Car Air-Con Disinfection & Foam Evaporator Clean, $330

What the $330 package does, and what it does not

A cleaning foam is applied to the evaporator core through the drain or vent access, left to dwell against the surface, then drained. We finish with an anti-bacterial disinfection of the vents, ducts and evaporator housing. One fixed price; nothing is fitted or added unless you say yes to it first.

Who it is for: For a musty, sour or persistent air-con smell, a smell that has come back after an earlier treatment, or a car that has sat unused for a while.

Evaporator access: Evaporator access varies by car – some models make the core easy to reach through the drain or vent, others do not. We check access before starting. If the core cannot be reached on your car, we say so first and you pay nothing.

Cabin filter: Not included. We check the cabin (pollen) filter while the car is with us and, if it is blocked or overdue, quote a replacement before we fit it – the price depends on the car. We recommend replacing the cabin (pollen) filter with this package, because a blocked filter can re-seed the smell soon after.

If the smell is something else: If the smell is coming from somewhere else – a coolant leak, water sitting in the carpet or a nest in the ductwork – this package will not fix it; we tell you what we found and quote that separately. Not a re-gas: if the air-con is not cold, that is our separate regas, $250 incl. GST with the leak test first (if the test finds a leak, the $250 still applies, no gas goes in, and the repair is quoted in writing). Car air conditioning re-gas and repair.

Where the smell comes from

Every time the air-con runs, the evaporator behind the dash gets cold and wet. When you switch off, that moisture sits in the dark with the dust the cabin filter let through. Bacteria and mould grow on it, and the next start blows the smell into the cabin. It is a hygiene problem, not a mechanical one, and it is common on cars that do short trips.

Our $330 package deals with it in two steps: a cleaning foam applied to the evaporator core itself, left to dwell and drained, then a sanitising chemical through the vents and evaporator housing. A spray alone treats around the growth; the foam lifts it off the core. It takes a booking slot, not a day, and you can add it to any service.