Hello,

I have a 2008 Touring, that i bought 1 year and 8 days ago as brand new. It only had 101 miles on the clock, and now she's got nearly 23k miles.When i bought the car, i also got an extended warranty [I believe it's the Plus package]. There is no modification done to the car. The only addition to the car is GoodYear Eagle F1 All Season tires with stock sizes.

I was driving to Philadelphia last Friday, and when i slew down to pay the toll i have noticed a steam coming from the left front side of the car. As soon as i crossed the bridge, i pulled over and took a look under the hood. There was no heating issue, and fans were running the way they were suppose to. I looked closer, and heard a hissing noise coming from the condenser. I noticed that there was a hole on the condenser, so just to make sure nothing else was damaged, i took it to the stealership (Woodbury Nissan) and asked them to perform a check on the car. Everything checked out fine, and they told me that this repair is not covered under warranty. They said that, if there was a leak on the system, it would have been covered under-warranty but since there is a hole in the condenser it has been damaged, so it isn't covered at all..They gave me a quote for replacing the condenser, and refilling/recharging AC for 773$.

I am going to take a look at the warranty papers over the weekend, but i wanted to get your inputs on this. The car is only a year old, and their reasoning does not sound right.. Anyone had a similar issue? What kind of action should i take? Do you think their reasoning is valid?

 

Do you have a pic of the hole? Holes don't typically appear out of nowhere... Unless you can trace it back to a manufacturing defect you are probably out of luck.

 

Thank you for the response terrylentz.. I think it is not the condenser, but its the evaporator. I have been so busy lately.. I'm going to take a look at it see how it is Friday.

And i should also start looking on regional forum to see trusted mechanics around this place..Driving in the rain without AC is not really fun.

 

^^ Agreed...i've done that for the last 2 years since my AC's been busted. Finally got to get everything fixed. I hate how it fogs up and you have to turn on some air to defog things and all you have is hot air

 

If a rock or something damaged your condenser, they are not going to cover it. If it were a manufacturing defect or just good ol' wear and tear they would take it, but that sort of thing doesn't usually happen.

 

The closer i look at the evaporator, I haven't really noticed a "hole" but i noticed a dent on where it was leaking. Tomorrow morning i should have some time off, so i'm going to take some pictures and analyze.

Anyone can recommend a shop near South Jersey/Cherry Hill area for this kind of job? I have seen way too many bad shops around my neighborhood.. I am okay driving 10-20 miles, but the ones i saw in the forums are more like 60-70 miles. I guess i gotta look through more topics.

 

FYI, the evaporator is inside the car, and the condenser is in front of the radiator.

Compressed Freon gas from the compressor goes through the condenser. It transfers heat to the outside air, and condenses to a liquid. The liquid flows through a small orifice before going into the evaporator. There it changes back to a gas, and absorbs heat from air inside the cabin.