The SV survey means less than nothing. Using it to defend GM’s sliding posisition in the marketplace is a cynical move by a desperate company.

in 2003 Saab was among the first with the japanese, and the first of the European brands. In 2001 the 9-5 win the Lexus in the premium segment, and during many time Saab was one of the few brands that fight for the first positions against the japanese and other premium brands, but this year the jump to under the average it is quite big, as made Porsche, Volvo and others….

in 2004 Saab was in 14th….and this year the japanese begun to plump, and this year it is impressive how disperse they are in the list.

I don’t know a whole lot about the model, to be truthful. It would quite likely be the least likely car for me to buy.

But the treatment from dealerships is very, very disappointing and probably still representative of some dealer experiences in the US today. I’m guessing at this because I live in Australia, but the fact that they didn’t want Saab customers as part of the Strategic Vision survey could be indicative of this.

The impression that I get is that the 9-3 is a vast improvement over the NG900. I hope you can find a dealer you can trust and then maybe trying it out before choosing another brand.

Good luck and thanks for dropping by.

I have owned my Saab since new and have done the maintenance myself or let the Saab dealer do the maintenance if the required repair was beyond my capabilities.

I had to have the transmission rebuilt for a $50 seal. It must be the first part into the transmission because its the last part to come out. $950 labor. I had to have an engine main seal installed… another $700-$800 or so for labor. Fuel pump went, another $850. Shift cable (Who ever heard of one of these things breaking?)

I have had to replace the radio/computer display four times and the 5th one is already on the way out. AC Compressor went right after warranty, $1000 installed. Prices include Saab NJ Labor which is about $100/hr give or take a few bucks.

Seat heaters went right after the warranty expired. I miss them, but the dealer won’t take responsibility for skins if they rip under repair, so I will do without.

Lost the radio (replaced twice under warranty), the headlight wipers (out of warranty)

Cloth Seat skins are ripping at the seams… I thought this kind of problem went the way of vinyl seats. Carpeting on the floor is worn through and has been since just after warranty.

Last is SaabUSA. I wrote them a letter detailing my “ownership experience”. I found the correct person to send it to. I asked for some remedy from Saab if they thought that my experience was atypical. I received a canned response. Further attempts to reconcile my situation with Saab ended up wasting more of my time and therefore contributing even more to the cost of Saab ownership. This is quite a shame given Saab’s long standing reputation for customer service and superior engineering.

On the plus side, it gets great MPG for a large vehicle. I average about 31-32 MPG and am routinely up around 70-80 MPH on the highway. And I can haul stuff that wouldn’t fit into most SUVs.

While I love my Saab and it has never let me down on the road, from a maintenance and ownership standpoint, it has been a money pit. This is very likely my last Saab unless I see two things.

1) Absolute proof that the quality has improved immensely.

2)A company that is willing to stand behind their product instead of treating the customer like an annoyance.

Those JD Power ratings I featured for the compared vehicles, with the possible exception of mechanical quality – which could be influenced by a breakdown or failure in the first 90 days, should be rated higher if the quality is there. It’s encouraging that body and interior rate equal with BMW and Audi, but the fact that features and accessories are rated so low should be disappointing to GM and a point to address.