easy and cheap and if it does not help, you're not out much. Just my .02.

 

Just a note here... you say "just went out." If the AC was working fine and suddenly stopped, I doubt it just needs a little refrigerant added. You need a shop who can actually test it as described above. If you ran the heat during the winter (without being in the ECON mode), then your compressor also ran and the seals, etc. should have remained lubed. Doesn't sound to me like a simple addition of refrigerant problem, but without more detail its hard to say. I've done a lot of work on Toyota AC, but not Audi so my advice may be worth exactly what you paid for it.

JJJ