QOTD #20 : What brings you back to your car dealership?
As we have been considering our marketing strategy for the future, this is the question that comes up. What brings you back to your car dealership? Any ideas would be appreciated.
When Shaker SAAB was still in Shaker Heights, I kept going back for a number of reasons: (1) the parts guy was very knowledgeable, (2) the service writer listened and seemed trustworthy, and (3) they had old collector SAABs parked in the service area (I’m a SAAB nut). The dealership had some negatives though. It was located in a poor neighborhood, the building was old and unimpressive, the lot next to the dealership was gravel, and they didn’t have free Cappuccinos or donuts. But something kept me returning to that dealership. I actually wanted my car to have a problem so I could visit as often as possible. They got me to drive from Painesville to Shaker Heights for repairs. I think that says something about their rapport with customers.
P.S. Another related question: What keeps you from returning to a car dealership?
1999 SAAB 9-5 Wagon
After the washrack guys washed my wife’s SAAB this afternoon, Tommy pulled it up to the front of the dealership. He got out and dried it a little more with a chamois giving me a chance to bend his ear. I walked out and said, “Now this is a nice car!” He just grinned. After washing $100,000 Mercedes-Benzes, I guess our car didn’t generate much of a thrill for him. For me, however, this is a car that I enjoy driving. I drove Jefferson to basketball practice in it this morning and noticed the quick responding steering and suspension. Even with 160k miles on it, it’s still a fun car to drive.
But I’m not the only one who still enjoys the SAAB wagons. I just sold a 2006 SAAB 9-5 SportCombi to a customer who, believe it or not, is trading in a 2005 Volvo V70R AWD with a manual transmission. I was wondering how he would like trading a 300 hp AWD Volvo for a 260 hp FWD SAAB. I found out during a recent test drive. While stopped at a light he said, “Here’s the deal.” I was waiting for an offer but instead, he said, “I’m in love with it.” A few minutes later, he agreed to buy it. It helped that he had owned several SAABs in the past. But I think it’s more than that. The SAAB wagons are a special breed — fun to drive and with plenty of cargo space when you need it.
Quote of the Day
Ever the optimist, Muller still holds out hope that Saab will rise again. Who knows?
Guess we’ll have to wait and see what the new year brings.
—The Local
Australian Artist Saves SAAB from Bankruptcy
News Flash – Last week, car manufacturer SAAB filed for bankruptcy. Chief executive Victor Muller personally handed in the application to a court in Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the company.
Muller said he was forced into this move after General Motors, which still owns some technology licenses for Saab, rejected a last-chance financing plan involving a Chinese company.
“That basically was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company,” he said.
With Christmas just around the corner, things were looking pretty dismal. All hope seemed to be gone.
“Not so fast,” says Steven Wade.
Wade, an Australian blogger better known as Swade, has acquired 817 million euros by selling his wife’s collection of emu paintings—enough to purchase the entire company. With the needed funding in place, production could resume as early as December 31, 2011.
Employees and residents of Trollhättan are elated. City Mayor Paul Akerlund has since announced that Swade will be honored in a special ceremony, “In recognition of Swade’s accomplishments, the city council has unanimously voted to change the name of our city to Trollhättan, Swaden. It’s the least we could do.”
While many are rejoicing at the sudden turn of events, at least one SAAB owner is not so sure how things will end up. Mike Hickman, a SAAB fan from Tennessee USA, has expressed concern that things might change under the new ownership.
“Have you seen her paintings? With all that money invested, what if she convinces him to change the SAAB logo?”
And then I woke up.
China’s Latest Attempt to Save SAAB
The latest deal to save Saab still involves Rachel Pang and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile.
Chinese Youngman will guarantee the loan in the Chinese bank and will in return get convertible preferred shares in Saab. These are shares that do not give the holder any influence on the company, but which after a predetermined time can be turned into ordinary shares in the common stock. One can imagine that the redemption date can be around 5 years from now, when Saab no longer will depend on General Motors (GM) unique technology.
To date, GM has been against any deal where a Chinese company owns any part in SAAB. Apparently, their current agreements with Chinese companies would cause a conflict since much of the current SAAB technology is owned by GM. In any event, there is a glimmer of hope that this latest possibility will become reality. I certainly hope so!
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Recent Articles:
The latest deal to save Saab by www.lifewithsaab.com
We at Saab intend to survive by Swade
Saab gets 11th hour payment from China’s Youngman by Reuters
Youngman Lotus Lends Saab Helping Hand, Sends Infusion of Cash by Automobile Magazine
1999 SAAB 9-5 : Window Regulator
A few weeks ago, I attempted to fix the window regulator on my wife’s 1999 SAAB 9-5 wagon. After taking the door paneling apart and removing the bad part, I was able to keep the window up, but couldn’t get the new part to stay attached. After a trip to the local SAAB dealership, the parts guy confirmed that I had the right part. However, the fear of breaking things myself kept the door in pieces until today.
If you are not familiar with the inside mechanism of a power window, you might visit www.thesaabsite.com and look for window regulator. The electric motor attaches to a scissor-like mechanism called the window regulator. At the end of each scissor blade is a small, green, plastic wheel that connects to a slide at the bottom of the window. As the motor pushes the other end of the regulator, the wheels slide back and forth pushing the window to the correct position. It’s an interesting piece of engineering.
So … what was the problem? The problem was that the original green wheel had snapped in pieces and had become disconnected from the end of the regulator’s “scissor blade.” The end of the blade has a short stubby piece of metal that is supposed to snap into the center of the green wheel. On my first attempt, the green wheel would not snap into place and stay put. It would hold for a while but then pop out of place as soon as the window was rolled up a few inches. That’s not a good thing to happen when the door paneling has already been reinstalled.
Today, I decided to try it again. The first step was to grease up the slide at the bottom of the window. Once the slide was greased it only took a bit of pressure to pop the green wheel into the slide. And after carefully moving the power window switch to an appropriate position, I popped the window regulator into the green wheel. Easy enough but as soon as I tried to roll up the window, the regulator immediately popped out of the wheel. Hmmm … it must need more pressure to pop the thing in completely. But to get a pair of Channel Locks into position, the window had to be lowered to the bottom opening of the door. A quick squeeze with the pliers popped it into place for good. Hurrah!
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If you’d like step by step instructions, watch this video by Eric the Car Guy:
Today’s News
I sold the 1996 Ford Probe SE to a senior in high school this evening. He is excited about finally getting a sporty car. The only catch is that he has never driven a manual transmission before (except for on Play Station 3 video games). But who really knows? Maybe with all that practice he’ll be a better driver than most.
Toward the end of the afternoon, a Monte Carlo yellow Classic SAAB 900 convertible pulled into the Mercedes-Benz side of the dealership. After being introduced to him, he gave me permission to take a picture of his car. With over 250k miles and rust over the front arches, this was no pristine baby. Nonetheless, it looks like a fun car to enjoy the last bit of sun.
1999 SAAB 9-5 Wagon : Passenger Door Window Won’t Roll Up
After a 3 hours road trip, our newly acquired 1999 SAAB 9-5 developed a minor problem. The passenger front door window would not roll up. And at 4:30 pm, nobody was available to look at it. So, I used Morley Library’s copy of AllData for instructions on how to take the door paneling apart. It wasn’t very helpful with instructions like “remove the door trim,” (and how do you do that?) but it did give me the incentive to start tearing things apart.
Maybe the instructions weren’t so dumb after all. The trim and door panel came off easily. And once the “water separator” was removed from the door, Jefferson and I found that one of the window regulator bushings had cracked apart. These are the plastic wheels that connect the bottom of the “scissors” to the slides on the bottom of the window glass. Not having one available to replace it, we super-glued what we could find back together.
After greasing the slides generously, I attempted to attach the window. The hardest part was getting the glass in the front and rear slides while getting the bushings into the slides. (Can you tell it’s kinda hard to describe?) The key was getting the glass in the guides before attaching both bushings. After several attempts, I took a walk to calm down. Shortly thereafter it all slipped together nicely.
Then with the help of Trenton and Josiah (a friend of the family), we got the door put back together. The trim snapped back into place. The door handle was reattached. The speaker was bolted back on. Everything was perfect … until I tested the power window again. The bushing waited until everything was back together to break again. So, I guess we’ll be without a window until the new bushings arrive. Thankfully, I’ll know how to do it next time and it shouldn’t take as long.
1999 SAAB 9-5 Wagon
Sharon saw a SAAB 9-5 for sale on Jackson Street the other day. She suggested that she wouldn’t mind a car like that to replace the minivan. We looked at that particular car last week, but when we called the number nobody answered. So we kept looking and eventually found this 1999 SAAB 9-5 wagon on Craigslist.org. With 166k miles, it’s not a new car. But we saw in it the opportunity to have a decent car at a reasonable price. It will need some rust spots addressed before winter but overall it seems to be a good buy. Time will tell.
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