Air Conditioning Condenser

[Swayze88 14]

Took the car in to get the AC looked at as it's been rubbish since I got the car (2012 diesel XV) 18 months ago. 

The garage tested and found a small leak in the condenser, a genuine Subaru part is going to cost in the region of £300, plus an hour and a half fitting and gas. Probably around £500/£550 all in. 

The garage are happy for me to get an aftermarket condenser and they will fit and fill it.

Question is: has anyone used any aftermarket AC condensers, any to recommend /avoid. Or should I bite the bullet and go OEM? 

Online I can see aftermarket ranging from £70 to about £120, a denso one would cost around £100. That's a big saving if it lasts a reasonable length, most seem to have a 2 year guarantee. 

Comments and thoughts greatly appreciate. 

[Jay762 1,307]

I would go aftermarket, I have used denso products in the past and had no issue with them - although never an aircon unit

[Siluro 27]

Depends how you think about it. If aftermarket only lasts 2 years then the OEM works out about the same if the broken one is the original from 2012.

[Swayze88 14]

13 hours ago, Siluro said:

Depends how you think about it. If aftermarket only lasts 2 years then the OEM works out about the same if the broken one is the original from 2012.

Yeah, I know what you mean, not sure if it's the original or not, I believe there were a few issues with the original condensers (true or not I'm not sure ) due to the change from R134a to R1234yf. Just seems a big difference in price. 

 

One thing that's putting me off a Denso unit is that it is always listed as R134a, if it is then it may not last. 

Wouldn't be such a bother if you didn't have £100+ of gas contained in it. Could replace the condenser 3 times or maybe even warranty it, but you'd have to replace the gas.