you would have to dis-assemble the whole front end, the bottom of the car, and basically remove the engine (to add the compressor) more time and expense than buying a used smart with A/C.
I wasn't aware they made smarts without ac. Retrofitting one would probable be a major pain. Do you even have an ac button in the cab? If you do is it even enabled it or will you have to go to the dealership for them to enable it. Then there's all the parts you will need, all the little mounting brackets, all the lines. Then dealing with possible leaks. Damm, only thinking about this makes my head spin.
If I was in your situation I would just throw some 5% tint. it should help quite a bit
I've installed AC on a number of cars. It's not really easy on any of them, even with the proper equipment, which I have.
It's funny, because whenI bought my Pure I was somewhat disappointed that it had AC. I really like the simplicity of the car. No power steering, crank windows, etc. I figure that when the AC fails I'll just remove it!
smart USA made A/C optional on the 2008 pure model. Lots of folks were surprised by that when they got their cars, and some even refused delivery even though they did not order A/C, assuming the car would have it. smart USA corrected that for later 451 pures.
Haha local Mercedes dealer would not even answer the question of whether it could be added or not unless I brought the car in.
Not sure why I am surprised by that.....
Smokinjoe- where you at? I left the south because of the heat. I still have to suffer with an average of 11 days per year over 90 F but I can get by with a few window shakers blowing cold air in the house for those 11 days!
Swapping the mechanical parts wouldn't be all that hard or expensive if you bought a parts car. It's the programming it to function that may be the hard part. I know on Chevy Cruzes you can add cruise control by swapping in a $50 used steering wheel, but it will cost an additional $250 at the dealer to program it in so the computer sees it as being "as built" when the car was new. The dealer has to contact GM for authorization to do it. Same for adding fog lights. Some things are not possible at all. Swapped in leather heated seats into my base model along with the HVAC control panel with the seat heat buttons. Everything plugged in just fine but couldn't get the heaters to work. GM wants you to buy the car with them already installed, not put them in later for a lower cost.
Kind of a dead issue as they are no longer making these cars. My first Pure did not have a/c or electric windows. it was a bare bones basic car, And I put 17,000 miles on it in 7 months before I was forced to replace it. It was Black with a grey interior, and a solid roof. I got by fine without A/C and just opened the windows. I got what I got and if I didn't like it, I would have upgraded.
Yeah, it certainly doesn't matter at this point. If I remember correctly, in 2008 the default in the online configurator for the pure was "no A/C." After the big stink, the default for later model years was changed to "with A/C." It was still optional, but you had to make a decision to delete A/C.
I'm in NYC. It tends to have extreme temps recently. Like I said I will live with it since I bought the car to drive when its too bad weather to ride my main transport which is a motorcycle.
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