Question about AC Recharge cost

I recently had My car in to look at why my AC Was blowing warm air and
it turned out to be I needed Freon or what ever They put in to recharge
the AC System. Anyway the whole job took about 1 hour and ended up with
a bill of $169.00 I realize I have to pay for Labor of $39.50/ per half
hour but did I get ripped off?
They checked for leaks and checked hoses but still wonder what other
people pay to get same job done.
I went to a BP Service Station in case your wondering.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I recently had My car in to look at why my AC Was blowing warm air and
> it turned out to be I needed Freon or what ever They put in to recharge
> the AC System. Anyway the whole job took about 1 hour and ended up with
> a bill of $169.00 I realize I have to pay for Labor of $39.50/ per half
> hour but did I get ripped off?
> They checked for leaks and checked hoses but still wonder what other
> people pay to get same job done.
> I went to a BP Service Station in case your wondering.

Probably not.
Freon 12 is very very expensive. 134a is relatively cheap. Depends on how
much of which one they used.

Garages often charge by the flat rate..that means that 'the book' may allow
them a set time to
do a job, and that is what they charge regardless of the actual clock time
(more or less). This
is standard and reasonable practice (reasonable if they do their job well
enough).

> wrote in message
...
> Probably not.
> Freon 12 is very very expensive. 134a is relatively cheap. Depends on how
> much of which one they used.

Freon 12 may still be available on the black or gray market. I have seen
some for
$20 per pound can. You can see how a certified mechanic could present a
pretty formidable
bill with a couple of cans of that, labor, etc.

? wrote:
>
> Freon 12 may still be available on the black or gray market. ...

There is lots of R-12 available. It's perfectly legal to buy, sell, and use
it if you're EPA certified and obey the regulations pertaining to its use.
You can become EPA certified by taking an open-book (open-browser?) on-line
exam and paying $15 or so. No Big Deal. Ebay is a good source for R-12.

"ZZ" > wrote in message
.. .
> ? wrote:
> >
> > Freon 12 may still be available on the black or gray market. ...
>
> There is lots of R-12 available. It's perfectly legal to buy, sell, and
use
> it if you're EPA certified and obey the regulations pertaining to its use.
> You can become EPA certified by taking an open-book (open-browser?)
on-line
> exam and paying $15 or so. No Big Deal. Ebay is a good source for R-12.

I've seen it going for $13 a can + shipping on Ebay. Of course those sales
are mostly
to the DIY crowd. Places like autorefrigerants.com sell it for $30 a can to
the
retail customer, probably around $20 a can to the wholesale customer.

Ted