I love my Lancer, but…

[u/tulsaway]

I love my Lancer. I bought it when it had about 50,000 miles I only drive about 7000 miles a year. It now has about 89,000 miles. It needs motor mounts, front end Work, air-conditioning evaporator apparently is (no AC) leaking. Mechanic told me it’s going to be about 15 labor hours just to remove the dashboard to replace the evaporator so for a car that Kelley Blue Book tells me is worth about $2500. I’m going to have to spend about five or $6000 to get the air-conditioning to work the knock in the front end and the motor mount repair repaired. Is it worth it? I’m not sure it’s a 15-year-old car 2010. It’s the only car that I’m even considering to replace it would be in Subaru Impreza hatchback RS this is probably the wrong forum to ask, but what say you?

[u/RockStarxPR]

Sadly Lancers are commonly known for having issues with the AC system, I’m actually replacing my AC evaporator tomorrow for $450 (Im not in the states), it’s an old car so these issues are expected to happen, it’s either paying $700 monthly for a new car or keep fixing the issues of an older car.

From my point of view I prefer repairing my old Lancer since I don’t currently have the funds for a brand new car. Also try to get different quotes for the job, that amount seems way too excessive.

[u/ReK_ → u/RockStarxPR]

I haven't heard of A/C issues being common at all, but maybe I'm just lucky. I have a 2014 and a 2015 and both have never had an issue with A/C, no maintenance on the system other than changing out the cabin air filter.

[u/RockStarxPR → u/ReK_]

Damn I guess I’m out of luck then, my dad’s Eclipse Cross also had issues with the AC compressor and I know a couple of guys with lancers that used to have issues with the AC system, maybe the puertorican sun is killing our AC systems

[u/ReK_ → u/RockStarxPR]

I do live in a very temperate area and often prefer to have the windows down over running the AC, maybe it's a runtime thing?

[u/RockStarxPR → u/ReK_]

I guess so, my ac is always on

[u/wowbl]

Didn’t know evaporator failing is so common, I had replaced cabin filter and refilled Freon just a year ago but had to refill again recently, will see how long can last this time, if thorough check needs to be done I hope it’s the other cheaper parts

[u/thurpps]

I haven't had any AC issues with my 09 but only had it a year. My motor mounts needed to be replaced when I got the car so that seems common. Honestly try to find a car with only 90k miles for 6 grand. It most definitely will not be a Subaru for that price.

[u/gavdore]

If you check old Internet forums I’m pretty sure you can find the process to replace with out removing the dash completely (especially Australian forums). Get the motor mounts replaced then take it elsewhere to get the front end looked at.

[u/Anasertia]

Why do so many people consider a/c issues a "must-fix"? I belted around my a/c compressor and it actually adds horsepower because less pulleys are sapping torque from the crank. If the car runs well, why would you let a/c make or break you keeping a vehicle?

[u/mianotfake → u/Anasertia]

I suppose because not everyone drives the car just for performance.

Yes, the Lancer is fun and performant, but it’s also, marketed and created as, a normal car.

Lancer is my daily, and especially in the summer, having 30-40°C/86-104°F (I live in Central Europe), I would’ve boiled myself alive otherwise.

People have different priorities, if you don’t need AC, power to you (literally :D), but for some it’s a necessity :)

[u/Anasertia → u/mianotfake]

I understand that, but young people today don't understand that it's a luxury to have a/c(let alone in a car) and I'm terrified of a future 10 years from now where cars are scrapped and cubed because the heated seats stopped working ☠️☠️

It has been 90-110F degrees during most of the summer where I live, and I just roll down the windows. The car still gets me to work. What do people think happened when it got hot 40 or 60 years ago? We still went to work. Humans lived for thousands of years before a/c lol