re: My wife’s ac in her car just crapped out

Nah, they just need the right diagnostic tools. Without those, they're dead in the water. Repairs are easy now. The computer is very accurate to the exact problem."

You've been misinformed. The "computer" points you in the right direction but reading and interpreting the data is up to the mechanic. Knowing what tests to run is up to the mechanic. The difficult part in today's mechanic job is the diagnostics. The easy part is replacing the parts once the diagnosis is made. The correct diagnosis is critical and a shop is fortunate if they employ one really skilled diagnostician. I can't tell you how many vehicles I diagnosed and repaired that had gone elsewhere prior to coming to me . Codes were pulled and parts were replaced;however, the vehicle was not fixed. Some of it is easy but not nearly all of it.