Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2004 18:45:49 GMT From: another one<anynospamly.org> Subject: Re: Saab 9-5: Another DI cassette story
In article <ohnOc.214172$Oq2.9306nospami_s52>, Robnospamalkin.com says... > I'm sorry to hear this. Today, two days after my new DI cassette was > installed and the oil changed, my 'check engine light' has come on. > > - Rob Malkin > > "another one" <anynospamly.org> wrote in message > news:MPG.1b73890d76e18ee5989f26nospam.sonic.net... > > In article <_2SMc.26904$eM2.3151nospami_s51>, Robnospamalkin.com > > says... > > > Hello all: > > > > > > I've gotten a lot of information from the group here since I bought my > SAAB, > > > a 2000 9-5 SE (V6) wagon, so I thought I'd add my latest experience to > the > > > group knowledge. > > > > > > My SAAB wagon has 55,000 miiles on it and is maintained well. The > > > maintenance schedule is strictly adhered to and I change the oil every > 3,000 > > > miles. Last week we're on vacation at north shore Lake Tahoe, 235 miles > from > > > home. We're on our way to dinner when I lose power and the throttle > won't > > > respond. I pull over, put the engine in neutral and rev it up - it revs > up > > > great with no load but as soon as I put it pack in gear it stumbles > badly > > > under throttle. After letting it sit for a while I tried to restart it - > no > > > go. It turned over beautifully but wouldn't catch. Like one person > > > described, it was as if it was starved for fuel. There are no SAAB > dealers > > > in north shore Tahoe. There are no independent SAAB mechanics there > either. > > > The car ended up being towed 116 miles to the nearest dealer in > Sacramento. > > > We ended up renting a car and continuing with our vacation. > > > > > > The dealer says it's the DI cassette which was on my list of suspects > since > > > I follow this newsgroup. Has anyone ever heard of a DI cassette failing > this > > > young? Now I know why some of you recommend carrying a spare! > > > > > > One final observation. Mine failed without warning. No sputtering or > poor > > > performance in the days preceding the failure. She ran great right up to > the > > > point where she died. Had I been turning left in front of oncoming > traffic > > > or passing a big rig uphill when the failure occured the consequences > may > > > have been catastrophic. It seems to me that if SAAB can't signal the > driver > > > of an impending failure beforehand than a DI cassette replacement should > be > > > on the maintenance schedule. What do you guys think? > > > > > > - Rob Malkin > > > > > I was going to post roughly the same story to this newsgroup > > about my 2000 9-3, but you beat me to it. > > > > My story is a little more complex. The trouble started last April > > when the car had only 24,000 well-maintained miles on it. > > Precipitous, sudden, dangerous failure on a California > > freeway. The ignition cassette, tow and rental car cost me about > > $800. Then the car failed again, just one day after I got it > > back. This time it ran but weakly and with the 'check engine > > light' on. > > > > Stranded again but closer to a dealership, I limped the car into > > a nearby dealership. I will save this newsgroup the complete sad > > story and skip to the bottom line: > > > > Six weeks. Six trips to the dealership. Blown catalytic > > converter. Blown cassette. Cracked flywheel (!!) Cracked brake > > rotor. Replaced gas tank fuel pipe ($900 right there). Total: > > $6500. $4800 under warrantee. > > > > This is outrageously bad build quality for a car that thinks it > > is a compeditive upscale brand. I don't give a Cheney how bad VWs > > or BMWs are: I bought a Saab. > > > > I am still alarmed over these problems. I need to trust my car. > > I still don't know if I can trust this car at this point. I > > can't enjoy driving this car any more. I am dismayed for the > > Saab brand, which I had had great respect for until now. > > > > > > brokenDown > > Rob, I don't know what to say to you. I hope this isn't a common problem with Saabs. I hope you and I both can get better information out of our dealers in the future. My dealer experience wasn't bad considering the problem, but they simply wouldn't tell me what they found out. They just kept replacing major components for six weeks -- I don't even know if they told me everything they replaced. There is no upside to my story (mostly NOT presented here) -- except that, if they did get to the bottom of the problems I had, I might now finally have the reliable vehicle that I paid for three years ago. But I don't know. I paid WAAAAAY tooo much money for this car, to have had this experience with it. any
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