I understand your point completely. Is it an issue? Sure it is. The part has a design flaw, and it causes it to fail with more frequency than could be considered normal. My point is that all cars have issues, some worse than others. BMW automatic transmissions are notoriously weak and fail with alarming regularity around 60k, Audi interior electrics (esp. climate control and airbag sensors) are persistently wonky - things break, and some things are stronger than others. All things being equal, in my mind DIC failure rates pretty low on the scale of things to worry about. That there are a lot more systems in today's cars, and overall a lot fewer failures than in years past, is a considerable achievement. The fact is that if the DIC fails, it's an easy fix and as long as you shut down when it occurs it usually doesn't hurt anything else. If you choose to carry a spare, you can be back on the road in 5 minutes. Now, from an engineering standpoint, I would have preferred individual coil packs for each cylinder, but that's not the way Saab felt about it, so there we are. It seems a pretty minor reliability issue to me, but then perhaps I'm not necessarily representative of the majority here, having spent years wrenching on cars new and old, and just accepting occasional breakdowns as part of the automotive ownership experience. Not a good part of it, but part of it nonetheless.

FWIW, I replaced the DIC in my car (1999, 4cyl SE, 102k miles) when I acquired it a few months ago. I consider it preventive maintenance, the same way I would replace a coil, condenser, points, cap, and rotor on an older car as soon as I got it. Maybe it's overkill, maybe it isn't, but at least I've got a baseline and a spare should I need it. I drove the car from NY to SC and back, over 1500 miles, last weekend without the spare DIC and didn't think twice about it. If anyone is really that concerned, consider the DIC a maintenance item, add it to the 60k mile service, and you'll probably reduce the chance of an inconvenient failure to near zero.

The suggestion to take the bus was not intended to offend anyone. It was more a rhetorical point to emphasize the fact that by driving a car you are exposing yourself to the risk of a failure, no matter what car you drive. Perhaps my phrasing was a bit terse.

posted by 68.199.129...

• The cause of much doom and gloom...., Mike Lynch , Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:30:54
  • There were no sludge gloomers...., Mike Lynch , Mon, 28 Mar 2005 13:18:28
  • I don't see Corolla and Sentra owners carrying spares, Vlad, Mon, 28 Mar 2005 08:15:35
  • per Consumer Reports, Aero'ed, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:38:35
    • Good numbers.... Conspiracy theories.., Mike Lynch , Mon, 28 Mar 2005 13:14:10
      • comparable cars, Aero'ed, Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:30:45
    • Re: per Consumer Reports, larmen, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:48:59
  • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., Dale, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 15:38:59
  • There's a bigger part failure concern in all cars..., Greg W, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 09:35:40
  • Saab Principles of Customer Relations, DW, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 08:07:08
  • the devil works at Monica Saab!, aero_k, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 22:03:43
  • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., Andrej, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 19:43:37
    • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., chris, Sun, 1 May 2005 00:19:30
    • That's not what people are saying, tincob, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 20:09:24
      • Re: That's not what people are saying, Andrej, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 21:03:02 <-- Viewing This Message
        • You can say all you want,, No.9, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 06:52:43
          • Re: You can say all you want,, Andrej, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 11:43:18
            • Re: You can say all you want,, dmz789, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 13:26:01
            • Re: You can say all you want,, larmen, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 12:06:50
          • Cheaper to pay few funeral expenses than recall . n/m, all saabs, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 09:36:06
          • Re: You can say all you want,, larmen, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 09:14:02
  • Mine die after I told other to carry a spare., ckpaden, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 19:43:16
  • Add me to the list of doom and gloomers (very long), tincob, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:45:15
  • I beg to differ, SWEDECAR , Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:13:06
    • For me it's BMW coils....., Mike Lynch , Sat, 26 Mar 2005 17:36:29
  • Sounds like you haven't experienced a failure, Kirk, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 16:51:20
    • Not such a great idea, Louis, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:33:33
  • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., jj, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 15:48:38
  • Oversimplification of the Saab DI, devil is in details, dtech, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 15:26:49
  • It's not all that bad, Stephen Goldberger, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:51:58
    • Oh yeah? My 9000CD had two DIC failures. . . . n/m, JPW, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 20:08:07
  • Not in agreement Mike, Louis, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:30:02
    • Re: Not in agreement Mike, penelope, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 10:41:16
      • Re: Not in agreement Mike, Louis, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 13:54:53
        • Re: Not in agreement Mike, larmen, Sun, 27 Mar 2005 15:38:43
  • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., ngd, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:48:20
    • Re: The cause of much doom and gloom...., HJS, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 14:28:10
  • Ooops...nm, Mike Lynch , Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:33:44

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

• Prev by Date: Re: dealershipe oil ?, IrishPat, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 20:47:14
• Next by Date: Re: Not a DIY unless you have access to a Tech II..., PatrickFrmDE, Sat, 26 Mar 2005 21:10:51
• Main 9⁵ Bulletin Board

StateOfNine.com

SaabClub.com

Jak Stoll Performance

M Car Covers

Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)