Morning all!

I finally got round to arranging to have a second hand single CD player fitted into my 9-3 today. Its been sitting in the spare room for weeks - the cd, not the car. I 'phoned a local well-known independent specialist, who said it was a 15 minute job, but that they had a standard 'tech 2' charge of £30 plus vat, and they couldn't do it till next week.
Then I 'phoned Beechdale Saab in Nottingham. 'Bring it down now, sir, its only a 2 minute job'. 'How much?' I ask. 'No charge, sir!'.
A very nice surprise indeed!

Pete

There are many good dealers out there who are reasonable and are willing to help when they can. I am disappointed to read about owners constantly denigrating dealers because they are a business and not a charity http://www.saabscene.com/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif as some owners sometimes expect.

Good to hear that you got good service, Pete.

Some of you will remember the time when my dealer failed to order my new Aero http://www.saabscene.com/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif It arrived and since that time they have been brilliant . Only 'snag' was when they failed to reset the service indicator after its first service . Have to say it was not showing when it went in for first service as it had covered less than the 6K.Only came on two days later.Was not keen to under-take a round trip of 140 miles to fix the problem , even though the car is a joy to drive Just rang up my local dealer who said' bring it in and we will do it . No charge.' Will certainly give them the opportunity of supplying my next car if the price is right.

Originally posted by rob123( 9.5 Aero):
Some of *you will remember the time when my dealer failed to order my new Aero * http://www.saabscene.com/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif * It arrived and since that time they have been brilliant * * * . Only 'snag' was when they failed to reset the *service indicator after its first service . Have to say it was not * showing when it went in for first service as it had covered less than the 6K.Only came on two days later.Was not keen to under-take a round trip of 140 miles to fix the problem , even though the car is a joy to drive * * Just rang up my local dealer *who said' bring it in and we will do it . No charge.' Will certainly give them the opportunity of supplying my next car if the price is right. [/b]If you want to reset it yourself next time, simply start the car, clear any messages on the SID unit, then press and hold clear for around 8 seconds, until the message serviced is shown

I had this too at a dealer - Newbury Saab.

Had a horrible grating noise on the front brakes - turned out to be just a stone, though despite taking about 15 minutes of a technicians time test driving the car etc, they charged me nowt.

I must agree most dealers/main agents are very good not just Saab but most!
They are also very good for free advice on technical matters too.
Plus if you suspect a part is faulty try ringing the parts department of a dealer and ask there advice as they will help you by telling you if they are a common seller or "never sold one of them mate" always worth a try

I've had quite a few "service freebies" from Squire Furneaux Saab in Dunstable (and previously when they were in Aston Clinton). A couple of things that come to mind are when they fixed the "no heat" in my '87 9000T (heater flap perhaps? I didn't know a lot about 9000s then) and recently when I asked about buying the tool to remove the stereo head unit and dash-mounted CD player. They said they didn't sell the tool, but they popped them out of the dash for me, free of charge.

Granted, we fell out a while ago over my expensive turbo-oil-seal fiasco, which along with a subsequent engine failure (I can't say whether the two were related) sent me back to working on my own cars again (and sparked off Saab9000.com). I now use them mainly for parts and one of their parts guys in particular, Paul, is very helpful. He used to be a Saab mechanic so if I need a part, he's fitted it at one time or another and has advice on how to do it. He also owns a 9000 and as far as I can tell, does his own work on it.

I also use Viking Saab in Watford, as they're easier to get to from here, and I wouldn't get wheel alignment done anywhere else. Who else would know better how to align the front end of a Saab and where else would you get an hour of a Saab dealer's time for £25?
Although I've never asked what equipment they use, Saabchick assures me that it takes this long to do a proper computerised 4-wheel alignment.

Viking's parts dept. is also very useful and pleasant to deal with. Their service dept. is a little stand-offish though.

I suppose the upshot is that I use the dealers' service and parts facilities sparingly to optimise the cost of running my cars, but sometimes they are the best people for the job. And the odd freebie goes down very well.

Originally posted by milleplod:
Morning all!

'How much?' I ask. 'No charge, sir!'. * *
A very nice surprise indeed!

Pete [/b]Did you tell them what you do for a living though...?

I have to say I've found Viking Service to be most helpful, perhaps it's because my Aero was supplied and serviced by them new and I've continued this in my ownership, and so I've been a regular customer...who knows, but I've got no complaint.
Last weekend I gave my Mum's 9000 CSE V6 a run and thought I'd run the car through a car wash for her, forgetting to switch off fully so as the aerial went down (not used to car washes as I've always hand washed my own cars), needless to say the aerial got mashed.....
Rang Vikings up that day and they said that they can do it the next day if I wanted (as they were still mopping up from the previous days floods..!)
Anyway the charge was £14.something for the aerial and they fitted it free of charge, so I'm not complaining, especially as I can't be bothered getting my hands dirty anymore...

Got to say that I don't use dealers as a rule but am impressed by Causeway Saab at Chippenham who are always helpful and give a SOC discount on things like headlight wiper blades, interior light fittings etc. which I am more or less competent to fix http://www.saabscene.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif

bill