There’s been a number of Saab dealership closures in the US in the last few months, and recently we heard that GM plans to create/encourage a whole bunch of merged Saab/Cadillac/Hummer dealerships in the United States.
This has naturally caused some concern for Saab owners around the traps and not without reason. The people they’re used to dealing with are no longer there. The new entity may be either closer or further away. The new entity may have no prior history, knowledge of, or experience with Saabs. And worst of all, they may not really care, especially if the brand has been forced upon them (or doesn’t that happen, even with these new mergers?).
I got an email in this morning from Tom Lease, a Saab owner who’s featured in these pages before. He writes as follows:
Was chatting with a neighbor last night who was on her 2nd SAAB 9-3. The first one, a 2002 was plagued with problems so she traded it for a 2005 9-3.
She told me she “got rid of” the 2005 since the dealership that now serviced her SAAB was part of a large GM dealership conglomerate named Hubacher Auto Group. She said that they would order parts, never notify her and then send the parts back to be re-stocked. She also said, “They’re no Sacramento Jaguar/SAAB” where we once had our cars serviced. She switched to Volvo.
I needed a couple of plastic pieces that fell off my 2007 SAAB 9-5 (a small round patch inside the driver’s door handle that covers a screw) and the cover on the console under the center arm rest which was never on the car in the first place. I ordered them through the dealer and they said it would be a “week to 10 days.” That was over a month ago and I’ve heard nothing. I am wondering if I’m getting the same treatment. In fact, I left my SAAB at their night drop last night since the 5K mile service light came on and I haven’t heard “BOO” from them today and it’s 1:35 PM. For all I know, car was stolen last night!
A friend of mine said that he switched from Mercedes to Lexus because of the superior customer service. I have a feeling that we’re on the threshold of SAAB’s demise if this kind of lack luster “customer service” prevails (in Sacramento) anyway.
Will keep you posted…..
I received a good-news update a short time later on Tom’s own situation:
….I just received a call from Hubacher’s service department and they said my car is ready, that they’re washing it (even though it’s raiing) and that they installed the two parts on the SportCombi. YEAH!
That’s good that Tom’s own situation is now sorted, but his friend has gone, dissatisfied with the service received.
You never know the full circumstances of stories like this, so I don’t want to drop the dealership into too much hot water. We have two stories of service here and one’s sub-standard and the other one’s great.
The prevailing problem is the unknown future with a bunch of merged dealerships that may or may not care about their Saab customers.
Big brands command attention. Saab isn’t a big brand.
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Here in Australia, I received an email this morning from a guy looking to do a Hirsch upgrade to his Saab.
He’s emailed Saab Australia but so far hasn’t received any response from them. I had the unfortuate duty of informing him that Hirsch can’t be ordered here.
I wish I had better news for him, but more than that, I wish I wasn’t put in the position of having to provide that answer. I was happy to provide an answer, but he should have received a response from Saab Oz.
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I know there’s a bunch of Saab dealers giving great customer service out there. If you find one, then make sure you support them.
And if you find one that gives you bad service, then let them know about it too. You’re the customer.
We used to have a good Saab-dealer (Aeroauto- used to be Saab/Subaru) in the area, were we would get very good service and the salesmen would be happy to just have a little chat when we would come by. However, about two years ago, they went bankrupt, and while they still service Saabs, they no longer sell them. There has opened a new Saab dealer 10km away, but I haven’t been there yet.
Saabhuset Skøyen is another dealer my family has had good experience with and bought two from them, but last time the 9-5 had it’s service, there was a lot of grease running down from the door handles which was almost impossible to get rid of.. That disappointed me a little..
You’ve got to pick and choose the dealers that you do business with. I leased an ’05 9-3 convertible from dealer “A” and later bought an ’04 9-3 SS from an out-of state dealer (no one near me had the 6 speed Aero that I wanted). Some dash flaking and door rattles appeared a few months later on the ’04. When I went to dealer “A” to see if it as covered by the Saab CPO warranty, they said no. I happened to be by dealer “B” one day and stopped in to ask the same question – they said it was definitely a warranty claim and fixed it at no charge. They even found some other warranty problems, and gave me a free loaner to boot! Now that my ’05 lease is up, who do you think is getting my business for a new ’08 convertible? Good service matters.
oh dont get me started on dealer service. In Atlanta, we have 3 dealers (one servicing the northside of the city, one in the city itself, and one on the southside.) My family has always gone to the Northside one, and I must say, it will forever be our last. They have to be the worst dealer in the godforsaken land we live on today.
It IS a standalone dealer, but is somehow wrapped around Mazda somehow (neighbors) and they always advertise together and share some lots, but, the customer service is to scream about. they dent ppls cars and dont tell you about it until you get home and realize it, swap good parts for bad ones on purpose so they can get more business, leave oil caps off cars, the whole nine yards.
lol my dad had a fight with one of the mechanics last time we were there. He said he realizes what dealers do (after working at Audi before retirement) and that they can’t survive on just pennies, Dealers swap perfectly good parts for ones that will give out in ~5k miles just to increase business (and kill reliability ratings and perception).
That dealer jacks up prices like I have never seen before. Never should anyone in the Atlanta vicinity go there.
its just the rudeness, and the “oh well not my problem” attitude that is so unprofessional in todays world. Especially when people are handing over wads of cash at your silly little dealer when the Audi dealer is right down the street, and Mercedes is ACROSS the street. not to mention every other luxury dealer that comes to your mind, within the same mile as the Saab dealer.
Hopefully Saab will DEAL with this soon, or else they wont be getting many more sales in the future…
Every single marque forum has these kind of dealer horror stories – there is nothing unique to Saab about this. I’ve had BMW, Audi, Porsche, VW, Mazda and Acura vehicles, and I’ve had mostly good and some bad experiences. It just comes down to the particular dealership, not the brand it sells. So let’s not start THAT plotline to scare even more potential owners away.
Ron, you are correct, it all depends on the dealer. When the Saab dealer that I used to go DROPPED SAAB AND PICKED UP BMW, I was forced to go to another Saab dealer not that far away. I decided that I would make an effort to introduce my self to the Saab Master Tech and service writer. Overall, they do give me pretty good service. Only bad thing, too many Hummers all over the place, also, no loaners, THAT SUCKS. I love the Saab brand for what it stands for and what the cars deliver. That being said, I got to say, I am concerned with the new consolidation. I guess at least GM is doing something . I saw the video of Steve Shannon at the last saab dealer convention, gotta say, not happy with his p.c. answers to some of the questions and concerns put to him. One Saab Tech. told him he was concerned “big-time” because the dealership he works at went from doing 50 saab a month to 5… and no one is that concerned.
Mr. Shannon didn’t have a good response. People traveling 200 miles for service is not good. My wife drives a Volvo, they have problems as well, but not these problems. SAAB HAS TO STEP UP TO THE PREMIUM PLATE AGAIN.
Should SAAB and Hummer be sold under the same roof, I would feel like the service center waiting room would be filled with pit bull and golden retrievers owners and/or thugs and intellectuals.
We don’t have to prove our “size” by the gerth of the vehicles we drive.
Think about it GM. It’s not a match. Don’t go there.
Watch those generalizations there Tom!
Saab drivers are too classy to talk like that
I’m glad to report some really good service so far in Hawaii. I’ve had our 9-5 for 14 months and have had a few trips back to dealer, a couple of which were for things that troubled me for a car this new: a bad battery and leaking valve cover gasket. Each time, however, the service was great. The service manager himself checked and changed out the battery in about 5 minutes. The valve cover gasket was done right away as well, and I wasn’t even on their schedule that morning.
The dealership is small, and only sells Saab, but their service has been above par. So…kudos to Saab of Hawaii.
The sevice I receive from my local Saab dealer is excellent .They give us a loan car when I have a service and nothing is ever to much trouble plus they don’t charge any more than the local Holden/Ford dealership in the area.
The car is cleaned if neccessary and they phone me if any parts need to be replace other service items and let me know when the car is ready to pick up. The dealer ship is only small but also sells Hummer,Alfa ,Fiat & Citreon
I must say that SAAB ‘s are starting to fill the show room once again,mainly converitbles and diesels models
I’ve been selling Saab for the past 8 years here in the USA. It is in fact incredible that GM is even thinking of placing the brand alongside Cadillac and Hummer. Customers are walking away … the comments I get are unanimous – Us Saab folks don’t want to walk into a factory environment. We want a ’boutique’ setting where one is more likely to find the professionalism & personal attention expected of such a brand. Yes, we are demanding, but extremely loyal. If handled correctly, the loyalty can certainly help expand the brand. Just to give an idea … last month alone, 32 leased Saabs were dropped off. Two of those leased new Saabs. It’s tough to be positive, but GM is showing next to zero interest in Saab & quickly killing it.
Just SAAB in Cincinnati, OH. is a great dealer. However, they only deal with SAAB. The only cars on the lot (new and used) are SAAB. Everyone that works there drives a SAAB. Needless to say the service is excellent but expensive (60,000 mile service was $720.00 and $138.00 for a battery). I recently busted my passenger side mirror cover by crasing into my garage. OOPS. Anyway I ordered the replacement parts and paint (spray paint that matched perfectly and clearcoat) from links I found on Trollhattansaab.net. I managed to fix it (looks perfect) for less than half of what it costs at the dealer. Thanks Mr. Wade for the great links for parts.