NEW

SOME EMAIL.

Thanks Steve, for putting me in the know....I was just about to go and buy a SAAB but I kinda think thats not such a good idea afterall. Keep up the good work. Judging by the emails you've received (not the abusive ones) there seems to be something wrong with SAABs altogether..no wonder they are so cheap... Thanks again

Steve, You really don't want to know what happened to me. I bought a brand new Saab 900 SE Taladega early October. It has been in the shop for 9 days total since then. After fixing that problem after 9 days (5 seperate times), another issue cropped. My CD player one fine morning decided it was going to fall asleep (permanent). So they changed the CD player. The only problem is that they changed it with an old one. A refurbished one. So here I am with a brand new interior, shinny buttons crisp paneling and vola! a rubbed out used plate for a radio. It has come to the point that I now laugh at things like this. The car drives very well (keeping my fingers crossed), but the interior is a cacophony of discordant sounds. The service is a joke. Will I buy another saab? Probably not. Will I recommend the saab to my frineds? No. I think there are a number of other cars around $30000+ that I can consider. Even my VW Jetta makes less noise.

Sorry to hear of your horror story about the Saab 9000 I have a 9000, which has had "check engine" warnings coming up, and although I have ahd it into a number of main dealers, none of them can sort it out. To rub salt into the wound, my clutch slave cylinder went, and I have just forked out 715 pounds for new hydraulics, and clutch plate while they were at it. I took it to Anderson Motors at Hazel Grove. I picked up the car the other day, and when I got it home I discovered that the paintwork on one of the rear dorrs and a front wing was matt with streaks in it and there were blotches of primer showing through. So, I took it back to them. They polished off the matt finish, leaving even more primer showing through. I complained and they sent me to a body shop which does work for them for assessment. The chap there told me the hot wash they had used has obviously eaten into the paintwork where repairs had been done at some time. Now, I have had the car for 2 and a half years, and washed it plenty of times with the paint staying glossy and intact. They claim that they had just washed it, so it must have been a fault with the car, and they refuse to accept liability. So, what is the best way of adverting Anderson Motors complete lack of customer care and responsibility? A few lively web pages would do the trick, perhaps linked in the same way yours are. Cheers.

Hi Steve I have not had the horrendous problems you have had with Saab but I certainly am not happy at present. My G reg. 900 T convertible is my second Saab and I adore it. My problem is with the costs incurred for services, repairs etc. I do find I go through tryres quicker than most drivers of other vehicles but my main gripe is regarding the hood. I brought the car in Oct. 1992 and during a service a few months later it was noted that there were quite obvious 'pinch' marks and signs of a tear appearing in the hood. Saab GB were asked to look and comment and apparently the car should have been recalled for a modification to prevent this happening (a design fault?). The previous owner was either not contacted or chose not to have it done (?) so they offered me a new hood if I paid 25% of the cost. I agreed and all was well for 3 years. However, for the past year or so I have noticed the same marks appearing and even more worring a definate tear is now apparent as well as major cracking in the edging around the entire hood. At the beginning of the year, I asked my local agent to send a report to Saab GB with their recommendations for solving the problem. The Agents concluding message to Saab GB was that the hood should be replaced. The reply from Saab GB was that because of the age of the car they did not feel required to do anything. How can an obvious design fault be the problem of myself? In the time since having the new hood, the hood has not been vandalised, abused or even overly used (english weather!) so where do I go from here. I have telephoned several upholsterers and trimmers and all have told me they cannot help as nothing will 'stick' and in fact just this morning a trimmer advised that he felt I should complain direct to Sweden as he felt the law of 'fit for purpose' now extended past the usual 1-2 years previously thought to be reasonable. Obviously, a convertible's main feature is it's hood and therefore it would be reasonable to expect it to last for a period of some years. I was trying to find the address of Saab Headquarters in Sweden when I came across your site. Can you offer any advise please? Regards

Dear Sir: I think that your experience is very regrettable, and I do believe each detail of your complaint. I also own a Saab, the paint job and finish on this 1990 900S is very bad, and I have been informed that Saab is known for this. In addition the repairs are astronomical, even compared to other private European car makers. I still love the car however. I wish I also had available a non-Saab dealer to fix the car as you have found. The Saab is a quirky car, and expensive to maintain, unless you get lucky and find one that is the exception. One additional example of a major hassle. The sunvisor on the passenger side of the 9000---if the light goes out--you need an entire new visor! Very expensive. In addition, the lighting on the automatic gearshift of my 900 is out, and it costs over 400 dollars to simple light up the options on the floor mounted gearshift panel, as they should be at night. This is truly absurd, and accounts for why Saab has had such a terrible time surviving in many parts of the USA. Good luck

Hi there! My name is Lynn Dunphy and I found your website most interesting. My husband and I are thinking of buying a new car for Christmas. I was doing a bit of research on the Saab and found your website posted with all of the horror stories. I find these honest opinions extremely insightful. I have always been a BMW owner, and have been a bit weary of the Saab. However, my husband's brother and father are both Saab owners and really believe that they are fantastic cars. For the most part, they are the only people I have ever heard that don't have problems with their Saabs. On Saturday, we test drove the new Saab 9-5 and, amazingly we were impressed. I would be interested in your opinion of the new car if you have read or heard any information (other than what the Saab manufacturer has published) that would be helpful to a potential buyer. Thank you for your time and honest opinion! Sincerely,

I bet your'e really popular with Saab! I am thinking of buying a second hand one which is why I was having a look at the Web. Are there any particular models or age of cars that is worse for problems than any other? I'd appreciate your views

You only have a one year warrany?? Here, the norm is 3 years. But for public relations reasons, it would be rare to find a company that would treat someone like this! I buy Chrysler and they always treat me well - even after the car was out of warranty. ps. I'm in Canada

Dear Steve, I had a Saab 9000cds 2.3i -- which didn't start when I took delivery and had many irritating quirks (the back seat buckaroos being the best). My decision to sell was based on the ever increasing service costs, then the flat refusal to give me a loan car. I have a chrysler Jeep now, and was considering a saab 93 for the wife -- I guess that post traumatic amnesia can be a damgerous things -- thanks for reminding me

There is an old adage that no-one does a job as well as yourself! A lot of your tale of woe seems to not be the car as much as the Distributor/Dealer and is an indictment of service in the UK and quality of mechanics Good Site - I'm currently looking at a 95 Saab V6 Cabriolet and was quite worried by 2 things - one was the general quality of the mechanicals and the other was how rattly the top end of the engine is (for 71,000 k's) In NZ corrosion is not much of a problem especially with european cars. Does anyone know about the new 93 (re reliability)

I have a friend in your boat and she's trying to deal with the Saab corporate stiffs. We live in Los Angeles, as does Adam, and I'd like to get them together to discuss strategy. Did you ever track down his EMail address?

Sounds familiar I had 2 Saab 900 at the beginning of the year, and as an economy measure I had Kwick fit exhausts fitted. - I had fitted my own exhaust 3 years before, and while I had a good exhaust, it was a bit of a pain. Anyhow........ Within 4 weeks the exhausts had BOTH rusted through on the seams, and I received a free whole system replacement. The 'service' from Kwik fit is far better than the product, and NEVER AGAIN. PS - shame you had a problem with your 900 overall, I have had 2, both costing less than Ł1000 as second had cars, and I have had EXCELLENT service from them, driving all over Europe..... I look after them, and they work hard for me.

Just a letter to let you know that we have the same problems in England with Saab dealers.Having recieved excellent service off my local dealer helping me choose my brand new 900 Convertible all the servie stoped as soon as i handed over my deposit. after a long waitmany phone calls i was eventually given a date to pick up my new car. The day came and after waiting for my new car to come out of the showroom i was horrified to find out that whilst reversing in the workshop the salesman bumped my 'pride joy'! He was very apoligetic told me he would get it fixed a.s.a.p. A month and a half later and after atleast 30 phone calls to him Saab UK they finally aloud me to bring the car round to have it fixed. 4 months on now , no apoligy from Saab UK or any reply from my letters. So I for one agree with you,the cars are fine but the dealers are assholes keep it up JE

Steve, You have encountered the SAAB paradox. A good SAAB will be the best car you ever owned. But, a bad one, and there is no way to fix it, will be a total lemon. I've known owners of both types of SAAB owners. There is no middle ground with this car. My main problem with SAAB in general is poor visability (too many blind spots). Better luck Next time, Clay

Dear Steve, Greetings from Mongolia. Sorry my English is no good, but I really want to share my view to Saab. I think that your site is useful to Saab owners, who are going to buy Saab and even the manufacturer. I did not have any Saab, but I had '85Volvo 760GLE bought in England. It has V6 engine build by Renault, Peogeot and Volvo. I had too much problem with it and sold out 3 times less price when I bought. Fuel consumption was 20litres per 100 km. Fuel pump was broken 3 times, brake disk worn, difficult starting when hot, steering wheel too heavy, relays and fuses always burnt out and many more. Currently, I have Mitsubishi Space runner 4WD, Nissan Bluebird EU13 and Toyota 4Runner. I read your problem regarding Saab and other E-mail to your site, even the abusive E-mails. I surprised that you and other owners of Saab (any other cars) had such horror that you can easily access to authorized dealers and garages. Car quality can be checked in Mongolia. Because the road condition is terribly bad (you will never imagine how it is bad) and there is almost no any authorized and specialized dealers. So there is no routine maintenance. And high temperature range between -40 to 35 centigrade. In this condition, car can be checked. In Mongolia, only one city Ulaanbaatar and there are only 30000 passenger cars in the city. Most makes and models are running, but only 2 Saabs (both Saab 900) entered into Mongolia (now you never see any Saab in Ulaanbaatar, 'cause these 2 Saabs stops) comparing with over 600 Mercedes Benzes and the same number of BMWs. Most of them have high mileage and over 10 years old. If you meet somebody who has same car as yours in the street in Ulaanbaatar, you can talk with him and he will definitely tell you any problem regarding the car. It's very helpful to keep running the car and also being good buying guide. I heard that the Saab owners recommended not buying Saab, because very difficult to find spare parts (Mongolians buy the parts mostly from China and Russia). And they still can't start the cars. At last, in Mongolian drivers' view the best car is Mercedes-Benz 230 with 1997cc engine, 123 body. It is tested in the Mongolian road and climate. But unfortunately it was out of line since 1981. Any model of BMW is good. Another alternative is some Japanese models, preferable with carburetor engine (not fuel-injected). Nissan Bluebird, Toyota Corona etc. One guy wrote that Ford Escort is junk. But Escort is much better than Saab in bad roads. Also Sierra is toughest one. Those are not luxury as Saab or Volvo, but very reliable. Don't buy Audi and Korean cars. This word is not only mine, most Mongolians will say same thing. Steve, I suggest you that you'd better to sell your Volvo and buy a Toyota Camry. Believe me. Good luck on the road!

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All of the information on these pages is to my knowledge either an accurate summary of events and facts or is my opinion. It doesn't represent the views of Saab (urgh), my Internet service provider, or anyone else.