2000 9-3 Brakes

It might be common for them to milk customers, yeah. It's unusual to need brakes that early _unless_ you do mostly City driving.

Bob

My commute is about 15 miles each way - not city driving. I'm going to talk more with the dealer about this - they've always been a pleasure to deal with, but this whole episode is leaving a bad taste.

Thanks, David

------------------------------------------------------ David Eastwood - snipped-for-privacy@mchsi.com

Have you considered taking a wheel off and having a look for yourself? Assessing pad and rotor wear is not very difficult.

New pads I can just about understand. New rotors at 30k - unless you do bad things to your car on a regular basis, I don't think so.

I would have considered that, but for the fact that a) I'm mechanically inept, and b) I'd already authorised the work. I don't do bad things to my cars, and I don't have a nose-to-tail, ride the brakes, commute.

I asked the service manager what percentage of 9-3s needed this work done at 30,000 miles. He said about 70%, and that he'd seen some that had needed it as early as 18,000. He also indicated that the 9-5 exhibited the same behaviour. I pointed out to him that this meant that I'd, in all likelihood, be looking at the same job at 60,000 miles. This would mean pumping over $1000 (including the service cost) into a car which, by then, would have a probable book value of about $8000.

I don't think this is acceptable. I'm going to take it up with Saab - I don't expect much, except the satisfaction of venting. The whole experience will make me look *very* carefully at maintenance costs for whatever I buy next - it's extremely unlikely to be another Saab.

The check engine light turned out to be the DI Cassette, replaced under warranty, as was the SID.

Cheers, David

------------------------------------------------------ David Eastwood - snipped-for-privacy@mchsi.com

Then you suffer the consequences of your self-proclaimed ineptitude.

I pity the fool who can't remove a wheel from his own car.

(unless he is not physically able to, which is a different matter altogether)

How can you expect not to get screwed over if you can't be bothered to take a look for yourself?

Charming!

Thank you for your insightful assistance. I don't consider myself to have a long history of getting 'screwed over' by car dealers, and am, by nature, a trusting soul.

Now I'll go back to my bicycle. You, sir, can just piss off.

Cheers, David

------------------------------------------------------ David Eastwood - snipped-for-privacy@mchsi.com

That's nonsense. We'd see aggravated posts like yours all over the Saab world if that was true. We don't; he's lying.

Total freakin' nonsense. In the last several years, I haven't seen a single post on any Saab board that mentioned that. We would know about it.

Not if you find an honest shop beforehand.

Bottom line: some cars do need brakes at 30K, usually 35ish. That depends on your driving style and driving area. It's not unheard of. It's possible. However, any bozo that says that 70% of cars need it and some need them at 18K is a lying, cheating, dishonest, money grabbing, scum. (Hopefully you get my point).

First, you should know that the "30K" or "60K" service packages - which cost $500 for most *every* car from *every* manufacturer - are mostly a rip off. They check a bunch of stuff (supposedly) and charge you $500 for $100 worth of time.

Second, you got piped on the brake job. $500 for brakes all around is typical at most dealers and not all that much more than an independent mechanic might charge for a full job. However, if you needed anything more than a pad change, I'd be amazed. My Saab has 65K and I still have not done the brakes, as a comparison. When I do, I expect that all it will really _need_ will be pads and a couple hours labor (although I'll do more 'cause I like to).

Good luck. The like to listen. They are reasonable people. However, at 30K it is _possible_ you needed brakes, so they will be unlikely to help in a monetary fashion. I can't really say unless I see your old parts. But, I think that service manager's statement about "18k" and 70% tells us where he's coming from. But, Saab is *not* responsible for their dealer's actions, although they are better at helping out with "out of warranty" issues than any other manufacturer I've dealt with. Still, I doubt you'll get help in this case.

Don't make the decision based on one lousy dealer. Find an independent mechanic who knows Saabs and go there. Or, find another dealer.

Bob

Rumor from the local dealer is that GM has told Saab USA to "greatly" reduce (if not cease)manufacturer warranty assistance/claims... Has anyone encountered this yet?

-- J.E. Harris '01 9-3 SE '97 900 SE '88 9000T R.I.P.

Hadn't heard that. I'm out of warranty now so I probably won't find out. I might probe a little if I end up at the dealer for some parts (eek!).

FWIW, while I was under warranty, the dealer was actually _suggesting_ warranty work for things _they_ saw without me even asking. They even asked me to bring the car back at my convenience for some window related squeaks because although they had done the TSB and fixed the rollers, they thought that the "convertible mechanic" could pull the doors apart and do an even better job.

Bob

Define 'need'. How worn are the pads? Half?

Why do the discs need replacing? Are they pitted? Are they worn near the minimum thickness? Are they made of chocolate? I *very much* doubt it.

At 30km ? That's only 18K miles. Wouldn't someone, anyone, in this newsgroup posted about that before ? What exactly did they need ?

How come this is the only post you've ever made to the usenet ?

Bob

Having worked at a saab dealer for 3 years i can say that it is true that

What an excellent sounding experience for "dealer for in-warranty work". From what our dealer says, the Saab USA customer "goodwill" well is running-dry. Having sipped from that well a few times (DIC), I hope the rumor is false... Time will tell (our current warranty ends in a few months [may be time for a shop-manual]).

-- J.E. Harris '01 9-3 SE '97 900 SE '88 9000T R.I.P.

Yes... to add to the story, when I got the car back to the dealer a few weeks later, I was actually past the end of the warranty. I thought I had another two months but I was wrong about the original "in-service" date. They told me when I was picking up the car. I think that with any other make that I would have been arguing over the charges (and that it was actually their idea that I bring the car back for more work) - but the second half of the sentence "It seems your warranty ran out last week" was "but we had Saab cover this under customer goodwill".

Bob

date.