Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:22:08 +0100 From: Grunff <grunffnospam.com> Subject: Rant - parts prices
It's been quiet here for a while, so I thought I'd have a rant. Why is it that dealer parts prices for Saabs are so high, when for BMWs they are very reasonable? I've seen this over and over again (I own several Saabs + a BMW). Yesterday I was driving my embarrassingly white, bodykitted 325i (remember, you don't choose the colour of second hand cars!), when someone smacked their wing mirror into mine. Result - a fully disintegrated electric drive mechanism. Local scrappy wants £20 for a replacement mirror, I dismantle. So I thought I'd ring the local BMW dealer. Yes, no problem sir, we keep them on the shelf. Whole mechanism = £28. Pleased with this, I thought I'd quickly check the price of an equivalent mechanism for my C900. So I phone my local Saab dealer. First off, why do Saab dealers make you feel like you're some chavvy scumbag just because you're buying parts for an older car? That's a different rant. Anyways, the parts guy starts with the usual "are you sitting down?", then tells me that the same part for the C900 is £193 + VAT!!! Now I know the answer is to buy used parts, but what I want to know is why? Why can't I buy new parts for old Saabs at reasonable prices? This, compared with the relative ease of working on a BMW compared to a Saab, is enough to make me rethink my future Saab ownership... :-( Rant over. Thank you for reading. -- Grunff