Photos Posted - 2003 (USA) 9-3 SS Linear

many of us as to what this MP3 adapter was, and even if it worked on certain models, etc.

required is to take the car to the dealer once you have installed it (they will charge you 1/2 hr for labor), to ENABLE the AUX In menu within the INFOTAINMENT section.

activate this item.

Nice pics. I ought to advise you though that there's no such thing as a 1/8" mini jack audio connector. Seems to be a popular US misconception. The usual one is actually 3.5mm . The very small one is 2.5mm.

Graham

many of us as to what this MP3 adapter was, and even if it worked on certain models, etc.

required is to take the car to the dealer once you have installed it (they will charge you 1/2 hr for labor), to ENABLE the AUX In menu within the INFOTAINMENT section.

activate this item.

mini jack audio connector. Seems to be a popular US misconception. The usual one is actually 3.5mm . The very small one is 2.5mm.

Graham,

That's probably true, that's what everyone's called it and the industry has named it for years here though.

Check it out on radioshack.com, the U.S.A's "neighborhood" electronics store that's basically in every darn town and city.

That's the cable I got connecting my MP3 player.

I took the photos that I thought were of best interest.

I hope to see more people getting this gadget.

It's soo sad that Saab didn't market this much more. I saw NO literature about this in their advertising period. I was going to give up as I thought it was a typical "EUROPE ONLY" option, but to my surprise it wasn't! :)

I hope to enlighten more people out there with their 9-3 SS!!

SaabGuy

Yikes, 1/2 hour of labor, is what, 40 bucks? That's a ridiculous fee for plugging something in and pushing a couple buttons.

Real pictures of installations are helpful. If the printed instructions that you got for this are anything like the instructions for installing the trailer hitch, they're probably pretty bad.

If it's as easy to install as you say, I might get it too. I'm also considering the locking fuel door that was mentioned here last week or so. genuinesaab.com started carrying that part about two weeks ago. I guess it's the 2003 part and it works in 2004+ models.

The aux-in is referenced somewhere, I remember seeing it. Maybe the product brochures? I remember seeing it as "available late 2004" or something like that.

You have. Thanks.

Shane, I know, especially when this dealer charges $109/hr. Absolutely insane.

What choice do you have?

SaabGuy

Shane,

That's great, I hope I have helped you. Thanks for the kind words.

The 9-3 SS manual was kind of helpful actually, yep. I believe the PDF is on genuinesaab, if not I could e-mail it to you.

It's sad that the 2004 model seemed to have removed options.

2 that I can think of now

1- Locking fuel door (removed)

2- Onstar (removed)

Was this cost saving as Saab felt like they "got" their buyers, so now to pull the carpet from under their legs just as they are getting into the Saab 9-3 SS?

So strange.

SaabGuy

Yup, gone on 2004 and 2005 models.

OnStar was on the 2004 models, but they removed it for 2005. I'd rather have the navigation system than OnStar, personally. After the free first year, I kept the basic service ("Safe and Sound") because I get a small discount on my insurance and it's kind of nice knowing I can hit a button and get relatively quick access to emergency service personnel. The Personal Calling feature wasn't worth the money because the equipment is all analog and the quality was absolutely terrible. There are digital boxes available, but for some reason Saab didn't use them. I'd much rather have a hookup for my existing mobile phone and a nice navigation system.

Well, they do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that. There's an old joke about the old-timer who came back out of retirement to fix a problem at the factory he retired from, and charged 'em 100 bucks. They objected "What? 100 bucks to hit a valve to get it unstuck?" "Nope, a dollar for that, 99 dollars for knowing which valve to whack".

Dave,

Umm, that's funny. That answer could be had for any response they give me if I ask "How much do you charge for labor"?

Their answer "$109, because we do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that."

Their answer "$209, because we do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that."

Their answer "$309, because we do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that."

Their answer "$409, because we do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that."

Their answer "$509, because we do have equipment to buy (the thing with the buttons), people to pay, a building to maintain, and all of that."

Nah, I agree with Dave, it's not as if $40 is a fortune is it!

Saab UK in Leeds charged me £70 to do a tech2 test, which didn't find a fault. However, to the highly and expensively trained technicians credit he soldiered on, made an educated guess and solved my problem for a further £10.

Without the Saab training and experience I may still be struggling today.

$40! get some perspective here!

Al

SaabGuy is in my killfile; I see he stopped top-posting though, so I may do something I've never done before and remove someone. That'll surely remind me of the other reasons he's in the k/f.

I find it amusing that people call something that they are free to choose not to do, a rip-off. Don't want to pay 40 bucks (40 bucks, FFS!) for a button to be reprogrammed on your radio or whatever? Great, don't. But likewise, don't expect them to just do it for free just because you want it or something. They're running a business, not a hobby.

There ya go.

Exactly.

Dave Hinz

Dave,

Please remove me from a Kill file. :)

Not to worry about anything.

SabaGuy

It's a colloquial expression that means something isn't worth the price. The fact that I can choose not to do it doesn't change anything. Bottled water is a rip-off. Food and drinks at the movie theater are rip-offs. I don't buy them, but they are still over-priced.

I paid thirty-something thousand dollars on a car. Beyond the car and the scheduled maintenance, they don't owe me anything. However, if they're intelligent business people, they'll take a couple minutes to program my radio for free. If I drive in and just ask for it, maybe not, because demanding customers are a pain. But if I ask nicely while buying a bunch of oil filters, for example, it'd be in their best interest to at least consider it.

I love my Saab. Next time I buy a new car, Saab will be at the top of my list of brands to consider. Depending on how I'm treated between new car purchases, I may or may not return to the same dealer. The cost of losing a new car customer is far greater than the cost to keep an existing customer happy. The cost of recruiting a new customer to replace me is also very high.

If they don't want to put in the effort, that's fine with me because there are other dealers I can go to. Don't get me wrong though, I wouldn't leave the dealer just because I didn't get the radio programmed for free.

It's not like I claimed $40 was going to send me into a state of poverty. The service they are offering is not worth that much though. They charge it because people have no choice if they want computer work like that done. Actually, they charge it because most people don't have a choice if they want any work done on their car. That's why they charge $300-500 to install a trailer hitch when it takes an unskilled person just over half an hour to do it. I'd pay to have the aux-in enabled though. I'd act surprised ("40 bucks!? For that!?") and grumble a bit, but I'd pay it.

Shane,

Precisely on all points! :)

It's not about being able to afford the pricetag we see as consumers, if it is overpriced it would be considered a ripp-off. Think about how the billionaires in this world think!

I wonder what it would be like if, U.S. changed its custom for paying for things like the way they do it in India, such as most things could be bartered with. I for one believe that my basic phone service with DSL at $76 is a damned ripp-off, but I can complain and nothing happens because they are the only choice I have here. :(

The people from India sure think they can barter here in the U.S. and that's why they try to barter with things like their airline tickets at the airport, and the people in the U.S. on the other side of the counter responds after their many attempts by saying, "Well, I guess you're not flying today", so the person from India reluctantly complies and pays. :)

SaabGuy

Yes, I know. So don't pay it.

In your opinion. So don't buy it.

See above.

Well then.

(shrug) I guess it's up to them to decide which services to give away and to whom. Since it takes equipment _and_ non-trivial amount of time, I'd say this would be one to charge for. It's not like it's unusual for there to be a minimum fee to hook a computer to a car to diagnose things, and this is the same complexity and effort on their part.

Some customers aren't worth keeping. Someone who whines that they're not given 40 dollars worth of product for free, may fall into that category.

No, you'll just whine about it here. I understand.

You've got plenty of choice. Pay, or find someone to do it for free, or don't get it done. Just like everything else in life.

So then do it. I did; big deal. Doesn't mean it's a ripoff, it means that's what the market will pay, and what it takes to provide that service.

Whatever. I can't imagine getting worked up over something like this.

Then why is it amusing? What's funny about people voicing opinions about the price of goods and services? Why do we have to silently acquiesce?

I'd say less than a half hour is trivial. That's my opinion though.

Who whined? Not me. I thought my stance on the whole thing was pretty reasonable. I only said that the price was too high, but I don't think I reached the point of whining. I also said I'd pay the fee and, further, that I don't expect anything more than the car and the scheduled maintenance from the dealer. Doesn't sound like whining to me.

Hardly. You seem overly sensitive to my opinion about the value of this particular service.

I've understood my choices since the beginning. Are you confusing my posts with someone elses? I really think I've made pretty reasonable statements so far. I said two sentences stating my thoughts on the cost. Then I said something about good business sense in response to something you said. That's really it. I don't understand why you have a problem with that.

You seem more worked up about it than I am.

It's amusing because you want 40 bucks worth of goods & services for free, and are apparently indignant that it's just not handed out like candy.

Half hour of tech time, trivial? How many trivial free repairs do you want to subsidize for others? Someone has to pay that tech; if his boss gives away his time, then the hourly rate for people who aren't freeloaders goes up.

If you say so.

No, it just amuses/annoys me to see people getting all indignant that they don't get whatever they want for free, because they perceive it has low value to them.

Dave,

With your last comment, that if something costs a lot and someone doesn't want to pay it, they don't value it as high on their priority list?

Let's say I walk into a shop and haven't eaten in 2 days and want to buy a sandwich, and they say, that'll be $100!

Should my response be A) Okay, sure here's 100 smackers because I highly value eating in my life because it keeps me alive?

or

B) I can't pay that much, even though I'm really hungry (still valuing eating as a high priority in my life)

I choose B.

The thinking with your possible belief that option A) is good, is like the "Homeland Security" scare tactics today where "everyone" in the U.S. does everything in the name of "security. Like, here take my house, my kids, my wife, my liberties ..in the name of security..

To back this up, it's not like security "isn't" a high priority, it's just that it doesn't have to be that much of a PAIN in the you know what to be "more secure" much like it shouldn't be that much of a pain in the wallet to buy a simple sandwich nowadays, the same can go for SAAB repairs.

That's my .02

SaabGuy

Especially since most of it, at least here in Australia, is sold by companies that have been bought out by Coke, so nearly all the bottled water sold in supermarkets, etc. is returning massive profits to Coke and you paid

500 to 1000 percent more than what it actually costs to 'package' the supposed spring water.

Sounds a bit like fuel doesn't it. 8-) But most of the cost in fuel is government excise and other taxes. Otherwise instead of A$1.20 for a litre of standard ULP, we'd pay less than 50 cents a litre. It's no wonder the service stations and other fuel outlets make so little on it because after GST is taken out, the station owners only get a couple of cents, if that, per litre staying in their own cashflow. The rest goes to the governments (both state and federal) and to the oil companies.

Craig.