Air Conditioning Condenser Replaced on my 2001 Chevy Venture

Air Conditioning Condenser Replaced - March 11, 2005

The saga of the AC system on the van has finally ended (I hope).  The condenser was replaced, the system was recharged and tested and has been working great - nice and cold!

I did a little research about the price of a replacement condenser and found the following:
It is not really possible to repair a condenser leak - it has to be replaced.
Prices for the replacement part (condenser) are shown below:
New from dealer - $435
Local parts house - $310
Internet lowest price - $205
eBay best price - $145 with shipping

Since this van can be hard to work on (when it involves the engine compartment), I decided to have the work done rather than do it myself.  I had estimated it would take about 2 hours to get it fixed, but I was wrong - it ended up being about 3.5 to 4 hours. So with labor + parts + AC Charge, it ended up being just over $700 (I have misplaced the receipt). 

Here is a picture of the area of the bad condenser.  You can see that the black paint had come loose where the leak was (I peeled it off to take this picture). See Previous AC Event