Just found out my 2018 Clarity AC is depleted of refrigerant, presumably because there is a leak or some other problem. It is $350 just to refill and search for leak then more to fix the problem. I noticed a problem late last summer but because of Covid, waited till my 30k checkup. Honda says because it is 3 months over the 3 year AC warranty they wont cover it. Bad enough they should deny coverage when only 3 months past 3 year date, not taking into account the pandemic seems outrageous to me. Anybody else have a similar problem or a suggestion on followup.
See this thread: https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/a-c-not-putting-out-cold-air.6953/ And, this thread: https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/clarity-a-c-problem.6302/
You'll see in the threads @MrFixit recommended that many (I may have been the first) experienced a leak in the AC condenser. Mine was replaced quickly under warranty, but people who had the problem later had problems because Honda didn't have the part in stock. You'll also see that the refrigerant isn't covered by the same warranty as the rest of the car, so you may get dinged for that.
I think you have a compelling argument that Honda should cover this. It may become a customer satisfaction issue that must be addressed at the corporate level. Do you have anything that can corroborate that it was bad at the end of last summer? If not, then it will be a tougher sell... The lesson is that you should have realized that you were within the warranty then and at least gotten the situation documented.
Sounds like a great solution for OP’s current problem. @OP - In other news, sometimes Honda does a goodwill claim. See if you or the dealership can escalate it.
I'd push them to cover it, can't hurt to try. My son's BMW 300e PHEV was a couple of months and 2k miles out of warranty and the NAV and control console (head unit) went out. About 3k for the part alone. Total repair was over 5k. The dealer escalated it within BMW and got approval for warranty coverage before they even talked to him about it. That bought a good deal of brand loyalty for him.
When my 2nd gen-1 Insight's battery died a month out of warranty, my dealer applied for one of those goodwill claims and Honda picked up the cost of the battery, but I had to pay for the labor.
Note: If you are technically inclined and have an interest in monitoring your A/C performance through the OBD2 port, then have a look at this post: https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/budget-battery-capacity-readout.10531/page-12#post-128931 It provides the means to obtain the A/C pressure using the Budget Battery Capacity Readout discussed in the thread... Pressure alone is not definitive (unless your refrigerant is essentially empty), but if we can gather some readings that represent nominal performance it could be useful.
Just found out Honda will cover all costs of replacing leaky condenser after all, and I agreed to pay for freon refill. I guess I could have demanded they pick up latter as well since it was obviously caused by the defective condenser but I did not.
Just found out Honda will cover all costs of replacing leaky condenser after all, and I agreed to pay for freon refill. I guess I could have demanded they pick up latter as well since it was obviously caused by the defective condenser but I did not.
Are condensers readily available now? A couple of years ago there was a shortage of them (possibly due to many bad ones being replaced).
The air-conditioning condenser in my Clarity (purchased in November, 2017) failed again. I had the first failed condenser replaced in 2019 and it lasted nearly 4 years. I just got a new one installed under warranty. I hope Honda improved it since 2019 to reduce their warranty expenditures.
Did you have the opportunity to look at the bad condenser? Just wondering if it had the tell-tale oil stain surrounding the area where the leak was. Also, I assume if it was covered again, that there was no evidence of a strike from a stone, etc?
I didn't see it, but the service advisor told me the characteristic oil-stain was in evidence and there was no stone-strike damage.
