Rant - parts prices

On this side of the pond, the reverse is true. BMW dealer prices are expensive.

Parts prices? To the same extent? I'd be really interested in a direct comparison of parts prices. Anyone have any for US Saab parts?

Sorry, Or Canada. Mustn't forget Canada. Sorry!

Volume.

No problem.

That did occur to me, but I'm not so sure there's much in it. In the UK, e30 shape BMWs are more or less as common as C900s.

I think what's more significant is that BMW are quite intelligent about their use of components. For instance, there is simply no need for different designs of an electric mirror mechanism - it does the same thing no matter what car it's in. So they come up with a good design, and stick to it. They use it on all their cars. When minor design mods are required, they make sure they end up with a unit that's backwards compatible. This is true of many parts on BMWs - if they can apply this approach to a particular part, they do.

I don't have prices on the mirror motor, but

seem to me to have the lowest prices on Saab parts in the US. Most other places (internet or local) charge about 25% more than they do. They also offer BMW parts. It would be interesting to hear how the prices compare between the US and UK.

Walt Kienzle

1991 9000T

(snip)

OK, but I don' think that's it, as Saab has always been very good about this as well (witness the suspension parts and some interior pieces which have had decades-long runs). If anything, the Saab pieces should be cheaper if that's the reason, because if it's not the tried and true Saab design, it should in theory be a shared with GM design, right?

I don't know. Maybe BMW parts are needed more often on the used market, so they're easier to predict purchasing patterns & stock them? If you crash less, you'll need less fixem parts?

That is true. Or at least was true.

:-))

It does disappoint me though. I've always seen Saab as the sensible choice, but this has proved to be a false assumption as far as parts prices are concerned on many occasions.

I disagree. BMW parts prices are not higher than SAAB parts prices. Some BMW dealers charge more than list but you can still get them at or below list from many dealers including some that will ship.

Circle BMW in New Jersey comes to mind. No affiliation, yada, yada...

-Fred W

Toss me some part numbers and I'll give you the US prices.

-Fred

I'm afraid I don't have a list of parts/numbers - so any part numbers I'd have to read off actual parts!

When it comes to general consumables (clutch, brake components, exhausts that kind of thing) Saab prices are about the same as other cars I've owned. Prices on

for this type of part are about right, maybe 10% cheaper than the UK given the current exchange rate.

It's when it comes to main dealer only items that things start to get silly.

in article c4gqgn$2j63nn$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 01/04/2004 11:22:

Given the price of parts for Saabs, do you own so many Saabs because you kept buying whole cars for spares? :)

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

There are so many BMWs in this country. I see them in my rear view mirror all the time.

That really isn't far off the mark - two of my 3 900s were bought as spares cars, but were just too good to break up, so I ended up fixing them!

One of them (H reg 16v n/a) will soon be leaving us for a new home with the mother-in-law, as a dog car.

While it's true that a stock T16 will easily beat a 325 to 60mph, the

325 is still good fun to drive. I like them both for different reasons, and wouldn't want to be without either one.

in article c4htbe$2j7bf5$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 01/04/2004 21:16:

I think that answers one of your other ponderings. Yes, Saab is the sensible choice in so many ways, but in as many other ways, it's an emotional choice.

If you had bought three E21/E30s as spares, how many would still be intact?

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

No doubt about that - the C900 3dr shape still makes me tingle. The same is just not true of the (what I think is really unattractive and ruthlessly functional) e30 shape. Sitting behind the wheel of a C900 is a feeling I've never experienced in any other car - it's like coming home.

in article c4hv08$2ja8pi$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-152899.news.uni-berlin.de, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 01/04/2004 21:44:

Hell yes! After my first one died (which was a real heap, but I grew to love it), I tried a few other cars. My wife said that they just didn't suit me. I grinned like an idiot when I got my 1985 900i and the good lady said it suited me. I don't know about coming home ... It was more like putting on a well worn in pair of underpants :)

I was thinking about moving recently, so I could have some more Saabs. This was after passing on a pristine Tjugofem for 700 quid