AC went out paying an arm and a leg

This is a so-called air conditioning compressor "black death". I have done this repair on a Chevy and it really doesn't have to be that $$ to fix. The only components that you absolutely have to replace are the condenser and expansion device... in addition to the compressor and canister, of course. The rest of the system to include the evaporator is fairly easy to flush out. Now a dealer won't take this approach because they want max profits and to eliminate all possibility of a callback and warranty repair. But this can be done. I have done it.

Oh, now I see this is an old thread and someone just added a new question. LOL.