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I worked for a Chrysler/Jeep dealer for 2 1/2 years. I have replaced dozens of these evap cores. Thing is, there are no short cuts. The steering column has to be lowered to the floor. The center console will be removed as well as the shifter handle. The entire dash pivots so that the drivers side is almost where is usually is and the passenger side will be resting on the seat. The job can be done in a few hours, but to someone who hasn't done one, it could take 8 or more. As for the 80 cent seal, that is entirely a possibility. However, smart money is on the evap core, they have an incredibly high failure rate. So much so, Chrysler extended the warranty on most of those cores to 80,000 miles. I don't know of a shop that would check an a/c system without using a detector, if you trust the shop you went to, I'd go with them. A second opinion will waste more time and money if you had a respectable shop in the first place. If I do one as a side job at home, I get a factory core, might cost a little more, but it fits perfectly and comes with the styrofoam insulators a lot of times. An addition thought, the entire a/c-heater plenum is what is being removed to get to the evap core, since you will be taking it out of the dash anyway I would consider a new heater core also if the truck has age or high mileage on it. Such a move could save you $350 in the future. The shop I am at now has an $83 labor rate, with a labor estimate of $350, that's only 4.2 hours of labor, a damn good time for that job.
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