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Last month my Nissan Tiida developed an unusual noise when running. I took it to my local Midas for servicing.

They inspected the car and determined it was a fault with the pulley assembly in the air conditioner. They sourced a replacement second-hand pulley and replaced it, as well as changing the drive belt. This cost $561.

When I collected the car I noticed that the air con was no longer cooling. After driving it for a little bit the noise returned as well, but to a lesser extent. I took the car back to them where they adjusted the drive belt which they said had fixed the noise. They informed me that the compressor in the air conditioner had seized and the unit would have to be serviced by an air conditioning specialist. This was a rambling 15-minute phone call that went into minute detail. They would contact one of their partner businesses and arrange a quote for the repair.

After driving the car I found the noise was still there and after a few days Midas still hadn't contacted me. Not feeling confident in Midas' abilities I took the car to another mechanic around the corner. They made adjustments to the drive belt, pulley tensioner, added lubrication, and they fixed the noise. They also confirmed the issue with the air con and that I'd need to go to a specialist, giving me the details of one. This cost $207.

I took the car to the air conditioning specialist. I gave him the reports from the other two mechanics and he took a took. He confirmed the compressor was seized but found the fuse had been removed. When run with the fuse the air-con emitted fumes and stalled the car. He was skeptical about Midas' description of repairs, questioning why they'd replace the entire air con pulley assembly and not just replace the bearings. He wondered if perhaps they had just changed the entire unit. Either way, the air-con will need to be replaced and cost approximately $2,300.

At his advice, I went back to speak with Midas. I described the situation and the specialist's concerns. They now said they had only replaced the bearings in the pulley assembly and disputed the findings of both the other mechanic and the specialist.

I’m not a mechanic so I had a couple of questions here:

- Could a bungled install cause the compressor to seize?
- If the compressor had seized, could the air conditioning run without emissions as it had when I picked up the car from Midas?

The air con was cooling when I took the car to Midas. When I got the car back it wasn’t. So basically I’m wondering if they screwed up the install, seized the compressor, and then removed the fuse so the unit would run when I picked it up to cover up their error. When I then called saying the air con wasn’t working and took it back in, they then ‘discovered’ that the compressor had seized.

What are my options to pursue a remedy here?

Hi there,
I believe you have already spoken with out tech team.
However the CGA gives the process of rights to remedy when repairs are not carried out satisfactorily. https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/help-product-service/cars/fixing-your-car/