Do you have AC in your car?

@maezee (41997)
United States
May 29, 2010 9:46pm CST
Just out of curiosity. I do not, and it's absolutely driving me crazy in the 80-90 degree humidity we call May in Minnesota (OK - it's not USUALLY this crazy gorgeous/hot out!) So I have to drive with my drivers side window wide open and the other windows cracked a bit - so I can at least get wind in my car. It's a '94 Saturn, and I just found out that it would cost me $750 to replace the Air Conditioner Condenser, which has a hole in it. Keep in mind that my car is only WORTH $1,400 - maybe less now, because I'm a little rough on it. . How ridiculous. Looks like I am going to be pretty hot this summer. How about you? How do you handle not having AC? And is it fixable? And if you do have AC, DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!!
5 people like this
12 responses
@schulzie (4061)
• United States
30 May 10
I have two cars and one has air conditioning and one does not. It is awful not having air conditioning here in South Florida's 80-90 degree humidity filled weather. Whenever we drive that car we have to drive with both the drivers side window wide open as well as the other window open. But unfortunately I cannot afford to fix it yet. As soon as I can thoughI will. [b]Have a great day and happy myLotting!!![/b]
1 person likes this
@marty3888 (2355)
• Acme, Michigan
30 May 10
I have a '93 Saturn. The air conditioning works fine. What I'm having a problem with is the transmission. I'm having to add transmission fluid every 5 or 6 weeks. I'm curious how many miles yours has. mine has only 44,000. I bought it about 5 yrars ago and it only had 28,000 on it. Another thing I have is a hole innthe windshield washer resevour. I'm not talking about a leak, this is big enough where if you fill it up, it all leaks out in about 15 minutes. I wish I could afford to get another one, but I can't.
@maezee (41997)
• United States
30 May 10
You are having tranny problems at 44k? That seems scary. When I bought the car about 2 years ago, it had 80,000 and now it's up to 120,000. I've never had any transmission problems or major problems like that - the biggest extent of my trouble has been with the Coolant Fan, the Coolant Sensor, and various issues with rotors, brake pads/shoes, and so on. Luckily none of these issues have been so severe, though. Adding tranny fluid every 5 or 6 weeks doesn't sound good at all. When I go in to get an oil change (every couple of months or so) I usually have that checked as well (as well as my coolant, brake fluid, and so on). Have you had an automechanic do a diagnostic on it? Why do you need to refill your fluid so often?
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
14 Jun 10
Hi maezee. I do with the both of the vehicles that I have now, but I didn't with the last vehicle I had (a '91 Toyota pick-up). The A/C wasn't broken in it, it just never had it from the start. I had this truck for almost 4 years (2005-2009). And the summers get pretty hot here (well over 100 degrees at times), so you know it had to be bad when my husband or I drove anywhere. Oh, how it would me crazy during the summer months! I did not look forward to driving it at all! Needless to say I do not take it for granted at all. I make sure to relish the A/C I have in my cars. Happy mylotting!
@allamgirl (2140)
• Philippines
10 Jun 10
yup, we have ac in our family car. i can relate to you though. i few months ago, something was wrong with our ac, that even when it's turned on, it feels like there's no air in the car. we would just turn it off and roll the windows down, but it was still so hot and humid that i would jokingly say to my mom that riding the bus is better because of the ac. it didn't cost that much to fix it though, so i told my mom i'd give her the money, just have the ac fixed :)
@agent807 (751)
• United States
28 Jun 10
I only owned one car that the A/C worked and it was a '94 GRand Am. It didn't have air conditioning. It pumped the arctic circle into the car. It would get so cold on the lowest setting, that I swore if it was on the maximum, I would have been the only person to get frostbite in the middle of a intense heat in the summer. My friend cranked it up high one day complaining how hot he was, and I kid you not, the locks froze. We had to climb out of the windows to get out of the car. Everyone loved how the air worked, until they start freezing in the car. It was that powerful. I was waiting for snow to come out of the vents.
• United States
31 May 10
In a simular status car is a 1997 Mazda and the a/C does not work, NY summers usually ain't this HOT but this year it already been 90 and the humidity is a killer this year. But the a/c would cost more to repair then the car's worth, sp I drive around with the windows open.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
30 May 10
Hi, maezee. Don't even go there about not having AC in the car. Last week, the AC in our car started to blow out hot. We need some more Freon in it. We probably will be getting some next month. It was so hot on Thursday of last week. It was in the 90s. I can't wait for my husband's friend to put some more cooling Freon in our car. He is in New York with his wife. I hope that he hurries on back, because the car is just too hot to be sitting in. I know how you feel when the AC goes out. It feels like I am about to monkey!
@harips (106)
• India
30 May 10
I don't really own a car.But i used to travel in them mostly.SO i think an ac in the car is a very important thing to have because now the temperature is increasing rapidly.In my country (India) traveling in a car with out ac is very difficult.my suggestion to you is that try to get some money and replace the ac in your car.I think the price of ac you mentioned ($1400) is bit high so inquire for a cheap one.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
30 May 10
My car has AC; it has recently been fixed so now I have a heater and air conditioning which is absolute bliss! I live in Australia and we are heading for winter now so I am making the most of the heating! I certainly do not take it for granted because my last car did not have AC and summers in the car were like being in a sauna especially when I was stuck in traffic! I hope you can get yours fixed I know it’s hard because it’s so expensive. Mine had been broken for a really long time and I could have cried with joy when it was finally up and running again! Hang in there...
@rosie230 (1696)
30 May 10
I have a 2004 ford focus c max... and it does have air con... although I very rarely use it... the reasons as to why I dont use it much is basically because I just prefer good old fresh air, whenever I use it i find it makes me feel too cold, even on the lowest setting, and it's a strange feeling getting out of a cold car into the hot outside... the other reason why I dont use it is simply because it really dries my throat out, and I really hate that. So yeah I have a car with A/C but the only time i use it really is if I am stuck on non moving traffic when it is really hot... but since I live in the UK it is very rare that we get such hot weather lol
@iristacey (112)
• Philippines
30 May 10
Yes we have but it is no longer working. Unfortunately, the AC had been malfunctioning due to its defective compressor. What we do is to avoid traveling during day time, when the sun is up and the temperature is so high. Also, we are fortunate that there are a lot of vans available near our place whose destinations are the key location in town. At least, it is still cool while traveling.
@GeoBro (13)
30 May 10
I live in England and, until about 10 years ago, I had only driven a few cars with Air Conditioning and believe it or not, I used to drive them (mainly customer's cars) with the A/C on and the driver's window open! Doh! We just never seemed to bother with A/C over here and in fact, it wasn't usually offered as standard on anything but top range cars. I now drive a year 2000 Ford Mondeo 2.0 with A/C and my girlfriend has a 2005 Honda Civic 1.6 with Climate Control (much the same as A/C but more refined!). To be honest, I hate to be without Aircon now. In fact, at present my Mondeo is in dire need of a purge and re-gas as the air coming in is only slightly cooler than the outside air. I really must get around to getting my A/C serviced - and soon - as they've promised us a really hot summer and I don't want to get caught without working aircon. In a nutshell then, I guess I've become used to aircon and its made me a little soft - but then, you're allowed to get like that when you're over 50, aren't you? :-)