Toyota Aurion: Air conditioning failure — compressor, evaporator or a leaking line

Faulty air conditioning is a commonly reported Aurion fault, and it turns up in three places: the compressor itself, the evaporator inside the dashboard, and the lines and seals that carry the refrigerant between them. The cost gap between them is enormous, which is the whole reason to work out which one you are looking at before you buy. A leaking line or a re-gas is a modest job. A compressor is a real bill. An evaporator means the dashboard comes out, which is mostly labour and is the one that turns a nice car into a regrettable one. A seller who says "it just needs a re-gas" may be right, but a system that has needed re-gassing more than once is leaking somewhere, and refrigerant does not evaporate on its own.

• Air conditioning blowing cool but not cold, or only cold at speed
• No cold air at all when the system is switched on
• Rattle, squeal or grinding from the engine when the air conditioning is engaged
• Cold air that fades away after a few minutes of driving
• Damp or musty smell from the vents, or fogging that will not clear

1. 1

   Test it properly and give it time, because a failing system often works for the first few minutes.

2. 2

   Start the car, switch the air conditioning on at its coldest setting with the fan up, and hold your hand at a centre vent — it should be genuinely cold within a minute or two, not merely cool.

3. 3

   Leave it running for the whole test drive and check again at the end, since a system low on refrigerant frequently gives up once things heat up.

4. 4

   Listen at the moment you switch it on for a click as the compressor engages, and listen with the bonnet up for any rattle, squeal or grinding from the compressor once it is running.

5. 5

   Check that cold air comes from all the vents rather than just some.

6. 6

   Note any damp or musty smell, which points at the evaporator area.

7. 7

   Ask the seller when the system was last re-gassed and how many times — more than once means a leak.

8. 8

   If a workshop inspection is possible: have the system pressure-tested and leak-tested, which identifies whether you are buying a hose, a compressor or a dashboard-out job.

$300 to $3,200 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “Does the air conditioning blow properly cold, and has it ever been re-gassed?”
• “How many times has it been re-gassed, and was a leak ever found?”
• “Has the compressor or evaporator ever been replaced?”

The failure described above is documented in published sources — owner forums, technical service bulletins, recall notices and workshop write-ups — held in our fault database. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them, and it is a starting point for an inspection rather than a manufacturer statement.