That New Car Smell

Wesley Chapel, Florida

We dropped the Honda CR-V off at a local auto repair shop.  We were 99.9% sure the problem was a bad compressor, but wanted the mechanic to check it out, just in case it was something cheaper.  (wishful thinking)

The mechanic started the car,  turned on the a/c and it immediately made an awful noise.  Yep…it’s the compressor.   He said the noise was caused by metal shavings inside.

Estimated cost to replace compressor, dryer, condenser, and to clean out the lines:  $1100

This comes with  “lifetime” guarantee through NAPA.

It appears many readers also have Honda CR-V’s and are concerned about this.

Here    is a forum link I found discussing this well known problem.

Here is another.

and another

We are having it repaired at a local shop that was recommended to us.  The price is much lower than the dealer.  I hope they will do a good job and it will last.  They are buying the parts from Napa and supposedly it will come with a lifetime warranty.

The lady in the mechanic’s office confirmed they do a lot of repairs on CR-V compressors.  Other Hondas do not appear to have the same problems.    She said we were lucky to have gotten 70,000 miles!  

When it happened, it happened quick!  We heard a tapping noise that stopped when we turned off the compressor.  In just minutes the noise got worse and we had no cool air.  Gone…just like that.  It had been cooling just fine before that.

I don’t know if there is anything that can be done to prevent a problem…but maybe there is some info in some of the forum links I provided.

 

We made a decision to sell the Honda and our 2004 Nissan truck.   Mr. Al can finally quit whining. He got his new truck!

Both the Honda and the old Nissan truck will be sold and we will be a one vehicle family.

We bought a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab.   We prefer a truck for our lifestyle.  We will put a topper on the bed, whick will give us lots of closed storage.  We will put our kayak racks on the topper and then when we are at a place where we kayak a lot, we keep the kayaks inflated and transport them on top of the truck.   Just like we do now.

A truck allows us to put wet kayak and scuba gear in the back, as well as transport trash. 

We decided against a full size truck, like a Titan, or Tundra because they are just too big.  They are also way too tall for me to reach up to help Al put the kayaks on top.   I think this is our 5th Nissan Frontier truck and we’ve had great luck with them.

We did not know until Saturday, that Nissan made a Crew cab (the larger one) with a full size truck bed.   They do not make many and we had never seen one.  Evidently most people are satisfied with that puny little truck bed.

Our old truck has a “back seat”, but only a 4 year old would fit.   We got around the back seat problem because we will had the Honda.

We’re glad we learned they made a crew cab with a 6 foot bed.  Those small truck beds are just not large enough for all of our stuff!

Here it is:

Our new Nissan Frontier Crew Cab

No….it does NOT match the motor home.  Nissan has very few color options.   There were very few Crew cabs with a 6 foot bed in the south east,  so this is what we got.  It was our first choice for color with their limited selection.  We don’t like dark colors.  Al isn’t concerned that it doesn’t match, but it bothers me.   I’m going to get over it though!

Here is a bad picture of the back seat.  An actual adult could sit back there.   It might not be the most comfy, but it’s do-able.

I drove it home from Clearwater last night during rush hour.  It drove so much nicer than the old truck.  It is our first automatic Nissan.

We cannot flat tow it behind the motor home without a drive shaft disconnect.  Our five speed old Nissan was able to just hitch and

So….we’re now trying to get everything we need to tow.