Is A/C charging and Freon covered under warranty?

[Joshua]

I took my 2008 Mazda 3 to the dealership today because I noticed that the a/c wasn't no longer blowing cold air like it did before. They tested the a/c and saw the air was at 59 degrees F. They said there were no leaks, but they would have to charge and add Freon to fix the a/c problem and get cold air. They charged me $200 saying that this was not covered under my warranty because there was no defect or problems with the a/c - just needed charging and freon. Is that fair? I feel a bit ripped off here. The air now goes down to 45F but takes forever to get there.

Thanks for enligthening me.

[cwp_sedan]

If there was a problem with the system, it should be fixed under warranty. Technically you shouldn't be paying for any costs while under your warranty term, but then again that all depends on the problem. What dealership was this?

[Joshua]

It was Gyro Mazda. They said there was nothing wrong with the car and that's why I should pay the charge. If there was no leaks or anything else, why did the A/C stop working as it should? I'm confused and there's no way to really check out whether warranty covers this or not. They said it's Mazda Canada which decides what's covered and what's not.

Gyro has been great so far though.

[cwp_sedan]

If they said sorry it's fine but you can pay $200 and we can make it work better, I would have told them to bite it and went somewhere else.

[Joshua]

Ironically, I called 5 auto mechanics... they would've charged me $270+ for the same job!!

[htc***]

$200 or over is a rippoff. It cost $100 or less. You can buy a kit from CT/WM/Partsource then DIY.

[yearoftherat]

If nothing is wrong with the part, recharging is not covered under warranty:


The basic warranty on Mazda vehicles covers all parts found to be factory defective for 36 Months or 80,000 km, whichever comes first. Additional warranties cover Powertrain components for a period of 5 years or 100,000 km whichever comes first, body sheet metal perforation for 5 years and unlimited mileage and specific emission control components for up to 8 years or 128,000 km.

You gotta remember too that its been brutally hot the last few days and our A/C's are not the greatest to begin with.

[Joshua]

Thanks. I have to say it's been cooler since I got it fixed. The temperature goes down to 40F in the hot sun.