Ford Scorpio Forum - Print Page


    
      
        Ford Scorpio Forum
        (https://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl)
      

        General >> Problems >> How common is ACC failures/problems?
        
(Message started by: JBjorling on Feb 28^th, 2006, 11:04am)

Title: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by JBjorling on Feb 28^th, 2006, 11:04am

Hello.

I have a simple question. How common is ACC failures/problems on the Scorpio?

When I go through all the cars-for-sale ads I usually find that about 25% of most cars that are about 10 years old has a broken AC or ACC.

But I have never seen that on a Scorpio.

The ACC is probably the only part of the car I am a bit anxious about, since I don't know anything about it, so if it would break down, I don't have a choice but to take it to the shop.

Also... since it is double-zone, automatic, a little of this, a little of that I guess that when something malfunctions, you're in for a huge bill.

What are your reflections?

Cheers,
Johan

Title: Re: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by Dave on Feb 28^th, 2006, 11:10am

Hi Johan,

welcome to the site :)

I think that part of the problem with air conditioning (AC) is that it is not absolutely necessary in a car, so if it breaks a lot of people will simply not bother getting it repaired - the normal heater will still work ok.

Another point to consider is that to keep AC working you need to not only use it regularly but get it regassed every couple of years. Regassing costs around £60 or so but again many people will not bother.

Once a car gets to about 10 years old it may be on its 3rd, 4th or 5th owner and by this time they may just not care about it so will not go to the trouble of getting things like this fixed!

The Scorpio tends to be owned by people that care about them a bit more than the average 10 year old care, hence this owners club ;D

With it being auctomatic dual zone climate control it is more complicated than normal AC but tends to be quite reliable! Scorpios can and do have AC faults, like any car, but often a system reset or a new HBC (heater blower control) will sort it out.

Hope this helps :)

Title: Re: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by JBjorling on Feb 28^th, 2006, 11:42am

Thanks!

That really helped. That is basically what's been holding me back on the scorpio. I first planned to buy a Mondeo, but once I tested a Scorpio there was no going back.

The Mondeo though had AC instead of ACC so it felt a bit more "safe".

Title: Re: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by stafford on Mar 4^th, 2006, 1:10pm

welcome... go for it the scorpio has all the toys you could want,, you will need to buy at least a ghia to get a good range of extras from a mondeo and then you ll be sucked into buying the ghia-x.. scorpio is the way my friend... []

Title: Re: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by david_molloy on Mar 5^th, 2006, 12:00am

Hello Johan
Like you I was wary of air cond & also cruise cont.
Easy to resolve - buy an early ghia or exec - as they don't have them
1995 Ghia in my case.
I beleive late model Ghia's are to higher spec. and have "extras" such as a/c
david

Title: Re: How common is ACC failures/problems?
Post by JBjorling on Mar 6^th, 2006, 11:57am

Sounds good...

Though, what is GHIA? I've seen it on some ads, but I don't know what it stands for or what it means.

Quote:

Like you I was wary of air cond & also cruise cont.
Easy to resolve - buy an early ghia or exec - as they don't have them
1995 Ghia in my case.
I beleive late model Ghia's are to higher spec. and have "extras" such as a/c
david

Are you talking about Mondeo or Scorpio?

Now don't get me wrong. I want AC or ACC on my next car. I'm just not sure about the reliability on Scorpios (or Mondeos for that matter). I know that the AC-system on Mazda 626 is well-built... the only problem is that I don't want a Mazda.

To buy a car that has no AC/ACC is not a solution. Then I'd rather buy a car with a malfunctioning AC/ACC and fix it when I have the time or strength.

A friend of a friend does a lot of work on AC-systems, so I can get some discount from him on labour, but it still costs a lot of money to fix an AC.

The advantage of buying a car that has a damaged AC is that they are hard to sell so you can get the car for a bargain.