Groupon AC regas m9 discount £45

[grogee]

Just found this on Groupon for anyone who needs it. 

[SiC]

There is a welcome10 code (or something like that) which knocks an extra 10% off if you make a new account.

Protyre are doing a promo code for £44.99 regas ATM too. Just had my wife's car done at protyre as easier to get to than ATS.

https://www.protyre.co.uk/aircon

 

[RoverFolkUs]

Impressive loss leading (not a loss I suppose but they must be making very little money) - do they end up doing a complimentary* health check telling you that you need tyres and brake pads while it's there? 

[SiC]

They told me that I needed pads and discs all round. Tbh I think they're absolutely fine. I mean the fronts are a bit thin but there is still a reasonable amount of meat on them. It's more the 3mm or so less tyre tread that needs sorting next and they didn't mention them 🤣. They priced up the work but I just told them that I'll be doing it myself. "Well as long as you know and know to keep an eye on it." Was his response.

Usually they're pretty good and not trying to find work at my local protyre. Not sure if it was because I went in with Mrs SiC too rather than when I go in alone. Unfortunately shit like this is why it's me that ends up taking the cars in.

When I've had it done at my local ATS, they've never found work though. Can't remember if they ask if I want the complementary health check there though. Usually I say no thanks iirc. 

I have to take my 330i into a BMW main dealer for an Airbag recall soon. Will be interesting to see if they do a complimentary health check there. I might even say yes as I'd be intrigued to see how much they can find on a 19yr old BMW 🤣 (Probably a lot of oil leaks)

[Kiltox]

I've used this a few times, never get the hard sell even on some proper fucking heaps

[SiC]

TBF labour isn't much on the job. Hook it up, enter the car model, hit go and walk away for a bit. Iirc they can send the old recovered gas back for reprocessing too. 

[SiC]

12kg of R134a is £355 here:

https://www.alphawholesale.co.uk/cfqr134a-refrigerant-r134a-12kg

So basically £0.03 per gram. 

415g in our Civic is about £12.45 in gas. 

Even with 10 minutes of labour and machine costs, there is still likely a decent margin in there. Especially in a busy fast fit workshop. Probably more margin than fitting tyres? Especially with the aggressive online pricing cutting margins.

I know the wheel alignment is there biggest earner. £35 per axle online, £40 in shop (i.e. after the free check). Considering most mundane cars only can fronts tie rods adjusted, probably a 15min to 25min job max for £40. 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

12kg of R134a is £355 here:

https://www.alphawholesale.co.uk/cfqr134a-refrigerant-r134a-12kg

So basically £0.03 per gram. 

415g in our Civic is about £12.45 in gas. 

Even with 10 minutes of labour and machine costs, there is still likely a decent margin in there. Especially in a busy fast fit workshop. Probably more margin than fitting tyres? Especially with the aggressive online pricing cutting margins.

I know the wheel alignment is there biggest earner. £35 per axle online, £40 in shop (i.e. after the free check). Considering most mundane cars only can fronts tie rods adjusted, probably a 15min to 25min job max for £40. 

I'm sure we pay about half that for 12kg bottles, although it does vary massively depending on what time of year you buy it, as to be expected with supply/demand

I just add that our bottles are on an exchange basis which will have something to do with it, granted. 

R1234yf is a different kettle of fish, cost wise. 

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Iirc they can send the old recovered gas back for reprocessing too. 

It goes straight back in. It doesn't separate "old" Vs "new" refrigerant

In the vast majority of cases, 50% of the vehicle's capacity may be evacuated so it's actually only getting a 50% top-up, which increases margins even more

If there's zero in the system then it's probably got a leak anyway

[RoverFolkUs]

Current trade prices courtesy of GSF: 

£156 inc VAT per 12kg of R134a, so 1.3p / gram

£276 inc VAT per 5kg of R1234yf, so 5.5p / gram 

 

Pretty big margins available, come to think of it!

[SiC]

Given you're not tying up a mechanic/fitter and if done in the corner of a workshop not even a bay, you just need to keep the machine plugged into cars to keep making money. So I can see why these offers exist.