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Re: Honest mechanic in Sacramento/ Auburn area?
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Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Mon, 14 Jul 2003 00:32:07 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Honest mechanic in Sacramento/ Auburn area?, Emily Williams, Sun, 13 Jul 2003 23:12:46
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Oy. Sorry about your luck!

Mechanics in Sacramento:

European Sports Car Service - they don't like Saabs, but do good work. They often require appointments long in advance.
John's Automotive - primarily they deal with Italian cars, but they do work on Saabs as well. Nice people.
University Imports - used to be my shop of choice, but they are very often way overbooked and getting things done can sometimes take a while. John, the owner, has been working on Saabs for years and knows his stuff. Little rough around the edges, but a nice guy.

All these places are in/near downtown Sacramento. There is another place nearby to John's apparently called Stuart's (Stewart's?) but I've never seen it and doubt it exists. Maybe damien will see this thread and pipe in about his [imaginary] shop.

All that said, I don't think $3500 is really out of whack. A used transmission from a reputable source will probably run $600-$900, so after the garage marks it up $1k isn't all that far off. It's a solid 10 hour job to swap trannies, and another 6 hours or so for the engine work. 16 hours is probably $1000 worth of labor, so that's $3k right there. With parts and everything, that's very near $3500.

The things I would keep in mind during this operation: The newest used transmission was built 10 years ago. Finding one in good shape is increasingly hard, unless you're lucky enough to find one that has already been rebuilt once. Quite honestly I wouldn't put a used tranny in a car or you're really just sitting on a ticking time bomb. Also, the 2.1l engine in your car is prone to deck erosion, and if it needs a head gasket I would not be entirely surprised to find an eroded block once things are taken apart, especially if it overheated.

I'm not trying to scare you or anything, just give you some things to think about. Wish I had some better news, but after 10 years any car is gonna start needing work. Often times, especially with Saabs it seems, mileage isn't the real killer - it's just time. Things wear out even just sitting there.

As a side note, I'm assuming you've got an automatic... is that the case? If so, then yeah, it's really hard to tell for sure what caused the failure until you take it apart. 5-speeds are slightly easier to diagnose, but it isn't a guarantee until you see the broken bits.

-Justin

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