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This is long and I ramble, so be warned....
Generally, I give folks the benefit of the doubt. I also like to give service departments a break because I know dignostics can be difficult.
I must give a heartfelt 'do not use unless you have to under warranty' recomendation to Autohaus Saab in Pompano Beach.
I have used this dealership for years (prior as Gold Coast Saab), even got two of my Saabs there. I have had issues with service in the past but chalked it up to 'oh, well'. The service department has gotten worse under the ownership of Autohaus but generally it seems they don't like folks who tend to want their repairs done correctly.
I went in this morning for a pre arranged service visit to drop off my 99 9-3SE for a follow-up to my last visits for service. This is why:
Car was in last week of August for 1) DI Cassette replacement (check engine light, stumbling) 2) new front struts/mounts (knocking) 3) 60,000 service 4) switch to MTF0063 (The bill when I picked up the car was just over $2000.00)
When I picked up the car, I did not make it out of the parking lot without the front end knocking just as it did when I brought it in.
When I picked up the car it stumbled just as it did when I brought it in.
Drove back to service and let them know I would be back in the morning as it was 5:30 and they were closing (and I didn't feel like going through another Enterprise rental deal)
Back in morning, the service manager went for a ride with me and agreed the front end was knocking, he did not agree that the car stumbled on takeoff because he revved to 1800 RPM and feathered the clutch when leaving a stop.....also, the idle pulsations were 'normal for this car' even though they started with the DI failure....he took in the car to 'look at' the front end.
Two days later, they called to say car was ready and they 'had run lots of tests and hooked up special diagnostic listening devices' to find the problem with the front end (even though I had let them know they had only listed struts - no mounts, bearings, bushings, bolts, washers, etc on the service records) and had found some 'extra parts that needed replacement' and were not even going to charge me for them!!
In other words, they went back in and did the job right and replaced mounts, etc the second time...come on, did you drive the car after it was 'fixed' the first time????
The car was 'running fine and needed no further service' regarding the rough running and stumbling.
OK, now we're at today. I had called last week to make an appointment to have the car checked out as it was still running crappy after my $2000.00 service which included a DI and 60,000 mile service, new plugs, tune, etc.
When I made the appt, they originally set it up for Mon (yest) but changed to Tues (today) due to no avail loaners.
I went in to drop the car off. Got to the service desk and started the drop off procedure and was asked 'are you going to wait?'.
My response was 'no, made an appointment for follow-up service to previous repairs and requested loaner/rental when making the appointment'
'All of our loaners are in the shop for repairs'
'OK, I guess I have to do Enterprise..'
'We can't do that, and I must be honest with you, I don't know when we'll have any cars for you' (the person at the next station was getting their Enterprise car as we had this discussion)
Frustrated but calm, I said I would make another appt, got the car out of the service bay and left...It just pisses me of that a service dept needs three tries to fix a relatively simple issue and treats long time customers like annoyances...
Having owned seven Saabs, and enjoying them (generally) it pisses me off that high failure rates coupled with really poor dealership experiences to correct them are what is driving many loyal customers to other marques.
I welcome any feedback as to positive experience at AH and also advice for follow-up.
Skip
99 9-3SE 63,000
posted by 68.211.19...
, Tue, 7 Oct 2003 08:55:49
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