Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 09:54:11 -0500 From: ma_twain <ma_twainnospamo.com> Subject: Re: New wheels?
th wrote: > Goran Larsson wrote: > >> In article <CaQmd.8989$d5.77644nospamb.telia.net>, >> th <someguynospamwhere.se> wrote: >> >> >>> You would expect that for each new model the manufacturer would learn >>> how to improve the technical solutions. >> >> >> >> That would be the expected observation unless someone is interfering >> with the manufacturer. The 9-5 inherited the design of the hubs and >> brake disks from GM. >> > I suspected that. This probably also goes with the parking brake. On the > 9-5 you hear a "clonk" sound (same sound as you hear on a Vectra) if you > try to apply that brake when the car is rolling, not recommended in the > car manual! I miss the old design of the 9000 where you could "fresh up" > the rear brake discs after the car had been parked for a week or two > (not to mention the fun you could have on slippery roads making 180 or > 360 degree turns in a very short distace). > > My experience is that you have to regularly brake quite hard in order to > keep the 9-5 rear brake discs clean and free from rust. This result in > an unnecessary wear-out of the front brake pads, as the front discs are > maintained in a nice shape by ordinary, not too agresive driving. > > Maybe I sound a bit disappointed but I belong to the category of 9-5 > owners that think this guy; http://www.carsurvey.org/review_45027.html > is lucky not having more problems with the car (anybody recognises the > display problem, the frozen parking brake wire due to a broken sealing, > weak rear suspension, ignition module etc. ?) It seems that the GM > interference has not improved the quality of the car. I just checked the > repair costs (excluding normal service like oil change, brake pads > etc.): a 9-5 with less than 100 000 km costs more than the sum of five > other Saabs, of three different models, with a total of almost 1 000 000 > km. > Your statement about GM's takeover of Saab has many supporters. That is why I have a Classic 900. Look at the problems with the current Saabs - most are related to the use of GM components. GM is pushing to use even more "common" components, even to the point of punishing the Saab engineers who resist by re-assigning them to other plants. The Wall Street Journal had an article about how the Saab engineers made changes to the 9-3, which just happened to earn the highest safety rating. The article cited the changes made, changes which contributed to the safety rating. In the next paragraph it wrote how these engineers were "rewarded" by being reassigned. At GM no good deed goes unpunished . . . Perhaps GM wants to improved the "bottom line" by selling cars that don't hold up in crashes (so you will buy a new car instead of getting it fixed) and by making cars that need expensive repairs (so GM and GM dealers make money on the repairs). Will this approach work and save Saab? I really don't know.
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