Tip of the Moment (second opinion for cars)

Tip of the moment: Get a second opinion for your car's ailments, too.

I had a supposed Honda specialist shop do my car's tune up and check on what was wrong with my air conditioner. They told me either of two parts might be broken and how much it would be to replace each. I decided to wait to have it fixed. Eventually, I took it somewhere else to have the A/C fixed. They checked it over and told me that the A/C in some of Honda's models won't work unless it's absolutely full of freon. That was my only problem: it was missing a few ounces of freon. (Mind you, thanks to the EPA, checking it for leaks and filling it up cost almost as much as the first shop's estimate for one of the two parts that needed replacing.) I won't embarrass myself by saying how long I went without A/C because of this.

[From my "Past Tips of the Moment and Past Thoughts" page. This was the fifth tip and ninth post overall. I didn't keep track of the dates beyond the year, so the date is a guess. Unfortunately, I didn't run the A/C during the winter(s) to keep the hoses sealed, so it eventually stopped working again. — 28 May 2009]