1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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On September 20th I bought a 1995 Saab 900SE convertible (V6, fully loaded) from my Saab mechanic. 93,000 miles for $8000 (the dealers say it's worth about $12,000 and they can't keep them on the lot for more than two weeks at a time. Sellin' like hot cakes.) It has new tires, the top was replaced a year ago, one owner, excellent condition. The mechanic went through everything with his computer and tested the whole car. What an awesome deal! He even had the air conditioning charged (it blows 45°F at the vent).
Two days later.. the car dies in my driveway. Just stopped running, the dash lights came on and the bell dinged once. The next morning it starts again and I bring it to my mechanic. He can't recreate the problem but reconnects a vacuum hose that was disconnected, spends a few hours testing things, and charges me $70 (we split the total cost).
The next day... the car dies on the side of the road. I have it towed to my mechanic and tell him to let it idle for about 20 minutes to get it to fail. I also mentioned the ignition switch problems I read about on this site.
About two weeks later... he says he has gotten it to fail and has checked absolutely everything he can check. The PCI(?) behind the glove compartment was a little hot so he added a redundant ground and it coold the PCI down, but the car still dies. He suggests I take it to the dealer, have them test it and bring it back to be fixed for free.
The next day... find out that the last time the car was at the dealer it had a messed up engine due to a manufacturer's defective timing belt rail and that it had been towed away from the dealer in pieces. The previous owner had brought the car to the dealer, had the timing belt changed and they failed to replace the defective part. Then the part broke about 2000 miles later and messed up the engine. The dealer was willing to 'help' out with the repairs. The dealer would replace the heads (which they said were cracked) if the owner would replace the block (which they said was also bad.) After getting a cost on the block and checking the cost against GM's price (it is a GM engine) the previous owner decided that he was being screwed over, had his car towed away in pieces, and decided never to do business with the Saab dealer ever again. He sold it to my Mechanic who found that the heads were not cracked and the block was fine. He rebuilt the engine.
Back to my dilemma... fortunately I have an ex-girlfriend who works for the dealer and was able to get me a deal. It was at the dealer for two more weeks. They replaced the Crankshaft position sensor that was PCI(?) and it still didn't run. Eventually after much testing and frustration, they added a redundant ground (the original ground tested fine) to the Air Mass Meter and the car has been running perfectly ever since. Even better then when I first bought it. I spent $300 at the dealer. They detailed it too!
I now believe that I have a near perfect convertible, with a 1 year old top, an engine that was completely rebuilt 3000 miles ago, and that has passed about 40 hours of intense Mechanic inspection without any flaws.
I still think I have an awesome deal.
posted by 208.57.87...
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