What is it like to own a car from a Dead company. Saab?-Page 2: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Jan. 25, 2010 12:07 a.m. mtn SuperDork

integraguy wrote:

While a lot has to do with the brand itself.....Daewoo is a case in point. The bigger question is/will be "can you continue to get it serviced (those times when you can't do it yourself?) by someone you trust to do the work correctly?"

..... can you still find someone to turn to when you "get stuck?"

I think it will be bad news for the saab fans. We live in Chicagoland. If we aren't going to the dealer, which is just not worth it, we have to go 25 miles to find someone who will even service them. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you consider that within 5-10 miles I have, off the top of my head, 4 that we would take our Volvo to, 4 that we would take our BMW's to, 3 body shops that I would trust with anything, not to mention 23454324 trusted shops for turdotas, GM's, and fords--Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to work on a SAAB. From what I've seen.
Obviously this isn't a problem for most of the stuff that we've seen with it--get the internet and a NAPA with the part--but there have been two times when it has been the dealership or the guy 25 miles away (and not only 25 miles, its more than an hour in traffic).
Jan. 25, 2010 6:27 a.m. Twin_Cam Dork

White_and_Nerdy wrote:

I dunno, my Saturn's cheap to run.

Haha I was about to say "about the same as it was before the company was dead" but that was about my Saturn. Maybe the Swedes will be different.

And I doubt my Saturn will bring collector money, even fifty years in the future. Maybe it's time to get my hands on a medium-red '91 SL2 just like the first one they made and keep it in a barn and have someone discover it in 70 years and make them rich...and by rich I mean have another (maybe) $800 in their pocket.
Jan. 25, 2010 6:29 a.m. Wally UberDork

GM will deny any connection to Daewoo if you go in looking for parts. When i need something for my Mom's I need to meet a man in the back room of a Korean bakery in Queens. He can get most of the parts but they always smell like old cole slaw. I'm still waiting for him to come through on a valve cover.
Jan. 25, 2010 9:08 a.m. mad_machine PowerDork

two of my cars are now "orphans" my Fiat and my Saab. Still need to wait and see about saab, but fiat parts are quite availible... if not from fiat (they regard the 124 as a black eye due to rust issues) then from aftermarket.

It may be rough for a few years, but the established fan base will make the older cars more desirable. I guess I will need to trade up my NG900 for a Classic
Jan. 25, 2010 9:37 a.m. MiatarPowar HalfDork

I don't think parts for C900s and older are going to be much of an issue, honestly. I also don't think the values are going to be affected in any big way. They'll still be worth very little for all but the most perfect of examples. I'm okay with that- cheapness is one of the reasons I play with them.
Jan. 25, 2010 9:41 a.m. Wally UberDork

mad_machine wrote:

two of my cars are now "orphans" my Fiat and my Saab. Still need to wait and see about saab, but fiat parts are quite availible... if not from fiat (they regard the 124 as a black eye due to rust issues) then from aftermarket.

Didn't rust quickly enough?
Jan. 25, 2010 2:01 p.m. integraguy HalfDork

"...two of my cars are "orphans" my Fiat and my Saab."

Is the Fiat a true orphan? At least compared to the Saab, the Fiat company is still in business....heck, they own a chinck of Chrysler, now.

I once considered my '73 Capri to be an orphan. I bought it when it was about 20 years old. Some parts are STILL available, tho not new, and some parts are completely UNavailable.....making showroom-type restos difficult/near impossible.
Jan. 26, 2010 9:30 a.m. mad_machine PowerDork

Fiat has been considered an orphan because they took their ball and went home to italy a couple of decades ago.

That is like saying that MG is not an orphan because people keep bringing the company back from the dead.

Somebody mentioned people working on saabs. The GM saabs are the worst to find people to work on them. There is a guy a town away who works on the classis 900, but will not touch the NG.. and nobody else will touch saab at all