Buying a vehicle simply because it has an easy-to-replace heater core/evaporator just seems… bizarre to me. I have owned 9 vehicles over the past 50 years or so, and only one of them ever needed to have the heater core replaced. None of them needed replacement of the A/C evaporator.
I never had to replace one and like others there are much more important things to consider on my want list.
I’d be more concerned about being able to do routine maintenance on a car, as opposed to tasks I may never have to do.
It took me the good part of the day to change six spark plugs in my Toyota Avalon (FWD). The rear plugs were awful. I used to do it much faster, but at 64, I can’t do things as easy as I used to. RWD car for me next time. (Love my Toyota Celica and Cressida)
But us boomers got to watch “Gunsmoke” and other good shows that the younger folk didn’t get to see 
That “Miss Kitty” sure was perty !
That is a HACK job
A proper mechanic will not deliberately damage the car he’s working on
Do you realize that cross member the hack cut is there for a reason besides looking good?
I seriously doubt the factory service manual says to hack the car
I’ve worked on cars where the car is literally built around the heater core and evaporator. And the support doesn’t even come out . . . at all. You have to remove the dash piece by piece. And then you have to work around that support. You have to disassemble the plenum and take it out piece by piece, do your thing, and then put everything back, piece by piece.
Obviously, the labor charge is astronomical for such a job
I suspect the hack in the video didn’t want to do the job properly . . . he literally wanted to cut corners and do the job quicker
The video I watched for cutting a piece of metal for removing the heater cor from an 80s or 90s Crown Victoria. The piece of metal removed was part of the stamped metal dash frame that was there for the robotic arm to grab while inserting the dash at the factory. I would have no problem with cutting it off and no problem with a mechanic cutting it off and saving me $5oo on the install. I am guessing that if the choice was left to your customers, 100% of them would opt to cut it.
My grandfather told me there is value in hard work, but there is no value in unnecessary hard work.
I doubt the rate would be anywhere near that high
I believe there are quite a few customers out there who’d prefer to not have their car cut, altered, modified, or whatever term might be the flavor of the day
But here’s the thing . . . if you’re considering cutting up the car, TELL the customer this is what you’re proposing to do
Don’t just hack up the car and keep quiet about what you did
Of course the choice should be given to the customer, they would think you were a great guy for offering to save them more than 1/2 the cost of the job.
To not tell them and then charge them book price for the job would be completely unethical.
The customer really needs to know before signing exactly what is being proposed
Because there WILL be customers who will gladly pay more to have the job done without cutting the car
And they’re not necessarily idiots for gladly paying more
They have their legitimate reasons, and it shouldn’t reflect badly on them
Well I was hoping that no car manufacturer would advocate deliberately damaging part of a car to effect a repair. I wish I remembered the video I was watching.
I do remember watching a video on Steering Wheel cover replacement by Chris Fix (HEY guys!). In replacing the cover with new, he cuts a recess in the steering wheel to allow for the seams of the cover to lie flush. THAT would bother me. But probably necessary. ( scroll to 10 minute mark in video):
It’s common in northern Minnesota
I was quoted the price of $1,100 labor for replacing the expansion valve in my 2006 Buick Lucerne
Buy a car that has less probability of ever need replacing. The last 5+ vehicles we’ve own…each with well over 300k miles all had the original AC evaporator and heater core when we sold them. From my experience in most vehicles these days those items are life time.