From: jml@solara.ssl.berkeley.edu (Jonathan Loran)
Newsgroups: ba.market.vehicles
Subject: Re: Comments on Saab
Date: 19 Aug 92 23:54:58 GMT
Organization: University of California Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: solara.ssl.berkeley.edu

In article <37944@unix.SRI.COM>, Erica_Ng@QM.SRI.COM (Erica Ng) writes:
|> Does anybody have any comments about the reliability, parts availability,
|> maintenance costs, and general praise and complaints about owning a Saab?
|> I'm considering the Saab 900S, and would want to hear what Saab owners have to
|> say about the car before I make the plunge.
|> 
|> Thanks in advance!
|> 
|> = = Erica

I can share with you my experience with a 1971 Saab.  I bought the car
from a Saab dealer with only 49k miles on it in 1979.  The car needed some
work, including some transmission repair.  The dealer gave me a 90 day 
warranty on the car, and the price was right, given that he would fix it up
for me.  

To make a long story short, what ensued was many trips to the dealer because
the transmission keeped going out.  I later found out that this particular
model was prone to transmission troubles.  After the _5th_ try, and some
6 months later, including pulling the engine out each time to get to the
transmission, the trany finally worked well enough for me to be satisfied.
Because I had been through so many hastles, the dealer had the car painted
for me, and did some fixing up of the interior.

At that point I was out of warranty, so service was my responsiblility.  And
quite some responsibility that was.  I ended up spending approximately $3000
in the following 6 months fixing:  the fuel injection system, the water pump,
the CV joints, the radiator, the master cylinder, other stuff I don't 
remember.  Parts for Saabs are not cheap.

Finally, when somebody stole the stereo out of the car, I decided
that this car had some very bad luck associated with it, and I decided to 
cut my losses.

In the final analysis, I will be very reluctant to buy another Saab, even
though it was a very comfortable, roomy, safe car that was pleasant to drive.
I have a few  friends who have had some newer Saabs who have been quite
enthusiastic about them, but by modern standards, they all have had an
extraodanary amount of trouble with them.  I have one friend who had very
good luck for the first year or so with a 900 turbo, and was sold on the 
car, then after having to be towed a number of times, he finally gave up
and got a Honda.

I'm sure there are others out there who have more positive things to say 
about Saabs.  I hope that they also respond. 

Good luck,
-- 


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