Lessons in Auto Repair – An A/C Story
The Story
Our story starts with whom we will refer to as, “Mr. Unprepared.” It’s a Sunday morning and Mr. Unprepared has gotten up extra early to start for the day. There is a small road trip ahead of him so he takes the morning to get the trusty 2007 Mercedes E350 washed and cleaned out. There is a new baby seat for Mr. Unprepared bouncing baby boy that needs to be installed. The forecast is reporting summer like weather with temperatures reaching into the 90s. The sun is shining and it’s looking to be an amazing day.
Five minutes into the long drive, tragedy strikes. Warm air seems to be coming from the vents. Checking the climate control, it is set on the coldest setting. The A/C button is clicked on with the light illuminating. Ten minutes goes by and panic is starting to set in. Mr. Unprepared’s wife is now making comments. A preeminent sweat starts to form on his brow as he sheepishly says to his wife, “Uhh… Honey… ummm… the A/C isn’t working.” Her response being swift and sharp she replies, “Out of all people, YOU didn’t think to check if the A/C was working?!” With 90 degree weather, a baby on board, an irate wife, and two and a half hours of Sunday traffic to contend with, misery ensued.
The Kicker
In our story of Mr. Unprepared, do you remember when his wife said, “out of all people…”? Well she said that because Mr. Unprepared is actually me! This was a first hand experience of what just happened to me last Sunday. The owner of M-Spec Performance and Essential Auto Care was caught out on the road with a vehicle with nonfunctioning A/C. The problem could have been easily avoided if I would have followed the exact advice our team gives to all of our clients.
The Lesson
When we think of car repair many times we get into the mode of being reactive. We generally don’t tackle any service to our vehicles until something breaks. Who can blame you, car repair and maintenance costs time and money. One of the services most neglected for those of us that live in the Brooklyn and Queens area is our A/C system. There is only about 3 to 4 months out of the year when we ever really even turn on the A/C. Most of the year that button lays untouched and it is out of sight out of mind. If you have ever experienced an A/C problem it generally creeps up on you during the most inopportune time like the hottest day of the year.
The Solution
Along with other maintenance and service recommendations that every vehicle regularly needs such as oil changes, tire rotations, brake inspections, alignment checks, your A/C system should be checked yearly before the start of the hot season. We generally recommend having our team of technicians at either our Middle Village, Queens or Lindenhurst, Long Island location inspect your A/C system perform our inspection anywhere between March to early May. We will inspect the operation of the climate control system and also pull vacuum from the A/C system and check the amount of refrigerant there is as well as check for leaks within the system. If I personally utilized our team of A/C experts I would not have had to deal with an hour and half of being yelled at by the real boss. Learn from my mistakes and take the advice of smarter people than I (our service advisor team!) and let us help you avoid the same fate. If you have any questions please give us a call at (631) 983-5552 for our Lindenhurst and (718) 386-2790 at our Queens location.