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Ok...there have been several threads lately
- unhappy with my 9-5.
- Gave up on my 9-5.
- Heard there are a lot of problems, not sure if I should buy 9-5.
I've been a Saab owner since 1988. Bought my first classic 900 (wasn't classic back then), a 1985 900Turbo. Still have a '91 900TC that I enjoy every year from April through November.
Have a 9-5 that is my daily driver and have to admit, it gets a lot of attention from me. Just today, it started giving me fits with the ACC - and I feared the dreaded code 8. Fortunately found code 14, but had not heard of that one. Did my searching and found the answer, pulled the glove box and fixed it with no expense and no parts.
I have to wonder though - if I were not a DIYer (and no offense to service people on the board...especially Anders...in my upcoming statement), my opinion is that at a shop around here, dealer or otherwise, I would have been taken to the cleaners. Total job took me an hour (two hours if you include the time spent on the internet figuring out what was wrong). If I didn't know better, I bet the estimate would have been $2,000+ to fix. What do others think? And if I did sign off on $2,000 - I fear the tech would have done what I did...tightened the stepping motor, and pocketed $2,000/hr for the fix.
The roller broke on the driver's window in the extreme cold here in WI. Dealer actually broke it while it was in for the timing belt. When I picked the car up and drove home, the whole window just dropped while I was on the interstate. Had to hold the window with my bare hand until the next exit, driving 65mph in -5degree temps. Not fun. Dealer insisted it was a coincidence...which it probably was. The lot attendant probably tried to get the window down, decided it didn't work, and left the regulator at the bottom without knowing. Dealer quote to fix...$205. Parts from eEuro were $6.00. Time to fix - about an hour. Dealer quote for parts - $27. The service menu gave them the ability to charge the rest.
Dealer's quote to change the air filter (while it was in for an oil change), an extra $65. Paid $30 for the filter from eEuro, and the Valvoline Instant Oilchange folk slipped it in for free.
SID repair - $400+. I ironed it back to 100% for an hour of my time and $0.
Brakes - cost of pads vs. $250 for fronts only at the dealer.
Quote to change the crank position sensor - $225. Bought the part for $60ish. Put it in myself.
The only thing I had the dealer do was the timing belt (free change at 60k) and paid them to replace the tensioner.
I have a spare set of DI's on the shelf that I bought on eBay from a totalled 95 with 50k miles.
Gets me thinking though - if I weren't a DIY'er, how much would I have spent on this car??? Uff Da! And Hondas and Toyotas excluded - is this horrible relative to all cars? Or just average?
There's the topic, feel free to discuss.
posted by 65.31.10...
, Mon, 26 Feb 2007 07:37:37
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