Saab 93 - Dead End
Discussion
Help.
Have a Saab 93 convertable on a 55 plate. Around Christmas I had some random errors come up (ABS error and had to have the battery changed, twice), which the Showroom I purchased it from instructed me to speak to the RAC about the Warranty cover which came with the car. The RAC instructed me to pay for a Diagnostic which was ~£50. Nothing flagged up.
Now, the car is doing 14MPG, no ABS, no traction control AND the battery goes flat after 24hrs of no use. The dealer said speak to RAC, RAC say pay for diagnostic. Paid another £150 for a 1 hour diagnostic AND NOTHING SHOWS AS FAULTY...... Even though the Mechcanic could see the MPG, ABS and Traction Control FAILURES on the dash, the Diagnostics STILL do not report any failures. So, nothing i can do - Showroom point me to the RAC pillar and the RAC say there is nothing wrong - speak to Saab. Saab say "Computer says its tip top".
Now they want £350 for half day diagnostic....
At my wits chunting end and its costing me £140 a week in Petrol in a car that doesnt like to stop or go round corners. HELP
I beg you. Help.
Bootnote: If it wasnt bad enough that they say there is nothing to fix as nothing shows on DIagnostic, they HAVE offered to buy it off me for £7000 if i get it fixed. The Cheek.
Ideas? Any Ideas? Even just some sympathy would be welcomed.
Have a Saab 93 convertable on a 55 plate. Around Christmas I had some random errors come up (ABS error and had to have the battery changed, twice), which the Showroom I purchased it from instructed me to speak to the RAC about the Warranty cover which came with the car. The RAC instructed me to pay for a Diagnostic which was ~£50. Nothing flagged up.
Now, the car is doing 14MPG, no ABS, no traction control AND the battery goes flat after 24hrs of no use. The dealer said speak to RAC, RAC say pay for diagnostic. Paid another £150 for a 1 hour diagnostic AND NOTHING SHOWS AS FAULTY...... Even though the Mechcanic could see the MPG, ABS and Traction Control FAILURES on the dash, the Diagnostics STILL do not report any failures. So, nothing i can do - Showroom point me to the RAC pillar and the RAC say there is nothing wrong - speak to Saab. Saab say "Computer says its tip top".
Now they want £350 for half day diagnostic....
At my wits chunting end and its costing me £140 a week in Petrol in a car that doesnt like to stop or go round corners. HELP
I beg you. Help.
Bootnote: If it wasnt bad enough that they say there is nothing to fix as nothing shows on DIagnostic, they HAVE offered to buy it off me for £7000 if i get it fixed. The Cheek.
Ideas? Any Ideas? Even just some sympathy would be welcomed.
Edited by LockRobster on Thursday 1st April 16:52
Is it a diesel. I had all the lights come on my SAAB 93 Tdi 2005 and it did not run well at all. Stuttering and loss of power. Turned out to be known fault with dodgy wiring loom to injectors which costs £26. Apparently it corrodes over time.
Saab tried to charge me £650 for 1 new injector and a loom. Told them to get bent and got my local garage to replace the loom for £60 all in.
Mother Fu**ing SAAB rip-off dealers.
Saab tried to charge me £650 for 1 new injector and a loom. Told them to get bent and got my local garage to replace the loom for £60 all in.
Mother Fu**ing SAAB rip-off dealers.
doogz said:
I appreciate they have to cover the cost of their equipment, but if i was paying them continously for diagnostics, that showed nothing was wrong, while the dash was lit up like the starship f
king enterprice, i assure you, i'd be getting a refund.
This man has a very good point.king enterprice, i assure you, i'd be getting a refund.plg said:
If you are in the south east, try Abbott Racing in Essex.
When you say "Try" do you mean "Pay"......... the issu being that I have had the car 11 months with Warranty - and they have said (and it must be rehearsed) that they will pay for the repair as long as a diagnostic report provides them with a fault. I have read the warranty through and through, and to be honest, on paper it sounds ace. All I know is no one will fix it.Thanks to some of the other posts: Why wouldnt a dash board fault not flag on a Diagnostics tool?????
Kaelic said:
Surely if it was under warranty you shouldnt have to pay even for diagnostics?
As others have said if their diagnostic equipment isnt finding fault on the car but its lights are all on then there is something very wrong.
Agreed, but I can also appreciate that RAC dont want to have to respond to minor/ false alarms: Wipers dont work when its just a missing blade.... that sort of thing.As others have said if their diagnostic equipment isnt finding fault on the car but its lights are all on then there is something very wrong.
Kaelic said:
Surely if it was under warranty you shouldnt have to pay even for diagnostics?
As others have said if their diagnostic equipment isnt finding fault on the car but its lights are all on then there is something very wrong.
Good luck with it!
Aftermarket warranties usually do pay for diagnostics if the diagnostics come up with a fault that is covered by the warranty, if the fault is not covered or NFF then your on your own. As others have said if their diagnostic equipment isnt finding fault on the car but its lights are all on then there is something very wrong.
Good luck with it!
OP is the car under any sort of finance agreement that is linked to the car? If it is get the finance company involved, it might help.
Edited by E30M3SE on Thursday 1st April 17:29
My wifes 93 2.0t convertible showed loads of ABS errors etc around the same time!, hers were due to slipping & sliding on the snow & ice. An ABS reset (floored the brakes in the dry..) fixed that.
Yours sounds worse though, especially the MPG.
Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a while to reset the electronic muppetry?
Or ask over at SAABSCENE.COM ... should get some good advice there
Yours sounds worse though, especially the MPG.
Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a while to reset the electronic muppetry?
Or ask over at SAABSCENE.COM ... should get some good advice there
IIRC there is a control unit under one of (n/s) the front seats (security IIRC)
get to this ECU (might have to get the seat out to see it) and have a look at the connectors for corrosion.
Then have a look at the floor underneath it for water sloshing around.
When I was in a saab dealership we had a number of cases where a water leak would let water under the carpet and several cms of sound deadening and short the CAN system.
This was even on some 9-5 saloons as well as 9-3 convertibles.
Due to the depth of foam under the carpet the carpet does not show any signs of wetness.
A shorted CAN will play havoc with random things on the system. Engine, ABS, TCS Auto box, alarm etc.
get to this ECU (might have to get the seat out to see it) and have a look at the connectors for corrosion.
Then have a look at the floor underneath it for water sloshing around.
When I was in a saab dealership we had a number of cases where a water leak would let water under the carpet and several cms of sound deadening and short the CAN system.
This was even on some 9-5 saloons as well as 9-3 convertibles.
Due to the depth of foam under the carpet the carpet does not show any signs of wetness.
A shorted CAN will play havoc with random things on the system. Engine, ABS, TCS Auto box, alarm etc.
Edited by odyssey2200 on Thursday 1st April 18:42
I have a similar issue with my Saab which recently came up once the snow dstopped. My dash says that my ABS is faulty and that the Traction control is not working and I really dont want to take it to a Saab dealership - I was about ready to kill the lot of them after the last service and MOT when the true extent of their ripping off came out - they charged me £80.00 for a light bulb change that I hadnt asked them to do simply because I can it my self for free or go to a normal place and have it done cheaper"!!! Any tips on what I can do to solve my current problem - also I have noticed that it is guzzling more petrol now then ever before - its a 2 ltr vector sport 
How Do, Too Toasty?
Issue was a Faulty ABS Sensor on one of the rear wheels. Cost me £200 for new sensor (circa £80) and £120 to have it fitted. Admittedly it happened again a few months later but the small outfit that I had taken it to replaced it for free. ABS and Traction now working and getting 35mpg.
Good Luck.
Issue was a Faulty ABS Sensor on one of the rear wheels. Cost me £200 for new sensor (circa £80) and £120 to have it fitted. Admittedly it happened again a few months later but the small outfit that I had taken it to replaced it for free. ABS and Traction now working and getting 35mpg.
Good Luck.
tootoasty, abs/tc problems would make me think ABS sensor as LockRobster said.
I know there are good dealers out there but it there seem to be so many stories showing them to be incapable of fixing anything that the diagnostics computer doesn't come up with.
IMHO you need to take it to a mechanic - one who knows the cars AND knows how to spanner properly, old school. I've used WMSS mentioned above for years and have found them great, Saab trained techs from the old school, working on 900s back in the 80s.
There are loads of Saab specialists around and I understand they can do warranty work too. My dad got sick of a main dealer faffing around trying to sort an electrical problem. WMSS sorted it straight away and although he had to pay the labour, the dealer came up with the money for the parts.
I know there are good dealers out there but it there seem to be so many stories showing them to be incapable of fixing anything that the diagnostics computer doesn't come up with.
IMHO you need to take it to a mechanic - one who knows the cars AND knows how to spanner properly, old school. I've used WMSS mentioned above for years and have found them great, Saab trained techs from the old school, working on 900s back in the 80s.
There are loads of Saab specialists around and I understand they can do warranty work too. My dad got sick of a main dealer faffing around trying to sort an electrical problem. WMSS sorted it straight away and although he had to pay the labour, the dealer came up with the money for the parts.
NiceCupOfTea said:
I know there are good dealers out there but it there seem to be so many stories showing them to be incapable of fixing anything that the diagnostics computer doesn't come up with.
I have noticed exactly the same problem. 3 of the local dealer near me have been totally useless, 2 of the dealers are very large dealers.. i've given up on the dealers to fix anything. So now i trawl the internet to find the solution and fix it myself. Though i have to say the suppling dealer was excellent.. I even got bits done by showing them websites that pointed to the fix. They even thanked me! Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff