Car & Auto Repair
Car AC repair cost calculator
Work out what fixing a car's air conditioning will cost from the part, the labor, and the refrigerant. A recharge is a small bill; a compressor, condenser, or evaporator is the expensive end. And a recharge that leaks out in weeks means a leak to find first, which the calculator helps you weigh.
Typical range $664 – $1,162
- Part$350
- Labor (hours × rate)$240
- Refrigerant recharge$150
- Leak diagnosis$90
- Total$830
Recommended next steps
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$250 to $900 is a condenser or a mid-range part with a recharge. Confirm the leak is fixed, not just topped up.
What this assumes, and where it could be wrong
Every one of these is a place the number could be off. They are here because you should be able to check our working, not because we are hedging.
A RECHARGE THAT DOES NOT LAST IS A LEAK, NOT A REFILL.
The part is the swing, and the compressor is the top of it. A pressure switch or a valve is a cheap fix; a condenser is mid; a compressor, which is the pump at the heart of the system, or an evaporator buried behind the dashboard, is the expensive end in both part and labor. Which part failed decides whether this is a small bill or a large one.
New refrigerant is far more expensive than old, and it decides the recharge line. Cars since the mid-2010s use R-1234yf, which costs several times what the older R-134a does, so the same recharge on a newer car is much dearer. If the recharge line looks high, the refrigerant type is usually why.
An evaporator is the job to dread. It sits behind the dashboard, so replacing it means removing most of the dash, which is many hours of labor even though the part itself is not the priciest. If the quote is a big labor number on a modest part, it is probably the evaporator.
The defaults are ours and are a starting point. The part, the labor, and the refrigerant are yours, and the estimate turns on which part failed and whether your car uses the cheap or the expensive refrigerant.