I did too for 6 years (1986-92) when I first moved to Houston. Must have been out of my mind. On my Buick's A/C, one mechanic said I had a leak that would cost $500-600 to fix. So I went and had a friend put in two cans of coolant for 20 bucks. That was on May 15th. Lucky me. I'll do this indefinitely if I can.
I wasn't knocking techs. I was just pointing how dealerships take all the money. I think I am just going to eat the 900 bucks.
Actually, we haven't spoken in years. I get updates through the family via his folks. Its somewhere north in the Spring/Woodlands area.