Wilson and Co (Bolton) sold me a death trap!!

[zeks1999]

Sorry in advance for the lengthy rant

Late last year I traded my high mileage Alfa 159 for a low mileage Saab 93 auto (better for the traffic crawling daily commute). Buying from a main dealer, and paying extra for the privilege, I thought I would have at least 12 months worry motoring ahead………………………..

It was back and forth to the dealer 3 times for little annoyances that either should have been picked up on the 100 point check they clearly didn’t carry out (low air con, dodgy boot springs, squeaky drivers seat) or items they felt were acceptable in a 22k mile 3 year old Saab (rattling from half a dozen different panels, and really poor sound from the stereo).

These were bad enough, but when I reported a squeaking from the brakes I realised that Wilson and Co had no interest in customer safety, never mind customer service.
When they had the car in, I received a text to confirm that they had “cleaned the brakes” and “all is OK”.

I got the car back and the squeaking was still apparent (they subsequently lied, I mean told me, that they had not heard the sound on the 70 mile round trip from picking the car up and dropping it off!!!!!!!). Within a couple of days the squeaking became a scraping. I sent Emails, made phone calls and left (forceful) voicemails, eventually I got a response.
By this time the scraping was so loud I could no longer drive the car for fear of an accident.
I arranged to take the car in to a different branch the next morning and they insisted I needed to be with the car to show the mechanic the noise, which by now was so loud they could have heard it from two miles away!!!!!!
When the mechanic got in to the car and I reversed a few inches he was shocked at the level of scraping, even when the brakes were not in use.

Not surprisingly they had found there were NO brake pads left on the rear. Funny, seeing as they had taken them off to clean them just a few days earlier (another lie perhaps? ).

I complained of course, but the response was that I should be grateful they had sorted the brakes as it was not covered under the warranty!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND that the brakes were fine when serviced and MOT’d prior to me picking the car up (******* liars – They never carried out an MOT )

Due to the issues with Saab UK, that route is not open to me So I can only write to the various relevant bodies (Motor trade, trading standards, other manufacturers that franchise through Wilson and Co), but will no doubt be a waste of time.

Fortunately I still have my GTV for weekend fun, otherwise all the fun of driving would have disappeared in a Swedish haze!!!!

[9000Parts]

Unfortunately Brakes are regarded as 'consumable items' and the agrument will be that they have worn out due to everyday use. Mind you, would expect a set of pads to get further than 22K. As for the Climate needing a re-gas, thats a bit of a failure from the dealer, its not that difficult to do.

For the stereo, unless you get the AS3 variant then it does sound rubbish. Can be upgraded but the AS3 stuff is in demand and not cheap. It also needs to be divorced and re-married which needs access to Tech-II on both cars.

Would be concerned with the dash and interior being rattly and squeaky though. One thing SAAB have always managed to do was screw stuff together properly. Wonder if the car has been in an unrecorded accident and repaired?

Was the squealing rhythmic or constant? Maybe the rear discs are cracked or warped?

[zeks1999]

I have no issue with the brakes not being included in principle. However, part of the premium I paid to go to a main dealer for a used car was for the multi point check (I think it was advertised as around 170 checks at the time). For the pads to be totally gone after a couple of months, they must have been well worn at the time of sale. So either they didn’t check them (and given the other niggles I suspect this to be the case) or they felt that, say a 95% worn pad, was acceptable.

The standard quality of Saab stereo is poor that’s for sure. One visit to the Saab forum confirmed I was not alone. The biggest problem I had was the vibration coming through in a couple of places (especially around the drivers door and pillar). It only happened when the broadcast was at a certain pitch (unfortunately there was one lady on Radio 5 and one guy on Rock Radio that would cause it – not to mention any CD’s with low bass).
I managed to rectify it in part by re-attaching the electric mirror housing properly. Then one day, when I was really annoyed with it, I hit the drivers door panel (near the bottom of the window) with some force, and suddenly it was OK (well, as OK as it was going to get at least).

With the above now gone (touch wood) I am down to a handful of other squeaks and rattles. 1) Rear quarter panel has a metallic sound when the ambient temperature is cold and I am accelerating 2) The passenger door behind the interior handle (not the catch but the arm rest bit), which is occasional 3) Behind the passenger side front panel, when the car has been going a while (it can be really loud – I have removed everything from the glove box just in case, but it still happens) 4) The passenger seat on occasions 5) a clicking sound from sort of behind the ashtray? It happens on most journeys and a firm leg against the drivers side passenger footwell trim – I tried to hit it hard as it worked so well with the door, but no dice.

The rear discs were changed with the pads, as I assume they got warped when the pads were so low.

[9000Parts]

With that many squeaks and rattles on a relatively new car I would be checking for accident damage. Wouldnt surprise me if its had a shunt thats set the airbags off. If the passenger one goes off then the whole dash assembly needs to be replaced and this will cause lots of annoying noises.

Ive re-shelled a couple of cars and its almost impossible to put them back together 'correctly' unless you have access to the repair manuals, fixings and tools. Doesnt need a big frontal impact to set the SRS system off and this will trigger the airbags, seatbelt tensioners etc.

The rear brakes do sound like a bit of a fail though. Not sure about the post facelift 9-3s but the earlier ones and the GM900 are well known for the handbrakes seizing on when the weather gets cold. If its been driven like this then it will have overheated the rear disks. As of the inspection itself, they probably drove the car and if it didnt grind when they used it then it would have been deemed OK. There are no pad wear sensors on these cars.

[zeks1999]

Originally Posted by 9000Parts

With that many squeaks and rattles on a relatively new car I would be checking for accident damage.

Is there a way to tell if it's been in an accident and not recorded? All the panels seem to line up and there is no obvious changes to the shade of paint. That's about the extent of my "expertise"

Originally Posted by C.I.M.

At least you can stick to your guns and say your never going to buy a new SAAB of them ever.

I will never buy any car from Wilson and Co (they have a few franchises) even if they started selling Alfas
Also, this is the first and last Saab I will ever own!!! It could just have been a bad one, but it has put me off the make for life.

[milowokie]

As an owner of two SAABS (2004 9-5 Aero and 1990 9000 Carlsson) as well as many previous 9000s, I can attest to the well screwed together nature of the interiors. Usually they are a rattle and squeak free zone, superior to ALL the ALFAs I have owned.

That is a mere aside to the disgraceful behavior and shoddy workmanship of the guys you bought your's from.

If they had told you, on the first day you brought the car to them, that the squeaking brakes were examined and you needed new pads all would be well, but it sounds like they didn't bother to check and let you leave with pads that needed renewing.

70 miles from a "cleaned and checked" to having no friction material left beggars belief.

(My WerksMerc suffers from terrible booming and rattling when the radio is on AM/MW, even though it's mostly spoken word, not so much when The Moose is playing Rock, odd eh?)