lol, you must own a saab, be a saab enthusiast, work for saab, or have some strange fetish for saabs
Either way, let's continue:
Since it wasn't my car I can't give you a play by play of exactly what happened. I do know the following:
1. oil was changed religiously every 5k (km). Just in case you need conversion help, that's about every 3k miles.
2. New engine was $12k, used was $8k. Think Canadian dollars. I can assure you he's no idiot and searched long and hard for a replacement. Maybe not as long and hard as a bitog member would, but bitog members are a special breed
While you might be able to pay less in the USA, that was the best price he could find locally with a modest warranty (6 months). Remember, everything is more expensive in Canada.
3. Read my posts over again and you'll clearly see I was referring to the saab convertible only, since that is the only saab I have experience with, and also stated that I don't think all saabs are bad. I used to be impressed with Saabs, and actually recommended them to friends looking for a good used car in the past. I simply can't do that in good conscious anymore.
Regardless of whether this was a one off fluke (which it clearly is not if you search), it doesn't change the fact that if they do break, they cost too much to fix, unless you're a mechanic with links to a used Saab parts club (if that exists).
Oh, and I forgot to mention that his Wife drove the car. I know them both well, and I know how she drives. Her driving habits should have resulted in the engine lasting forever.
The information I got from him, was the the engine had metal shrapnel in it when the oil was drained. So something sheared off inside the engine, resulting in the circulation of this metal, thereby destroying the engine. This sounds exactly like the symptoms experienced by other owners of the same engine design.
This happened two years ago, and I wish I had taken pics, done an oil analysis, and/or talked to the mechanic myself. Would off been good to document this thoroughly, but it wasn't my car and that would of cost more money and time.
People can disregard my experience if they like, but the fact is that the whole thing ended up costing about $8k more then it should have, and then factor in the resale, which is horrible, and you have a money pit. Is a *used* saab a great deal? Sure, that's because of the low resale value. Resale value is resale value for a reason. It's not a magical number pulled out of thin air. Many factors make up how much a used car sells for, and for me the resale value is one of the most important factors when purchasing a car.
I'm sure every car manufacturer has had engine failures, it's not isolated to Saab. However, I wouldn't fault someone for not buying from the same company again if they went thru the same experience.
Will I personally buy a Saab? No. I think there are better cars out there for less money. Do they have all the gadgets and gizmos that a saab come with? No, but I don't need the "Enterprise" to drive from point A to point B. Just a good reliable car that drives well, gets good mileage, and doesn't waste my time with excessive visits to the dealer.
I'm sure Saabs are rated highly overall, but do a simple google search for the string 'saab convertible engine failure' and you'll find many similar experiences. It was a flawed engine design and Saab should have stepped up to the plate and recognized it. They didn't, so they don't get my business nor my recommendation anymore.
[ July 12, 2006, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: webfors ]
