After a brief stop last monday evening both main beams on my Saab 9-5 (new
mid-1999) failed to work even though they'd worked fine previously.  Each
beam has own fuse, and very unlikely both would fail together, so sounded
like the main beam relay.  By phone the service guy at Saab main dealer
agreed this seemed likely, so I booked it in for collection, repair, and for
two new tyres at the same time.

When car delivered back the invoice shows over 400 UK pounds.  Worse, one
item is 90 UKP for 'tracing fault in electrical system and localising to
main beam relay'.   (Relay itself another 39 UKP).  The garage service
department justified it by saying the 'engineer' spent '2.49' hours on the
whole job (including tyre fitting and balancing) at 79 pounds per hour.
Said they had to go through a 'structured fault-finding scheme' to locate
the relay problem.  To me it's an exorbitant charge for proving the obvious.

Two years ago I got suspicious when I collected a replacement remote control
key unit I'd ordered.  The guy at the desk went in the back and I overheard
a muttered exchange:  'What should I charge for it?'.  Answer: 'Hmm, what
about 150 quid?'

I'd intended to buy a new 9-5 from this same dealer when the new version
comes out (making it my fourth new Saab from them over the years) but the
way I feel right now, they're the last ones I want to buy from.  Snag is
they're the nearest dealer and I'm not sure if others would collect and
deliver for servicing.  Maybe it's time to forget Saab...

I'd appreciate second opinions on this.  I expect to pay a reasonable
premium for good service if they're honest with it, but this 'fault-finding'
charge makes me feel I've been taken for a mug once too often.

---
David Tong

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