You obviously have never removed a dash board to remove a heater box to remove an evaporator, (nor would anyone expect that of you). Besides the many hours of miserable work, there's the cost of the new evaporator and the refrigerant. That alone could run over $150.00.
The only way to know if a shop can do the work for less is to ask. Most shops go according to a "flat rate" book that lists the times for every procedure on every car model, so they all charge the same number of hours. The only difference is the hourly labor rate which typically doesn't vary too much.
If you have a nearby community college with an Automotive program, they may be willing to do the job. We were always looking for live work to give our kids real-world experience. The students were very conscientious and well-supervised but it could take a week or two to get your car back. The trade-off is the labor charge will be very low. Also, they will only do the types of jobs that match with what they're currently studying. In our case that was during one eight-week Heating and Air Conditioning class per year.
May 23, 2013 at 12:09 AM
