I had a new 12k BTU Daikin air con with inverter installed in my main bedroom a bit over 2 years ago, cost was 18K Baht. It came with a one-year warranty and, after around 15 months, it simply gave up working. I got the people who'd sold it to me and installed it around and they messed around for an hour or two, changed the gas and it worked again, cost a bit over 3,000 baht. A few days later, two Daikin technicians showed up as the boss of the company who'd sold it to me had called them up as he didn't think his guys had been able to do a thorough fix. The two Daikin technicians connected their computer to the compressor so they could see what was going on inside and they showed me that there were two temperatures that were too high. Fair enough, so they faffed around for a few hours and changed the gas and then showed me the readout saying the temperatures were in the normal range now. Problem fixed, that'll be 3,700 baht, please.

Now, about a year later, the wretched thing is starting to play up again. When it works it works great, so there's no problem with dirt or the gas, it's more like the inverter is faulty as, on times, it's only blowing mildly cool air. I'm pretty sure based on what happened last time that it's going to break down on me again, maybe tonight or next week or next month, I have no way of knowing. Given that it's around 2½ years old now and, between the initial purchase and the repairs last time, has already cost me about 25K Baht, I'm reluctant to spend another 7K Baht trying to get it working again, especially if it's only going to last one more year. I've been to see a different place about getting a new Sharp air con installed and that's good to go when I need it.

My question is what do I do with an air con unit that's less than 3 years old but which has a serious fault? In the past, my air cons have given up the ghost after 9 or more years of service, sometimes up to 15 years, which is fair enough and I've been happy to sell them for scrap. But surely a 3-year-old unit that cost 18K Baht must be worth more than scrap to someone? Has anyone ever sold a second-hand unit that should still have many years of service left, who to and how much can you expect to get for it?

5 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Has anyone ever sold a second-hand unit that should still have many years of service left, who to and how much can you expect to get for it?

If you use an 'independent' aircon technician to install the new aircon you can often negotiate a discount with them for taking away the scraped unit they can use it for spare parts or recondition it and sell to another customer.

Also might be worth looking at a non inverter aircon as they are easier and cheaper to buy and fix when they go wrong...yes they use more electricity.

11 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Has anyone ever sold a second-hand unit that should still have many years of service left, who to and how much can you expect to get for it?

11 minutes ago, Guderian said:

I'm pretty sure based on what happened last time that it's going to break down on me again, maybe tonight or next week or next month, I have no way of knowing.

Which is it? Two completely different versions of the same story.

One you think you can sell it as it "should" have years of service left.

Two you no longer trust the unit and want to move on to a new one.

1 minute ago, marin said:

Which is it? Two completely different versions of the same story.

One you think you can sell it as it "should" have years of service left.

Two you no longer trust the unit and want to move on to a new one.

Do you really think that a 3-year-old unit shouldn't have years of life left in it if it's fixed properly? The people here simply don't seem to be able to do a long-term fix, but I expect that someone can, so it should be worth more than scrap to them.

My TCL 18k BTU 11,000 baht flawless so far for 2 years, just get rid of the Daiken and start again, those AC shops have loads of used ones not being sold so not sure you'll be able to sell it for much if anything

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

Do you really think that a 3-year-old unit shouldn't have years of life left in it if it's fixed properly? The people here simply don't seem to be able to do a long-term fix, but I expect that someone can, so it should be worth more than scrap to them.

An air con repair shop might take it off your hands hoping to make a quick profit, but I doubt you will get much more than scrap money for it. They will have to take a chance and pay for whatever spare parts might be needed.

Supply and demand. Not much market for broken air con units.

Plus the fact it is easier for most people to just buy a new one without the hassle of possible problems.

21 minutes ago, phetphet said:

An air con repair shop might take it off your hands hoping to make a quick profit, but I doubt you will get much more than scrap money for it.

We replaced a then 24 YO A/C 2 years ago and when the better half suggested a trade in during the installation we (she) got 2500 from them to take it away.

The other upstairs and rarely used A/C now 26 YO is still going well but is much more expensive to run (only very occasionally) unlike the new one now downstairs