It's Not Just Me

Have you ever had a problem and felt like everyone around you thought you were wrong, crazy, paranoid? About a year ago it felt like the AC in our van (only a year old at the time) was taking a little longer than most vehicles to get cool. I realize that the van is very large and it is also very hot here in Florida but that just didn't seem right. I could put my hand right on the vent with it cranked up to the highest and coldest and it felt just barely cold. My husband dutifully took it in and they ran some test and said the thermometer was at 41 degrees which was the correct temp. So they just topped off the freeon (hello, red flag) and sent us on the way. My husband never noticed it running hot and it wouldn't do it every time.

But I have to say I have a little experience in this area. My last car had a lot of AC problems and that is how it started. I just kept thinking that it wouldn't get fixed until after the warranty expired and then we would be stuck with a $1000 repair bill. During the winter it isn't as noticeable so of course a whole year has passed.

A few weeks ago it started doing it again. This time my husband is sitting in the drivers seat and he turns to me and says, "Does the AC seem to be a little warm to you." THANK YOU. "Yes, it does." But it gets cold after a few minutes. Over the course of the next few weeks it starts to do it a little more often. It could be blowing cold while we drove some where, we get out for a few minutes, get back in and it would blow warm again for a longer time. Now if it was a problem that just needed a little time to start cooling off then when we get back in after driving for awhile it should start blowing cold right away. Our car never takes long to start blowing cold.

Also our AC when it was turned has sometimes made a clunking sound since we bought it brand new. Ray took it in for that but they said it was just a sound the car made. So anyway my husband takes the van in yesterday and was pretty adamant that something was wrong and they were to do more then the thermometer test. We also needed the gas cover fixed and the tire checked since it seemed we had a slow leak. My husband called yesterday afternoon and they found the problem. The compressor is going bad. That is what broke in my Neon that helped us decide to buy the van a year early since we had planned to replace my car then anyway. Luckily, we were persistent enough that we are getting a new compressor while it is still under warranty. I just knew that if we didn't press the issue that the month after the warranty expired we would be replacing it out of our pocket. The gas cover is also covered but unfortunately we had a nail in our tire and so we have to pay for the patch. I rather pay the $24 than $1000+. So now my van is in the shop until Thursday or Friday. I, however, feel like a victory has been won and they should have listened to me in the first place.