Turned my ac on for the first time today, didn't blow cold - is this a common problem or just needing a recharge?

probably a small leak and needs a recharge.

Have it recharged, and ask them to put dye in it -- so you can locate the leak and have it repaired cheaply.

thanks for the quick reply :)

Actually you can save yourself ALOT of money and buy a recharge kit from Advance Auto and as soon as you start to put the refrigerant in it will escape from the place where it is leakin from. I did the same thing on the truck that I have, and found that all I needed was an o-ring or two to fix the problem. The kit is only like $60 and you can stop recharging as soon as you spot the leak, and even if you use the whole kit before you find the leak, I am sure that it would be WAY more than $120 to find/fix the leak and replace the refrigerant. :Beer

If you do everthing listed above and it still blows hot, your evaporator coil (usually at the firewall) is probably shot. If its leaking you usually won't be able to see the dye because of the box its enclosed in. I had the same problem with my '97 Cherokee. It was'nt pretty because I had to pull the dash to get to it.