 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Saab Cars / May 2007Saab Lost a Loyal Customer
Okay, here is the story. I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of problems within a year (two in the last 3 weeks). 1st The coating or paint or whatever they used on the front of the dash started peeling off. This was around as well as on the radio. Replaced under Warranty 2nd 2 weeks ago the Electronic Stability Control went out while driving the car Turns out a module for the ABS system croaked Also replaced under warranty. 3rd a week ago the clutch overheated and burned out. WITH LESS THAN 7000 MILES ON IT!!!! Now, if I were new to stick shifts and clutches I can understand and accept that I may have caused it, but I've been driving manuals exclusively for 25 years and Saabs exclusively for the past 15 years. I'm quite used to shifting and I never ride the clutch. Nor do I abuse the car. Saab would not do anything on working with me to replace the clutch. No good will was forthcoming. It cost almoat 2k to replace. My '94 9000 has 155k on the original clutch. My '88spg had 150k on it when I sold it (original clutch). I'm sorry I think the reliability of Saabs has gone downhill. I will most likely not be buying another one. Anyone what a slightly used '06 Aero?  SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > Okay, here is the story. > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > -- > Remove My_Skin to E-mail me. Trade it in on a non-Saab. You'll take a big hit but you will feel better. Tell as many people as you can about your bad experience. There's no room in today's marketplace for an upscale car company who treats it's loyal customers like crap. Saab's once proud reputation continues to decline and you can be sure nobody in charge over there has a clue as to why. The sooner Saab is put out of its misery the better for all it unwitting customers. That is exactly what I'm doing. It is up on Autotrader and Sabbnet. As a replacement I'm leaning towards the Volvo S60 R. SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > > Okay, here is the story. > > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > has a clue as to why. The sooner Saab is put out of its misery the > better for all it unwitting customers. I'd check out the new S80 with the 3.2l inline six. In the same ballpark for price as the S60R. Less sporting for sure, but it looks like a nice blend of refinement, luxury, and performance. Of course you'll have to forgo the manual tranny, but the newest automatics are so good, it's getting harder and harder to justify a manual. > That is exactly what I'm doing. It is up on Autotrader and Sabbnet. As > a replacement I'm leaning towards the Volvo S60 R. I thought about that, but the S80 is a lot more expensive. It does have teh same 4C suspension as the S60R, SInce '07 is teh last year for teh R series (Which has not been selling real well anyway) dealers are making insane deals on them. Unfortunately I may have to go with an automatic, much to my dismay. It is getting harder and harder to find a manual these days. Esp. in traffic choked So. Cal. Craig SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > I'd check out the new S80 with the 3.2l inline six. In the same > ballpark for price as the S60R. Less sporting for sure, but it looks [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > That is exactly what I'm doing. It is up on Autotrader and Sabbnet. > > As a replacement I'm leaning towards the Volvo S60 R. > That is exactly what I'm doing. It is up on Autotrader and Sabbnet. As > a replacement I'm leaning towards the Volvo S60 R. [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] > > - Show quoted text - My experience with the S60R has been less than satisfying. My wife had one of the first models, a 2004 which we kept for 22 months and was in the shop for 52 day. Now, admittedly that was mostly for annoying items-like the touted suspension that creaked, groaned and frankly wasn't such a great idea to have electronic suspension with different setting. I had electronic suspension in my Alfa 164Q and it was much more supple and "real world" valuable than the Volvo's. I have owned six Volvos, including the S80 that is coming off lease this month. It is possible that I just got a lemon but I would drive the car for some time before making the decision. >It >is possible that I just got a lemon but I would drive the car for some >time before making the decision. Yes, like Saab, I would check some quality data closely. Volvo has had their share of not-so-great cars in recent years. Sadly, "Customer service" is a thing of the past in most businesses. "Bigger is better and that means we can ignore you" seems to be the universal motto. >>It >>is possible that I just got a lemon but I would drive the car for some [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > "Bigger is better and that means we can ignore you" seems to be the > universal motto. I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head. It isn't that the clutch burned up after 7k miles. There will always be manufacturing defects that occur in any product line. Also, you don't hear lots of stories like this (and I'm sure you would if it was widespread) so it's not really a design issue. The real problem is that the lousy dealership will not work with this guy to make it right. Signature-Fred W Actually it is not the dealership, but the Saab Factory rep. The dealer knows me very well, and in years past would've had no problem covering this, but the service manager told me that if he did try and do this under warranty, the factory rep/reg. mgr. would kick it back. SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > > > It > > > is possible that I just got a lemon but I would drive the car for [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > The real problem is that the lousy dealership will not work with this > guy to make it right. > Actually it is not the dealership, but the Saab Factory rep. The dealer > knows me very well, and in years past would've had no problem covering > this, but the service manager told me that if he did try and do this > under warranty, the factory rep/reg. mgr. would kick it back. OK, so it's the GM assigned SAAB factory rep. This would explain why it seems to be a common theme... Signature-Fred W Yep! SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > > Actually it is not the dealership, but the Saab Factory rep. The > > dealer knows me very well, and in years past would've had no [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > OK, so it's the GM assigned SAAB factory rep. This would explain why > it seems to be a common theme... >Yep! >> > Actually it is not the dealership, but the Saab Factory rep. The >> > dealer knows me very well, and in years past would've had no [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> OK, so it's the GM assigned SAAB factory rep. This would explain why >> it seems to be a common theme... Sad story, especially for a longterm customer! My sympathies FWIW. Just a thought, does the owner's manual give you any escalation options like contacts beyond the reg mgr that you could bump something up to? It just struck me that a letter to a higher power, accompanied by copies of the service histories for your previous Saabs, might at least prove your credentials and probable sincerity. Like someone else said, oh for the days of demented trolls building stock at Trollhatten and the Valtab plant. In 1984 IIRC, we had a pretty large accident with a 77 99GL hatch. No bonnet (oops - hood to you) in stock, so rather than take the easy (and legal) option of sourcing a second hand one, it was airfreighted from Sweden to Oz in under a week with free shipping. No wonder they went broke but talk about customer service! Cheers and good luck > > Actually it is not the dealership, but the Saab Factory rep. The dealer > > knows me very well, and in years past would've had no problem covering [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > OK, so it's the GM assigned SAAB factory rep. This would explain why it > seems to be a common theme... GM seem to be determined to lose customers. Graham >> It >> is possible that I just got a lemon but I would drive the car for some >> time before making the decision. > > Yes, like Saab, I would check some quality data closely. Volvo has had > their share of not-so-great cars in recent years. I was reading on a forum board about some chap who bought a new 9-3SS and posted up whether he had made some sort of record with his new car. He'd got the check engine light within 250 miles! Oh for the days when they were all hand-built in a shed in Finland :) I don't think this is peculiar to SAAB or to GM (or GMs stewardship of SAAB). I think so much of today's market is quick, cheap and as a result of that, lacking in quality control. You can get a bargain and you do get a lot for your money nowadays, but that must make for a lot of unhappy customers who end up with the items that "slipped through". > Sadly, "Customer service" is a thing of the past in most businesses. > "Bigger is better and that means we can ignore you" seems to be the > universal motto. I love it (well, I hate it) when they send one of their "We're sorry you very mortally wounded by our inadequately quality controlled product ..." kind of letters. We're sorry, indeed! Sorry, are you? Liable, then? Mmmm? What is good about the internet is the fast spread of both good and bad customer feedback. If you have a bad experience of a product or service, there are all manner of forums where you can post your experiences. That reaches a lot of people. Usually a number of other people reply with their experiences and the posting serves as a nice summary for anyone researching that product or company. Likewise, have a good experience and you can do exactly the same. What is funny is that there are so many companies who are not aware of this and continue to treat their customers with bad experience as idiots ... Well, good luck staying in business. I do think the tide is turning, though and can name a number of companies I have had business with recently who have excellent customer service, who don't fob you off with clauses and techno-speak, or blame your issues with their product on _your_ equipment you are connecting it to, but actually take note, show interest and genuinely try to help before offering to refund your money or replace the product ... Or, shockingly, send you an e-mail a couple of days later having researched the issue more fully and come up with a potential solution. Bravo! More of that, please ... Especially in automotive quality control :) Paul 1989 900 Turbo S http://saab.go.dyndns.org/ Go Audi, customer service, after sales - the whole experience surpasses the GM moment. On 14/5/07 21:53, in article xn0f673cd8mox8001@news.sf.sbcglobal.net, > That is exactly what I'm doing. It is up on Autotrader and Sabbnet. As > a replacement I'm leaning towards the Volvo S60 R. > Go Audi, customer service, after sales - the whole experience surpasses the > GM moment. ... Except for the car ... Awful travel sickness inducing vehicles. Shame, coz I really liked the new Audis until I drove one :( Paul 1989 900 Turbo S http://saab.go.dyndns.org/ Was a tough call at first to even look past Saab - have had 5), but when looking at the 9-5 vs. A6 was no competition IMHP (but have kept my Aero conv) >> Go Audi, customer service, after sales - the whole experience surpasses the >> GM moment. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > 1989 900 Turbo S > http://saab.go.dyndns.org/ On May 14, 10:40 pm, s...@attbi.com wrote: > > Okay, here is the story. > > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > has a clue as to why. The sooner Saab is put out of its misery the > better for all it unwitting customers. Its because its more opel than saab now...... I have a -95 9000 with 310000 km on the clock. And it has never been opened, nor repaired only serviced. Now thats a car I also have a '94 9k CSE with 150k on the clock that I upgraded to stage 3 performance and redid suspension somewhat (adjustable Keonigs, urathane bushings) the I love that car, but the car is starting to feel it's age and the peripheral crap (blower motor, door locks, SRS system) is starting to nickel and dime me to death. The engine and tranny are great. Fast and lots of room. It's a true wolf in sheep's clothing. I like to say it Hauls a.s and with the seats down it'll haul just about anything else. Craig SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > Its because its more opel than saab now...... I have a -95 9000 with > 310000 km on the clock. And it has never been opened, nor repaired > only serviced. Now thats a car I remember going to the auto show in Philadelphia with my Dad back in the mid 1960's and someone had apparently had an unsatisfactory experience with a navy blue Lincoln 4-door convertible. They wrote a letter to Ford in a strongly contrasting yellow paint which completely covered the body of the car and then they parked it in a very prominent location directly across from the entry to the auto show. I suspect that they may have gotten some satisfaction as a result. You might try something similar with your dealer along with a few videos posted to youtube or wherever seems appropriate. > Okay, here is the story. > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Anyone what a slightly used '06 Aero? > I remember going to the auto show in Philadelphia with my Dad back in the > mid 1960's and someone had apparently had an unsatisfactory experience with > a navy blue Lincoln 4-door convertible. A 4 door convertible ? How on earth would you stop something like that bending like a banana ? Graham They may have used a frame . . . although it may simply have been a reinforced unit-body - check on ebay, probably one of the many for sale there will have shots of the underbody. Lincoln only built them for about 10 years, though Mercedes had beaten them to it back in the mid-late fifties with the 300 "Adenauer" series - and that one most likely did have a separate body on frame construction - and of course the Benz did not have the suicide door configuration. Well prior to that the configuration was even a lot more common. I can't imagine that any of them would have been good places to be in a crash or that they would have been pretty to look at if they'd been hit with the doors open. I guess the whole car was one big crumple zone. >> I remember going to the auto show in Philadelphia with my Dad back in the >> mid 1960's and someone had apparently had an unsatisfactory experience [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Graham clutch burning up at less then 7k miles would burn me up. is there a lemon law where you are at? I don't know if this would be enough to qualify. maybe a local news station would like to do a story and embarrass your local Saab dealer into doing what would be right. where I live a local station does these kind of stories and they get results. gee whiz less then 7k miles the new car smell is not even gone yet. except in your case burned up clutch smell may overpower it. my wife and I had a ford product that at 15k miles and then less the 30k miles we had to put in a major brake job. the brakes would all of a sudden start grinding and then the next day we were to late. had to pay big bucks to fix. was told it was how she was driving the car. and no she doesn't drive with 2 feet. > Okay, here is the story. > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Anyone what a slightly used '06 Aero? Lemon Law would not work, unless it was in for 3 or more times for the same problem. Hmmm I never thought about contacting a consumer advocate, I'll look into that. Thanks for the idea. SignatureRemove My_Skin to E-mail me. > clutch burning up at less then 7k miles would burn me up. is there a > lemon law where you are at? I don't know if this would be enough to [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > Anyone what a slightly used '06 Aero? > > -- Remove My_Skin to E-mail me. > 3rd a week ago the clutch overheated and burned out. WITH LESS THAN > 7000 MILES ON IT!!!! [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Saab would not do anything on working with me to replace the clutch. No > good will was forthcoming. It cost almoat 2k to replace. In the Uk you could probably sue them in court for supplying 'goods not fit for the purpose'. You'd need an supporting engineer's report to establish it wasn't abuse but I'm sure you'd win. So sure, it's unlikely it would ever come to court here. Graham >In the Uk you could probably sue them in court for supplying 'goods not fit for >the purpose'. You'd need an supporting engineer's report to establish it wasn't >abuse but I'm sure you'd win. So sure, it's unlikely it would ever come to court >here. > >Graham Everything here does carry an "implied warranty of merchantability" meaning that if you buy a car, it should be expected to perform the job. Whether or not you could wrangle this repair to establish that it did not meet the warranty... I don't know. It's not common to see that tact used here. If a lot of cars fail in the same way, then a lawyer will start a class action suit and eventually the company will settle out of court. Gm has always had a "deny everything" policy. Looks like it's finally being applied at Saab. > >In the Uk you could probably sue them in court for supplying 'goods not fit for > >the purpose'. You'd need an supporting engineer's report to establish it wasn't [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Gm has always had a "deny everything" policy. Looks like it's finally > being applied at Saab. A clutch is clearly a 'wear item' but then so is an engine. Neither should last only 7,000 mi ! Graham > Okay, here is the story. > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > -- > Remove My_Skin to E-mail me. Pretty typical story for Saab after the GM takeover. They always had quirks, but the basic stuff -- engine, transmission, clutch -- would last forever. Now they are mass market junk, along with the rest of the crap GM makes. Any wonder they are hemorrhaging? I had a similar experience back in '94 when I bought one of the first GM-made 900's. Crap. I did make them buy it back by invoking the lemon law in my state, and then I bought a 9000, which I drive until this year. Sold it and bought a BMW. Very different car, but (like Saab used to be), an independent and quality-conscious European auto maker. It's really too bad about Saab. All that is left is the grill, the Griffin badge, and the ignition in the console. What GM does not realize is that treating a loyal Saab client like crap will doom Saab. They don't get it. Bill > > Okay, here is the story. > > I have an '06 9-3 Aero (my 6th Saab) and this one has had a couple of [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > Saab used to be), an independent and quality-conscious European auto > maker. My 1993 9000 CSE 135,000 miles runs quiet and smooth as ever. No squeaks or rattles. That old 2.0 LPT engine must be a very good design. Why should I buy a new car? And which one? If ever it needs replacing, then Skoda Octavia 200bhp is quite a cool car for the money. Never thought I would say that. > Okay, here is the story. You are not alone - I had the same story with my 02 Viggen - in less then 20k miles the clutch was gone and no response from the saab/GM. Same price ~$2k. I am also a stick driver for more then 30 years. If this was not enough at 55k miles the balancing chain broke and demolished timing cover and oil pump - dealer cost ~$8k. No response from saab/GM. In the same year (2005) saab released bulletin on oil sludge in all saab engines that may lead to early replacement of timing and balancing chains that suppose to last the engine lifetime. I think we will hear stories in this group about total engine damage if the timing chains start going south. I think there was one already... BTW - my other car is volvo/Ford V70T5 - not much better there - clutch gone at 120k miles. I end up pulling the engines from both cars myself and doing major repairs to avoid dealer bills to the tune of $5-10k. cheers -Peter
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.