Date: 17 Jul 2002 16:10:45 GMT From: davehinznopsamcop.net Subject: Re: Help - motor crashed on 94 V6
Someone who looks an awful lot like Wyatt Taylor <wwtaylornopsamll.net> wrote: > (I wrote, but the attribute has been dropped) >>How, exactly, are they responsible for handholding him? Are they supposed >>to ask how many miles since he changed his oil and filters too, when he >>comes in for a repair? Rotate the tires? Wiper blades? >>When you take a car in for repair, you're telling them to fix what is >>broken. It is unreasonable to expect them to go through your entire >>service history to make sure you've been taking care of a car. > Friend, you are wrong about this and I think everyone who ever bought a new > car from a dealer, and every dealer service manager would agree with me. So, you *do* expect them to handhold you? "Did you eat a good breakfast"? He took his car in for a repair. He had missed a scheduled service, and no doubt wasn't having the oil changes done at the dealer either. It is *NOT* the dealer's responsibility to make sure that he's taking care of the car. It's his car. > People will not buy cars that they cannot get repaired at a reasonable cost. Free is pretty damn reasonable if you ask me. His failure to act is not Saab's fault, or the dealer's fault. Had he bothered to take care of his car, this would not have happened. > The manufacturers put out service bulletins to their dealers when they > discover service issues that need to be addressed. The service managers and > service departments want to do everything they can to maintain the > customers' cars. > In this case there was a service bulletin. What does the 60/65K mile checkup, that he failed to have done, have listed? Would they have done the belt (for free) at that time if he had bothered to take care of his car? > Everyone in the Saab world knows > about this V6, including you. The customer is not assumed to be the expert, > the Service Department is. Is there no mention of timing belt changes in the book that came with the car? Reading one's own car's documentation is *not* an unreasonable thing to expect of a responsible owner. Taking a car in for it's scheduled maintenance is not something that requires the owner to be an "expert", just to follow directions. >> Further, >>it's quite likey that the same kind of person who would try to blame Saab >>for their own failure to properly maintain a vehicle, are the same kind of >>person who would take exception to the Saab dealer telling them they need >>to take care of something that is 12,000 miles (or 7,000) miles overdue > I have heard my friend say several times that if they had told him the car > needed service, and explained the implications, he would have done > everything in his power to get that done. In the computer world, we have this saying of "RTFM", something about "read the _ manual". > You are assuming that he deliberately disregarded their advice. Earlier in > your email you said it was his responsibility to tell them what to do. I > think that you love the product and brand so much, that you are having a > hard time admitting that they could have ever made one tiny mistake. There was a mistake made, and it was by him failing to maintain his car. He doesn't have to be a freaking expert to take it in for the 60K checkup, he just has to be not too lazy and/or cheap to do the right thing. Maybe Saab could build some sort of a computer / cellular interface into the car, so that when it hits the reccomended service intervals, your car could call you and tell you it needs to be taken care of. So much easier, though, to read the book that comes with the car, innit? >>The only reason there are V6's in Saabs, are >>because the marketing folks decided that it should be foisted onto Saab >>from GM, so that people like your friend who think that cylinder count is >>more important than performance would buy them. The timing belts were in >>a engine in a Saab, because that's what was in that GM V6. > I've seen the car and it says "Saab" on it. It does not matter who made the > engine. Whatever. You were saying that people here claim it's "so fantastic" or whatever, and I was explaining how it's not regarded by many people as being such. But, not just because it has to be taken care of properly, my specific beef with it is that it's got a very low power to weight ratio, compared with the genuine Saab-designed engines. >>EVERY ENGINE EVER MADE WITH TIMING BELTS, BY ANYONE, NEEDS THEM CHANGED >>FREQUENTLY. Sorry for shouting, but this isn't rocket science. >>Hence the change intervals provided for free by Saab, and the >>"small print" in the service books. > They provide it for free to limit their warranty costs. How many other > manufacturers change timing belts for free? So, Saab is *EVIL* for encouraging their customers to do it right, by giving them the service for free? 'Scuze me? That among all of the other clues would have told your friend, had he even begun to pay the slightest bit of attention, that by not doing it he was being incredibly stupid. > I understand your passion for the product..... but don't you think they have > a scintilla of fault ? None whatsoever. He ignored the basic upkeep of the car, and it broke far beyond the service interval of the part that he failed to take care of. Had he either read his manual, -OR- taken the car in for the reccomended service anywhere near when it should have been, that'd be different. But no, he decided he could ignore the maintenance of the car, and then tries to blame Saab for his failures when it breaks. Dave Hinz
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