Still no cold air w/new compressor, condenser, evaporator, ac line, etc.

A few weeks ago, I bought a new condenser, compressor, evaporator, expansion valve, ac line for my 2010, 200000 mile Prius and had them installed by a dealership. They weren't too happy about my independent purchase of parts , but they did the job for $1650.. After a few days, there was no longer cold air. The dealership is 1000 miles from where I live. They are willing to start over again, for free, and see where the leak is but I cant travel to there for awhile, and, already the heat is oppressive in the middle of the day. I asked the local dealership if they would run a test of the system which will be a bit expensive, and they agreed. But, they cannot guarantee that the test will be conclusive. After almost 3000 dollars spent on this, I really do not know where to go from here. Any suggestions other than a new car?

 

I bought all of those parts, because I was given several diagnoses from 2 reputable Toyota Prius specialists, both, far away from where I live. (I don't really have a lot of faith in the dealership near my house.) It turned out that the evaporator was not leaking.
To be honest…I didn't realize the work was discounted.
Other than questions that imply that I have poor judgement (and I agree!), do you have any advice?

 

Thank you for your responses. I drive between 50000 and 75000 miles a year for business so I cover huge amounts of territory. I discovered that my ac was not functional at the end of last summer, after I had left the car in front of a friend's house in Maryland for 2 hot weeks. I had little knowledge of the Prius specific coolant situation so Pep Boys checked it out and inserted freon. I don't know if they knew about the conductive oil for the coolant system in a prius. The cool ac lasted a few days, and, when it stopped, a friend applied more coolant. That lasted a few weeks. (I feel that I should have known about the coolant Prius specific issues so I will take responsibility for that mistake.) There appeared to be no known solution for my problem and I did not trust my dealership. I was able to ignore the problem through most of the winter.
By March, when I was in Ca., far from the east coast, I thought that I could conclusively fix the Prius ac because there was a highly recommended Prius specialist there. Later, his diagnosis that there was a leak in the evaporator proved to be incorrect. He had no time to fix the problem he had diagnosed and I knew that I would travel through Ms. where there was a dealership that had formerly done decent work on the car, so I trusted them a bit. They found a leak in the compressor, which I saw with a dye test and special glasses. They could not say there was an evaporator leak. I was stymied. I had the ability to buy the necessary parts w/warranty at a discount so I decided to buy the expansion valve, an ac line, compressor, condenser and evaporator and the dealership in Ms. agreed to install the parts for 1650. They found that the evaporator had no leak but the new one was installed, anyway.The system worked for a few days, but, by the time I returned home, there was no cold air.
Finally, I bit the bullet and had my local dealership do a test for $200 to determine the leak. There was a rock hole in the new condenser, so the dye test was inconclusive. I bought a new condenser and the dealership will charge around 600 for installation and to charge the system. I just saw a completed sale of a 2010 prius with the same mileage for close to the same price as what I've put into this ac debacle.
I may change my user name to "UnluckyandStupid."

 

Thanks, Patrick. I will check to see if the dealership installs a light yet durable wire mesh. I'll let you know how this episode ends.

 

well…the new condenser is installed. The tech commented that the compressor was unusually loud until it was recharged. Later, it hummed contentedly. There is cold air, now. Hopefully it will last for the summer, at least. I will keep everyone apprised.