Fixed Ops Journal - December 2020 - F24

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

HANDS ON

SERVICE SNAGS

Independent repair shops can have their own set of frustrations

B

ecoming a Saab mechanic via
Subaru is the last thing I ever
envisioned. But thanks to two
new used cars, my face is now
a familiar one at the parts counter of my
local Subaru dealer.
My wife and I needed to replace a
leased car. But we decided - like a lot
of other Americans - that because of
the uncertain economic and
employment conditions due to the
pandemic, we'd stay off the car
RICHARD
payment bandwagon. The plan: Just
pay cash for a decent used car.
But the used-car market lately has
rtruett@crain.com
been like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at
Fixed Ops Journal
Disneyland. Crazy prices are being asked
for worn-out, rusted jalopies with
mileage deep into the six figures. Nevertheless, these cars are selling fast.
Like a gambler at a horse track, I got pretty good at handicapping the
used-car ads. After filtering out the junk with salvage titles, rust holes
big enough to drop a wallet through and misleading mileage claims
(50,000 miles on the engine, 258,000 on the chassis, for example), there
were not many cars with potential. Good ones offered for reasonable
prices by private owners got snapped up quickly and likely ended up at
buy-here, pay-here car lots for thousands more.
One quiet backwater of the used-car market offered a glimmer of
hope: dead brands. We looked at Saturns
but eventually settled on the Saab 9-2X, a
sporty, compact all-wheel-drive wagon
made in 2005-06 by Subaru. The 9-2X is
essentially a more luxurious version of the
Impreza, a car with a five-star safety rating.
The little Saab (dubbed a " Saaburu " by its
fans) checks all the boxes: The drivetrain
has proved durable and reliable. Standard
awd adds a modicum of safety in the snow.
There's plenty of cargo room. And, most
importantly, parts support is outstanding.
Service, however, is another story.

TRUETT

Any takers?
The first 9-2X we bought came from its
original, senior citizen owner. She took
excellent care of the car and had the
paperwork to prove it. I counted 22 receipts
for oil changes. The biggest mishap in her
tenure with the car was hitting not one but
two deer one snowy evening in 2017 on a
country road outside Detroit. That took out
both front fenders, the hood and front

PAGE 24

DECEMBER 2020

For Richard Truett, finding a place willing and able to service his 2005
Saab 9-2X was tough. Getting it to do what he asked was tougher.

fascia, all of which were replaced with new parts and new paint. The car
looked and drove fine and, for $4,000, seemed like a bargain - even
with the interior reeking of cigarettes, 103,000 miles under its wheels
and a big service coming up.
The 105,000-mile recommended service
is extensive. Subaru suggests replacing the
timing belt, all related pulleys and
tensioners and the water pump. This is a
job I could do but decided against. It
requires special tools. Also, my unheated
garage is not a comfortable place to wrench
in the fall. And many former Saab dealers
now selling other brands, I learned,
continue to offer service and parts a decade
after the last Saabs rolled off the assembly
line.
My first call was to a former Saab dealer
close by that is now an official service
center. But I was told they wouldn't work on
the car because it wasn't bought there. The
next option - a Subaru store. The service
writer there told me his store could do the
job, but if any check-engine lights were
triggered, his techs could not read the
codes. The Saab version has a specific
computer Subaru scan tools cannot access.

Truett wound up replacing the brake pads and rotors
himself using parts bought from a local dealer.

see TRUETT, Page 26
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2020

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