Every year for the four years I've owned the vehicle, the AC has frozen solid at least once and required expensive dealer servicing, usually to the tune of $500-$1K USD. Every part that could be replaced has been replaced, every part that could leak has been checked repeatedly.

It's always the same: A multi-hour drive on a hot, sunny day, into the afternoon sun. The AC runs full blast and fails to cool the interior of the vehicle. Once each hour I need to pull over and wait for 20 minutes until the ice that had encased all the AC components under the hood melts and then I get about 45 minutes of driving until the AC freezes solid again.

I wonder - is the AC unit just plain undersized for the amount of solar gain entering the vehicle? Does it just run continuously (without cycling on and off) until it can't cope any longer? I think my next option is to have the windows filmed with 3M Crystaline - a "heat mirror" product - to see if a lessened heat load will allow the AC to work more efficiently. I can't go through another 8 hour drive on the interstate across the deep south on a 90 degree + day without AC!

The a/c started blowing hot air in the afternoon. I thought I had done something wrong, but to my surprise, there was just hot air. I raised the hood and noticed that the electric radiator fans would run when the a/c button was pushed, but the compressor clutch would not engage. I called the dealership and reported the problem, and got an appointment scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

On Saturday I got to Carl Gregory Honda service dept. in Columbus, Ga. at 1:30 and they took me right in. they changed my oil, rotated my tires, and had the car out of the bay and into the shop within 30min. It took aprox. 1.50 hrs. to diagnose the problem down to a defective a/c relay then I was back on the road with cold a/c. Good job and high marks to the dealership. everything about the repair was covered under my standard warranty.

Saturday, April 10, 2010 / Southern California: Bought the car on Saturday, March 27, 2010. When we were driving off the lot in our BRAND NEW car, our sales rep told us that there's a part in the A/C system that needs to be replaced (a hose or whatever). One week later, the car was brought it and was "fixed". The A/C worked for 2 days. Brought it back to the dealer the following week and now they had to order an A/C compressor. I'm supposed to get the car back in a few days. I have a feeling that in the next 5 years in which we'll be paying for the car, the A/C system will be a thorn on our sides.

Update from Apr 17, 2010: I got my car back on April 12, 2010. The A/C is working perfectly. We were told that the A/C compressor was not assembled correctly.

IF I had to pay for parts and labor, it could've been in the neighborhood of $1,300.00. Thank goodness for warranty, I guess.

So now I'm a happy owner once again.