Failing AC in my Vauxhall: Compressor Crisis?

I had a similar issue with my 2018 Vauxhall Grandland X last summer. The symptoms were exactly the same, warm air blowing and no cooling. Took it to the garage, and turns out the refrigerant was completely empty. The technician found a small leak at one of the A/C lines where it connects to the compressor. They had to do a dye test to locate the leak, repair the connection, vacuum the system, and refill it with new refrigerant. The compressor itself was fine, it's usually not the first thing to fail. The whole job took about 2 hours. A/C worked like new afterward. It wasn't a super serious issue, but it needed proper fixing rather than just a quick refill, or it would've leaked again. Just make sure whoever works on it does a proper leak test first. My car had about 170k km when this happened. Hope this helps with your decision. Sometimes it's worth getting a second opinion from another garage.

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience! That's really helpful and sounds exactly like what I'm experiencing. Good to know it might just be a leak rather than a complete compressor failure. Do you remember roughly how much you ended up paying for the whole job? Also, has everything been running smoothly since the repair, or have you had any other A/C issues pop up?

Hey again! Yeah, of course I can update you! Actually, I got really lucky with this one, it turned out to be covered under my extended warranty, so I didn't have to pay anything at all. The mechanic found that small leak I mentioned, fixed the connection to the compressor, and topped up the refrigerant. Everything's been running perfectly cool since then! I've put another 25k km on the car since that repair last summer, and the A/C is still blowing nice and cold. Once the mechanic properly diagnosed that refrigerant leak, it was a pretty straightforward fix. The compressor itself was absolutely fine, just like they suspected. Honestly, I was worried it would be something major at first, but it turned out to be one of those rare times when car troubles work out better than expected! If your symptoms are similar to what I had, there's a good chance it's just a leak that needs sealing. Definitely worth getting it checked out!

Thanks so much for all the info! I actually took your advice and went to get it checked out at a new garage yesterday. You were spot on, it was a refrigerant leak! The mechanic found it pretty quickly with their leak detection equipment. Ended up paying £280 for the whole job, leak repair, system evacuation, and fresh refrigerant. Bit cheaper than I was expecting, honestly! The best part is my A/C is now blowing properly cold air again, just in time for the warm weather. The new mechanic was great too, really took the time to explain everything and even showed me where the leak was. Much better experience than my last garage! Thanks again for pushing me to get it sorted. Feels good to have a properly working A/C again! Definitely won't be going back to my old mechanic after this. Sometimes you just need to take a chance on someone new, right? Cheers for all your help!