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I bought one of the first 9-5 Station Wagons produced 1999, after reluctantly letting go of my 1985 SAAB 900 that had served me well for 14 years. I loved the handling, the ride and the overall design of the car. I have spent considerable money over the past 8 years keeping it running and in mint condition, experiencing many of the common complaints listed here and on other sites, particularly the faulty electrical system. With only 103,000 miles on the car, I was taking good care of it and planning on at least another 8 years, since body and interior is in perfect shape. But nothing prepared me for what happened three weeks ago.
As I drove my son to school one morning, the car sounded louder than usual. I would momentarily lose acceleration as I drove, but I made it to school and back home ok. A few hours later, I called a local mechanic, since the two former SAAB dealers that I had used have both gone out of business (a bad sign for SAAB in the USA) and made an appointment. As I was driving the car to the shop (a 4 mile trip) the car started to lose acceleration again and then backfired loudly and stalled. I coasted to a stop and had to be towed to the shop.
DIAGNOSIS: Main tensioner broke and timing belt jumped. Not compression in front cylinder, and assumption that other cylinders are damaged, too. Two mechanics have now told me that the engine is damaged beyond repair and that I shouldn't even bother having it replaced! This on a car that had its timing belt changed BY A CERTIFIED SAAB DEALER USING A CERTIFIED SAAB PARTS at the recommended change interval - 60,000 miles (much earlier than most other cars).
Since then, I have been in touch with SAAB USA who has offered me $1500 certificate toward purchase of another car. This meager offer is insufficient inducement to make me ever consider a SAAB again. The entire situation angers me so that I am now posting this on every bulletin board that I can find. BE WARNED!
The engine that was put in the 9-5s made between 1999 and 2002 is no longer used. Mechanics I speak to tell me that they see many problems with that engine. If you own a 9-5 of this vintage get your timing belt AND THE TENSIONER checked today! Yeah, it's expensive because of the extensive disassembly. But it's cheaper than scrapping the whole car and ending up with no trade in value at all - I was advised by the SAAB dealer! - that I should donate the car and take the tax deduction!
If they can't come up with a better deal than $1500 for a long-time customer and fan who suffers the fate that I did, the only answer is that they are close to the end themselves. I told them that I would have expected at least a $5000 certificate to address my complaint - instead they told me there was nothing more they would do and that my case was closed.
Am I being unreasonable? Or am I just another victim of a car company past its prime?
posted by 68.46.71...
, Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:32:57, Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:30:36
, Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:10:43
, Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:06:26, Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:47:44
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