ac magnetic cluth in 2012 Tacoma

My ac clutch failed for the second time in just over 2 years. I have 185000 km on my truck. Parts/labour for repairs were about $1300 ( cdn) each time . Is there a known issue with this part? new supplier or??
No help from Tacoma Canada, and dealer would only give a small break on parts- the second unit was only about 3 weeks out of the 2 year/40,000 km warranty on OEM parts.

 

$1300????????????????? WTF????? The clutch should be ~$150-200 and <60 min R&R. Were they replacing the whole compressor?

 

The first bill was 3.5 hours labour = $400, and the clutch was $596 and about $40 in misc spacers etc. With tax came to about $1300. I got same quote from a couple of dealers. Yes, it is painful. I am still trying to whine to Tacoma Canada but they wont budge on the expired warranty issue. They didn't touch the compressor.

 

Is the OEM clutch made out of gold? That's crazy. I don't have access to book time but I'm pretty sure that should be sub 60, and a quick look on Amazon shows a knock-off clutch for ~$100, so let's say $250 for OEM and $150 for labour.... is the second gen compressor buried under the engine or something weird? I did an entire compressor replacement on my Ranger in ~two hours.

At those prices, I would buy a knock-off part from Lordco, Amazon, eBay, etc, and install in myself. It's not hard might be a bit fiddly, but isn't hard, and worst-case scenario only lasts a year or two.

 

The unit is definitely buried! The shop labour rate is about $120/hour but I suspect they have a standard fee per job, regardless of how long it takes. The prices I note are in Cdn dollars so would be about 25% less in USD. lol

 

(Fellow ice-back here, so I get the price thing)... I just had a look at mine (3rd Gen, but I believe the layout is similar), and pulling the compressor would need a little extra profanity, but the clutch seems really easy; get the front up on some ramps, pull the lower rad hose (just for space and convenience, not really essential), and it shouldn't be hard. Here's a good video, not sure what the make/model is, but AC compressors are, for the most part similar, and the location is very similar.



I would be more interested in figuring out why the second one only lasted such a short time. I would expect a LOT more life, and it makes me wonder if the first replacement may not have been done exactly right.

I'm sure they're going flat-rate, but I can't imagine WHY the book time on that would be four hours....

 

That's what I was thinking, and why I am continuing to press Toyota Canada for compensation. The person answering the phone there said they would support the dealer in whatever decision the dealer made re: compensation. The dealer did agree to drop the price by about $300 ( probably some of their markup on the clutch). Still an unsatisfactory response imho.

 

Buddy you got robbed I’m sorry to say
Do it yourself and get an oe spec clutch off Amazon for $60 USD.