What to buy? - Page 2

is that all??

who needs sid anyway...

I'm on my sixth Saab, a 2000 9-5 that also has issues with the SID display.
I can accept how a design problem like the SID pixel issue could occur on
such a complex vehicle however, the fix is simple for Saab, and the fix
should be retro fittable to earlier models. It's not the little annoyances
(within reason) that drive customers away, but the manner in which the
manufacturer deals with those issues. I don't want to pay over $400.00 CDN
on a faulty design where missing pixels could re-occur in a couple of years.
I don't expect indeffinate warranty repairs however, a reputable company
should provide replacement parts on a cost recovery basis.
My 9-5 is a good car, and relatively trouble free yet my wife's 2000 Acura
has had no repairs to date ( only normal wear issues).

A short rant...

BL

Fatman wrote:

I don't have a 9-5, but a 9000. It has a simple info display: average mpg,
miles left in tank, charge Voltage. What use is a SID above that?

The SID on the 9-5 is used for a bunch of stuff, most annoying when it goes
out:

    It's the only visible indicator of what's going on in the audio system,
what station it's on, CD track, etc

    The main system/car clock is in there as well


Both of these features suffer considerably when the SID breaks down.

But then again, that's not the point.  The design is faulty.  Saab knows it
but has not redesigned it and sold me a replacement part that they knew had
a high failure rate.


Again, I sell electronic components to the auto industry.  They ask me to
start paying for recalls if my parts have a failure rate of over 20 parts
per MILLION into a system that is looking at something like 100 ppm.  Given
that there are web sites, bbs postings and news group postings on this topic
all over the place, I can assure you that their failure rate on this device
is WAY higher than that.

Johannes H Andersen wrote:

Tells you what radio station you're listening to for one thing (since
the radio doesn't have its own display).  And the time (since there is
no clock).

It's not a bad design idea, integrating all the displays in the car.  It
is just a poorly executed one...

--
-Fred W

Malt_Hound wrote:


I replaced a GM 900 with a . . . . . Toyota :-(  Sad to say the GM Saab repair  

issues and frequency of problems convinced me to not buy another GM Saab.

Hey, I just fixed the SID myself...found good step-by-step walkthroughs
on the net (links below).  I would suggest trying that before you give
up on your car...took me twenty minutes and about a dollar in parts.

As for a car, try a quattro A4.  I know the A6 is a wee bit bigger, but
you can't be the A4's quattro system - still a great
dollar-for-performace investment.

Good idea involving nothing but a ballpoint pen and a torx screwdriver
(I haven't tried this):
http://www.saab9-5.com/howto/sidrepair.htm

This is the site/walkthrough that I used, and it repaired ALL of my
lost pixels:
http://www.thesaabsite.com/93/Saab-Sidrepairs.htm

yea, did that fix the first time, lasted several months then things started
back again.  It's a faulty design, I finally took mine apart last time and
examined the flex under a microscope at work.

Nothing changed int he design of the replacement part, they knowingly
continue to sell a defective design.

BTW, I sell components to the automotive market.  I know what their quality
standards are.  I see the kinds of defects that they'll accept (measured in
< 100 parts per million on something like this)  Want to bet that the SID
defect rate is at least an order of magnitutde higher than 100 ppm?  It's a
systemic problem and they know it.  (and whoever is their supplier knows it
as well)  But they wont' stand behind their product, even one that has gone
defective again after only 15 months in the car.

I will try to fix this one again, but given that I paid good $$ to get a
replacement, I would have expected a reputable company to stand behind their
product.  Nope, not Saab