1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I've had lots of experience--regrettably, all the specialist dealers I liked were replaced by multi-brand dealers I've not been so happy with.
Great Britains took over the old Victor Sports Cars franchise, and some of the service people I liked came out worse for it. Saab is definitely a secondary interest there, though that may be an improvement over the first few years, when they seemed more interested in selling used BMWs than selling Saabs. I'm sure they make more money off their Land Rovers and Jags. As mentioned previously, they do not do Saab loaners. Service is average--sometimes lacking in attention, as in the time when the courtesy wash misaligned our 9000's rear wiper and the guy who retightened it put it on the wrong side.
Clews and Strawbridge was Saab heaven: they had a terrific selection of used Saabs, even some older ones. I was quite pleased with the classic 900 I bought there, and I had a friend who went there all the way from Lindenwold NJ for service. The franchise was taken over by General Sales (Caddy and Olds) in West Chester, and I understand some of the Saab people did go there. Have had no service experience there. Sales seemed OK, but the used 9-5 (not CPO) I looked at there last year was a lot rougher than the ad suggested.
Only dealt with Werner once, for a radio replacement. Their franchise was taken over by Fred Beans, and I've had no dealings with them.
As was mentioned before, Scott was taken over largely intact by Max Paul, who has a Toyota franchise in the city. They're now the only Saab specialist in the area, and the people I deal with most frequently. Service is typical. It took two visits to get the warranty repair to our 9-5 radio because they didn't take my word for it that the symptoms were indicative of a bad antenna connection, and thus didn't have time to drop the headliner and fix it. On the other hand, when my 9-3 had the air box problem, they got Saab USA to cover it out of warranty because of bad previous repair (under warranty, before I bought the car). That saved me calling Saab USA, which I would have done had they not called. Saab loaners only for customers who bought new cars there, but they were about to give me one even though I'd not asked for one (I needed a ride to the train station instead).
Sales people at Scott seem OK. Helpful, but not really tuned in (we were looking for a 9-5 Linear wagon with a stick--they let us drive a sedan with a stick to get a feel for the clutch/tranny, but didn't do a lot of calling around to locate suitable cars).
Internet guy at Cherry Hill was excellent--went out of his way to try and find the car we were looking for, but I managed to find it first (at Garden City Saab in Hempstead LI). I've never been to that dealership or to Kerbeck, but like others I'd be concerned about Saab being an afterthought at Kerbeck.
People rave about service at Delaware Saab (part of a multi-brand dealership with a separate Saab facility), but I've not had any personal experience. They had a waiting list at one point for customers who had not bought cars from them. Leif's first owner came over from Jersey to have it serviced there. No experience with their sales people.
Best prices on new Saabs, as of spring 2003 when we were shopping, were at Fitzgerald in Frederick MD. May be worth checking their website.
I've been to Reinertsen in Denville NJ (a bit of a long trip, but a train station right there). The CPO I looked at there was also a little rough, people were OK.
Ended up buying from Fred's Mount Airy Motors in Phila. They used to be a Peugeot dealer, and have always had an eclectic used car selection. Car I got there in February (Hugin, a 2000 9-3 with 40K) was not much cheaper than CPO at the dealer, but is an excellent runner and perfectly satisfactory in all other ways. No problem with taking the car to my mechanic for checkout (and an extended test drive along the way) Only moved them a little on price, but they did take care of some things I requested, including an extra key.
Most dealers now show their new inventory online (and many have their used inventory online too), which is very helpful if you're looking for a specific car (you soon learn how to spot stick-shift wagons by their VIN) or shopping at the end of the model year. Once I found the car at Garden City, I conducted my negotiations by fax, and got what I think was a satisfactory deal (probably left a couple hundred on the table, but I didn't want to fight and fight). Drove up, got a low-ball offer on my trade, drove the new car home, and came back by train on the weekend to retrieve the old car and sell it through this Saabnet.com (great site!)
If you buy out of state, you will be liable for PA sales tax when you first register the car. You will not pay NJ or NY sales tax.
HTH,
Matt Mitchell
anonymous 1984 900S (succumbed to cancer)
Kirsten--1994 9000CSE (bought one year old, sold to a Saabnet user)
Leif--1992 900S (tranny failure at 170K)
Tomtar--2003 9-5 wagon
Hugin--2000 9-3
posted by 65.213....
, Tue, 30 Nov 2004 07:59:57
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
