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I have been doing a considerable amount of research over the past weeks, and I would like to solicit the advice of this BBS.
In January of last year, I purchased a 1999 Viggen from Saab Nashua North. The vehicle was brought up from Palm Beach, and was an off-lease with just about 20,000 miles on it. Mechanically, the car performed flawlessly all of last year. Intermittently, in the last several months, when starting from 1st gear, backing up, and sometimes downshifting and letting out the clutch, I would hear a terrible howling noise from somewhere in the front of the car. The noise would only rear itself when I was at a certain position with the clutch, ruling out any kind of belt or compressor-related phenomenon. After some reading and some phone calls to area dealerships, I have come to the conclusion that my throwout bearing is shitting the bed. Considering the time and effort involved in getting at the clutch, the entire clutch may as well be replaced, which is something like a $900-$1000 affair. The sound doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen regularly, and I can only assume that if the bearing actually fails, nothing good will happen. It seems like a 'must-replace' situation.
Now, I am pretty upset. The vehicle now has 45,000 miles on it, I have never abused this rare and beautiful machine, and it already requires a new clutch. I needed an entirely new ACC only 5,000 miles ago.
For all I've read about the "heavy duty" viggen clutch, I find this preposterous. My only conclusions are that A.) The Viggen is truly a piece of GM shit *or* B.) The previous owner was not exactly nice to the car before I got it. Perhaps a combination of the two. In any event, I am left with a dilemma. If the car was abused, what further damage may have been done to the Viggen? What further expenses are waiting to pop up and bite me in the wallet? Having read about the Viggen's transmission woes, perhaps this would be the next item up for premature replacement. I guess I could go on with the "what-ifs", but you probably understand my perspective at this point.
So now I am struggling with a dilemma. Should I replace the clutch and keep the car, or send my Viggen on it's way and avoid a potential can of money-hungry worms? I'd like some thoughts on the whole situation, your opinions, and what some of you might do in my situation.
Thanks folks. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your input.
posted by 24.61....
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