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I am walking away from Saab for now. I thank those of you that helped me with my Saab issues, and urge others to really think twice (or three times) before buying such an unreliable car –laden with manufacturing defects, and with costly repairs and difficult problems, with generally unhelpful dealers. My story is below, and I am back to reliable (and fast) Acura that I have driven in the past. If you decide to buy and own a Saab, please take advantage of all the helpful people on this Board and reciprocate when you can.. We all still love Saabs, they are somewhat addictive, but know that in advance and be willing to pay the price.
Ever since I owned by 2 Saabs I have spent endless hours on this board seeking answers to problems –so that I could save money or time running to the dealers. Here is the final story. I hope it doesn’t come across as a rant, because I am trying to be factual and objective and just warn others before they invest their money and time. Of course, if you have ample amounts of both, then go ahead and enjoy driving a Saab- when it goes, if it goes, it is a fun and classy car.
I bought my 1996 900 se turbo used with 48k miles for $11,500 in Dec 2000. I thought it was a great deal.
Before I traded it because it was becoming such a hassle to maintain this very unreliable machine, I did hundreds of dollars of repairs myself (thanks to this board) and had the following work done at the dealer:
replace the SRS air bag warning light sensor
replace the main oil seal
replace clutch
replace engine pulleys
replace antenna
replace muffler
total for this stuff- $2500 to the dealer
when I traded this car, the dealer gave me $4,000
----loss $10,000 in 2years
miles driven 17,000
In Jan 2003 I reached the conclusion from reading this board that the 9-5 model would be more reliable and hassle free. Saab was offering $5500 off and I thought that driving the car since new would bring better luck. Boy was I wrong.
I owned the 2003 9-5 for 25,000 miles. I paid $32k for it –not counting tax etc. It had both premium and touring packages. In less than 2 years, and only 25k miles, the following work was done.
Loose driver seat repaired
Replace antenna for remote
Thermostat for seat heaters showing through leather-Saab refused to repair
Driver side door hinge come loose
Trunk latch broken
Cupholder rattle never fixed
Replace vacuum pump on abs brake system
Replace the crank position sensor in trans
Reprogram transmission control brain
3rd gear fault in gear ratio
lock up mechanical default
-replace transmission
After this last issue with the transmission, which left me stranded on the road 3 times before Saab figured out what was wrong, and 4 tows of the car, I decided I had enough of my (maybe not everyone sles's experince) totally unreliable Saabs for now. I did not want to wait for DI, failures turbo failures and the like. Plus I was so terrified each time the car simply stopped on major highways at high speed due to the transmission failures, I couldn’t trust it-this is not a safe car. Yes, maybe it helps you survive an accident, but with transmission failures – DI failures, etc, it may actually cause those accidents and other drivers involved might not be so lucky. Saab still refuses to reimburse one of my $80.00 towing bills.
So now I sold my 2003 9-5 with 25K for $19,500. Again a loss against the original $32K paid for it of $12,500 in only 2 years. So bottom line, in 4 years I bought $43,500 of Saabs and lost $22,500, not counting value of time and aggravation. Again, thanks to all of you for posting all your helpful comments.
posted by 151.197.41...
, Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:02:37, Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:53:53, Sun, 17 Apr 2005 18:12:30
, Sun, 17 Apr 2005 17:26:36, Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:15:13
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