Seeking Opinion on F53 Chassis A/C repair cost

First I would put in two $10 cans of R-134-a gas and see how long it will cool. If it does cool then I would run it at least one hour or take a short trip to a park, etc. Check the pressure after one can. I think the gauge fill adapter was about $17 at WM.

$1300 is not out of line but it is still a lot of money. I had one that needed two cans in the spring and one to top off about August. Not ideal but doing that for 10 years still was less than $1300.