The wife's Saab 93 convertible is a year old at the end of May and, therefore, needs its first annual inspection. In Saab terminology this is an "intermediate service" i.e. nothing more than a check and an oil change.
The first dealer I rang quoted a not insubstantial £256 for this which I think is very steep so I'm thinking I'll take it to a Saab independent specialist, of which there are 2 or 3 within reasonable distance of home here in Leeds.
My query is this, though. I know about the block exemption thingy and we're now allowed to do this and the manufacturer will still cover any warranty work that needs doing but I'm still a bit sceptical. Is there anything particular I should be doing to cover myself against any future problems with Saab saying they won't cover warranty work because I haven't had it serviced with them? Does anyone have any first hand experience of this, either with Saab or another make?
Your help would be very much appreciated.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/04/2008 at 20:09
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I think the guy at the top of this page summed it up by saying you are shunning the manufacturer so don't expect them to bend over backwards to help you.
When the warranty expires at presumably three years and you still have the car, don't expect any goodwill if expensive things go wrong with the car either.
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You are right to be sceptical, whilst you have such a relatively high value car its worth thinking about maintaining the dealers goodwill, regardless of any actual legal position.
Anyway how much are you going to save by doing this? £50-£100?
Get some other quotes, both main dealer and indy before deciding
Unless there is a big difference and/or the indy is very well regarded I would stick with the main dealer - will help when you flog it anyway
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Fair point about keeping on the right side of them. And I'm sure you're right.
It's bad, though, isn't it that we have to think like this and effectively get trapped in a "pay up or take the consequences" sort of situation.
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It's bad though isn't it that we have to think like this and effectively get trapped in a "pay up or take the consequences" sort of situation.
Especially when paying in excess of 20k pounds and the manufacturer will only guarantee it as far as the first mandatory check while some Asian manufacturers now will give you five or seven years warranty to six figure mileages.
I guess that while people are still prepared to pay that price, these manufacturers will continue with offering the minimum they can get away with. If sufficient people move to the brands with the longer warranty then this will put pressure on the upmarket brands to match it.
Having said that, how many people (generally speaking) keep a car longer than three years these days? They get bored with them usually within eighteen months and start looking for the next one.
Available credit and personal debt may change this current line of thinking.
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most manufactures give at least 3yrs warranty
i would say the average period of ownership is greater than 3 years, but this fact is probably recorded somewhere, DVLA, market research? Anyone know?
people will keep their cars longer if they feel poorer
getting back to a Saab Cabrio first service, if £250 is pricey, how much should it cost?
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I agree that Saab dealers are pricey, but on a one year old car I think it is worth paying the extra. If you need to sell it, you will probably make the money spent back on the asking price - I think most people buying a two or three year old car want to see a dealer service history, not one from an indie. After a few years it is different - a good independant Saab garage, like Aeromotive in Batley who are highly regarded in the Saab forums, would probably be looked on as practically as good as a dealer.
As to dealer goodwill - we bought a 9-5 from an independant. It was a former Saab lease car with a full Saab service history. It developed a problem and we went to Stratstone Saab in Manchester as it is very near us. They got on to Saab UK who replaced the catalytic converter and the DI cassette free of charge. Some of this may have been covered by Saab anyway, but I don't know if they would have been so helpful if the car had a non-Saab history.
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Don't know if this helps, but I've just been through a similar exercise with Mercedes. Again the first service was quoted as £250, rang around to find that most of the local MB dealers we owned by the same group so not much point playhing them off.
Phoned Arnold Clarke, who service to Manufactures schedule to preserve the warranty, quote £155 inclusive. Rang back the MB dealer and negotiated a reduced rate of £187 inclusive. This was for an intermediate service although at 2 years, 12,000 miles.
Might be worth a try. I also got some recall work carried out and the wheel nuts changed under warranty, due to rusting, so worth the extra to do to the main dealer.
Good luck.
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Never having owned a car from new I've no experience of this whatsoever, but i am shocked, stunned and gobsmacked that after such a hefty purchase you don't get the servicing thrown in for the first few years.
Is it just me?
What I will say is that from my experience Saab indies are usually very good. Same level of service just without the free coffee, free collection/delivery and you might get a 9000 as a courtesy car (not such a bad thing though).
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Never having owned a car from new I've no experience of this whatsoever but i am shocked stunned and gobsmacked that after such a hefty purchase you don't get the servicing thrown in for the first few years. Is it just me?
Nothing is for free. If servicing is to be included then this would reduce the sellers profit margin which would have to be made up elsewhere i.e. the starting price. There's always something to negotiate with when buying cars, you can either get a cash discount, more for your px, or some services thrown in, but rarely all thee together.
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It's booked in at my Saab dealer for Saturday.
Interestingly, though, when I rang them a few months ago to just change the oil on my 93 diesel saloon (I wanted just the oil changing at a 9000 mile interval rather than waiting for the 18000 mile official Saab interval) they quoted £110. Now if this £250 intermediate service is just an oil change plus checks that makes the checks effectively £140!!!!
I will, therefore, avail myself of as much posh dealer coffee as possible on Saturday while I wait for the wife's to be done to get my money's worth - they can clearly afford it!!!
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........ its first annual inspection. In Saab terminology this is an "intermediate service" i.e. nothing more than a check and an oil change.
Didn't the car come with a booklet describing what each service entailed?
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