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Hi fellow Saabers,
Just want to share our road trip story with y'all. Mel and I decided to take a vehicle swapping trip from Michigan to the East Coast and back last Wednesday, all in 48 hours. We met some great and not-so-great people on the way.
Mel had worked out a vehicle swap deal with someone in Brooklyn, New York, (Mel's '02 Convertible for the guy's '01 Viggen convertible.) I had also bought an SPG in New Hapmshire that I needed to pick-up. So we decided to take Mel's '02 Conv., swap with Viggen Conv in NY, then swing up to NH to pick-up my SPG, stop by Goldwing Saab to pick-up some parts that I had previously bought.
Here is what happened:
Wednesday night at 7pm, we left from Flint, MI, drove through Ohio and Penn and arrived at Brooklyn shortly before 8am. Nothing special to note, other than we spent most of time talking and done some 'male bonding time.'
Mel was a little disappointed in the Viggen, as this car was involved in a minor front crash and the guy did a pretty poor job of repairing, let alone blatantly lying that the car was never involved in an accident. Since we didn't have much time or choice, we left and Mel had him on the phone while we were trying to get out of NY. But as we took the car on the highway, it was clear that the 17" Viggen wheels were all warped. Barely drivable on the highway. But what to do, but keep driving to NH. We left NYC at around 10am and headed North. That day was one of the hottest spring days and our AC was not working. Driving black car w/ black leather w/o AC was a little uncomfortable, but we managed. So our first encounter was a not-so-great person, who falsely advertised his product.
When we made it to Mass at around 12:30pm, we stopped at a rest area and parked next to a 9k Black Aero. Also around us was couple of other Saab 9-3's. Hmm, definitely approaching Saab country. When we were ready to leave, the owner of the Aero acknowledged us and exchanged pleasantry. Nice lady and her daughter. But I couldn't tell if she was friendly because she was a Saab person or because she wanted us to be interested in 'Quickstar' - I think it is an Amway. Oh well, she was an ok person.
We pulled into NH destination at around 3:00pm. Mel was pooped, I was getting there. The person that I was buying the SPG from was an Indy Saab Mech. Actually his son sold me the vehicle. Before we talk about my car, there were other things that Mel noted on his new Viggen that was not whole. Mel asked the guy to inspect the Viggen and found the radiator fan 'very loose'. The fan shroud was cracked. Also, AC hoses were not hooked back up. There was also a crack in the intake pipe. The NY guy sure was trying to pull something off. Luckily, NH guy had a same used fan unit and he replaced it. Back to my SPG... I was about to pay the balance and asked for the title. He didn't have the title. They never received the title. I guess in some states like NH, it is possible to register the vehicle with just a bill of sale if the car is over 15 years old. In Michigan, it is possible, but if this car shows stolen, then they'll handcuff me away. It was probably an honest mistake on the seller's part, but that was too much risk that I wasn't going to take. The seller graciously let me back out of the deal. In return for the trip and the deposit, they gave me some parts that I needed for about the equal exchange. Mel got his car somewhat fixed. Third encounter was generally positive.
While the car was up on the hoist, we turned the wheel and WOW, I've never seen wheels bent that bad before. We decide that we are not going to try to make the trip back on that set of wheels. So Mel pulled out his laptop, hooked it up to internet via his cell phone. Searched through Saabnet and Ebay and found a set of rims that a guy near Boston was selling. He was only about 45 minutes away. This was around 6pm now. We needed to get to a tire shop before they close. So he obliged to meet us at a tire shop near his home. Long story short, 'new' 17" wheels were on our Viggen by 8:30pm. The guy who sold us the wheels, is a sales manager at the largest Saab dealership and is also a Saab guy. He was nice enough to help out another Saaber in distress and went out of his ways. Thank you! (If he permits, I'll disclose his name later. Anyone in Boston area looking for a Saab, go to this guy! Oldest/Largest dealer and ask for the person that helped out couple of Michigander Saabers). That was a GREAT encounter. He even led us to a great pub/restaurant by the sea and we had couple of drinks together. Oh, another thing, his modded convertible was awesome. I think it was even faster than our Viggen. Looks like an ordinary NG900 conv with sports exhaust. But be aware, he will leave you far behind. Anyways, thank you and our apologies to his wife and daughter for keeping him so late.
We left Boston at around 11pm. We (Mel) drove until we couldn’t go no more. We rolled into Utica, NY at around 3am and crashed at Best Western.
Next morning came by too quickly. It was already 9am. A quick shower and breakfast and we were on our way by 9:30am. We made it to Goldwing Saab in Syracuse at around 10:15am. Seemed like we made it to Saab heaven. If you have a chance to go to Goldwing Saab, by all means, go. It is probably the best run ‘junkyard’ that I’ve seen. Saabs only and Saab parts galore. Also at VERY reasonable prices (I think they cut you a better deal if you are there in person). Between Mel and me, we made off with about $2000+ worth parts for around $1000. The guys were very knowledgeable, responsive, & friendly. They even lent us a hand to some parts that we wanted to put into the car right away. When the good Saabs die, they go to Goldwing… Something like that. All in all, the experience at Goldwing was EXCELLENT.
From there, we made it back to Michigan without any further incidents, other than longer than usual questioning at the US border for re-entry. I don't mean to sound racist, but I can’t help notice that border guards don't question normal looking white people. Two rough looking (lack of sleep) Asians in a Black Viggen convertible full of parts, that’s a different story. Oh yeah, I did get to race a VW VR6 for a short stretch. No contest. Viggen rules. It was 9:00pm when we made it back to Saginaw, roughly 50 hours from when we left.
8 hours of sleeping, 30 hours of driving, 4 hours of eating, 6 hours of fixing up Viggen, 2 hours in Saab parts haven… One whirlwind of a trip. Nice car, some nice people, some really nice people, other not so. One memorable Saab road trip with lots to remember.
James from Michigan...
posted by 68.20.1...
, Thu, 29 Apr 2004 10:37:46, Fri, 30 Apr 2004 14:07:15
, Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:16:01, Wed, 28 Apr 2004 13:16:18, Wed, 28 Apr 2004 13:12:27
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