RMSC News 2012 Issue 5 - Rocky Mountain Saab Club

RMSC News 2012 Issue 5
September-October 2012
Club Web Sites: http://www.rockymtnsaabclub.com
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rmsaab
To send email to Group: [email protected]
To send email to Pres: [email protected]
To send email to Editor: [email protected]
The October 9th meeting will be 7PM at Mile Hi
Body Shop, Inc., 519 Lipan St. Denver. RMSC purchased a 1991 Saab 900NT, 3dr Black, 5 speed
that is in need of a few mechanical repairs.
Bring work clothes, food will be served.
From your Club President
Many of my friends that I know from all over the USA
whom I have met and a few of our Saab Club members
have purchased what might be the last Saab ever built as
we now know it. John Elway Saab has sold 28 new units
last month. We all want to get a piece of Saab history. It
proves we still want Saabs.
Should I buy a car without a factory warranty? Here is
what I have experienced. It seems to me since 2007, the
car has been highly refined. All the usual problems have
seemed to disappear. GM has finally got it right where
reliability and predictably have finally come together. I
rarely have heard of any big mechanical problem happening and if it does, the parts seem to be there. Talking
with John Elway Saab (formerly Mike Shaw Saab) Grant
in parts sums it up like this. “Whenever parts are needed
for a warranty on the 08’s & 09’s we are working on,
Saab Parts North America usually stocks the parts.
Sometimes when parts are out of stock, they sometimes
can be crossed over to GM part supply. As far as now, it
has not really been an issue.”
2011 cars are sold without factory warranty however
aftermarket warranties are available and highly recommended. Everyone always doubts the cost of any insurance policy however when it is needed, you are glad you
have it. The cost of an aftermarket policy ranges from
$2,300.00 to 3,000.00. Is it money well spent? I believe
so. Talking to John Elway about how many new 2010 &
2011’s come in, their answer is hardly any. Meaning the
car is well built and reliable. If it is needed, you will be
glad you have it. The system has not been strongly tested
yet as the car is still new. Time will tell.
What happens when your local dealer cannot get a part
and you cannot drive your car? Great question! John
Elway has a great dealer network to query dealers who
participate. 1) they will get it somewhere. Some dealers
stock a great amount of parts. 2) check the aftermarket
suppliers. 3) The option is installing used parts. Somewhere something can be gotten. 4) Try to repair your
part.
Mike Shaw, when Saab was at its prime, placed part orders daily. Back in 2008 when parts orders were placed,
there was a 98% chance of getting all the parts. Always
there was a small chance some are backordered only to
1
From your Club President
(continued)
be filled in a short period of time. When Saab was in its
bankruptcy, the percentage rate fell to a dismal 57%. You
cannot keep a car company going with that low numbers.
What is a customer to do when they cannot get parts?
Since then the average percentage to fill an order is now at
79%. That’s better (I believe?)
Friends, do not bail on the older cars. Parts are always going to be available on them. Patients have ran out and now
you can buy new aftermarket parts.
DO NOT WRECK YOUR CAR!!!! Period! Almost all
mechanical parts are purchased from suppliers except
sheet metal. Sheet metal is stamped at the factory and are
not supplied from suppliers. The factory is not stamping
sheet metal at this time, thus no sheet metal. Insurance
companies hate Saabs. A Saab is wrecked and for example
you are a claimant, claimants are entitled into a loaner vehicle until the car is fixed. We have had one 2008 9-5
waiting for seven weeks waiting for a bumper cover and a
turn light. Everything else was completed. If you have a
light hit say RF corner and you are a claimant, don’t be
surprised that your will total just because the availability
of sheet metal. Insurance companies do not want to pro-
ceed with any unforeseeable future. It is cost effective to
total the car, pay off the claimant, finalize the claim as to
pay on going charges. Older cars are different say from
2005 and older. There are a great amount of good quality
used parts available to keep the older cars going. Good
news!! Saab Parts North America, the supplier of Saab
Parts is working a deal with the factory to open the factory
and start creating sheet metal products. As of this writing,
nothing has been started yet.
I think I got off the question of “Would you buy a new car
without a warranty and the factory is closed down? It is all
about the comfort level you have and the trust in the product. Say what you want about GM but GM has made a
reliable, predictable vehicle that has many of miles ahead
of it trouble free. At this time I feel a new Saab is a great
value however time will tell. I will do my best to keep
every Saab on the road and do whatever I can do to keep
the parts coming.
Have a great fall driving your Saab. Drive safe!!
Jerry Danner, President
(Photo by Charles Stoyer)
Infrared Thermometers
by Charles Stoyer
A friend of mine road with his brother in law to the
top of Pike’s Peak this summer. On the return trip
down, the driver did not use the transmission to slow
the vehicle by downshifting but instead used the
brakes. About half way down, they encountered a
check station where the rangers measured the brake
disk temperature with an infrared thermometer. His
brakes were way too hot so they directed him to take
a 1-hr break before proceeding the rest of the way
down the approximate 9,000 ft climb.
I mentioned this story to another friend and he suggested that infrared thermometers are quite useful fro
diagnosing potential problems with cars and trucks.
He suggested that when you stop after a long drive
that you check the tires and brake disks/drums with
mometer is much faster and easier than using a tire
an infrared thermometer to look for problems. If all
tires read the same temperature, then all is likely OK gauge. The brake disks and drums If you have drums
but if one tire is warmer than the rest, it may be low should also be checked. If one side is considerably
(Continued on page 14)
on pressure. Checking this with the infrared ther2
RMSC Minutes August 14th 2012
by Larry Beetham (Photos by Charles Stoyer)
Jerry Danner opened the August meeting at the
Breckenridge Brewery and introduced 2 new members, Jay Dowling who has an '08 9-5Aero and.
Keith-Arnold who has an '08 9-3 Turbo X as well as
accepted to run again. New nominees included:
Dave Snider, Paul Bottone, John Clary, and Jim
Beetham.
Dave, Paul, and John were elected, the new board is
now Jerry Danner (President), Paul Bottone
(Treasurer), Larry Beetham (Secretary), At-Large
members are Bob Buck, Darrell Christianson, Dave
Snider, and John Clary
some vintage Alphas and an old truck. Keith is also
looking for a V-4 to add to his fleet.
Board members are at large and then assigned to
positions by the board, a motion was made to the
attendees to make the treasurer and secretary positions appointed by board and not necessarily filled
by board members.
This month’s meeting agenda is board elections for
3 positions and a recap of SOC12 in Iowa City. Jerry also thanked Charles for the newsletter and had a
call for articles from members on their projects and
items of interest on Saabs.
This can only be voted on this month and was
passed during a meeting of the new board following
directly afterwards.
Jerry and Tom gave a recap of the SOC12 in Iowa
City in August, the club had 18 members and family
that attended and overall we received 14 awards by
RMSC members. Most notable, Dave Snider won
the Walter Kern Award for innovations in design
and improving the breed through ingenuity. We pre-
Bob Buck facilitated the elections for the upcoming
2 year terms, we have 3 positions open from Tom
Nelson, Jim Beetham and Treasurer Paul Bottone.
Tom declined to run for re-election, Jim and Paul
3
RMSC Minutes June 12th 2012
by Larry Beetham (Photos by Charles Stoyer) Continued
viously had an RMSC member, Dan Bollschweiler
that won this award for his Sonett III dragster.
Tom said it was one of the best conventions he has
plans for a weekend trip to the museum in Gateway,
Colorado will be moved to next fall and will still include trips to the Colorado Monument and local wineries.
been to, particularly due to not having a car of his in
competition for once! He also talked about his quest
for a new 9-5 manual for his wife, Avis through the
Respectfully submitted,
recent auctions, he has been following the auctions
for months and 71 are going up for auction this com- Larry Beetham, Secretary - RMSC of Colorado
ing Thursday.
They both showed pictures of SOC12, including 4
new 2011 9-5s as well as the Colorado Barn Find
96s, Jerry’s pics of old 95 & 96s in Nebraska that he
has been interested in for years and of the Mt. Evans
Drive event to the Meyers observatory.
Paul Bottone showed a Popular Mechanic’s article of
Jay Leno’s 2-stroke and mentioned the plans for touring the Clive Cussler museum on Labor Day. The
4
Who Was Walter Kern?
by Bruce Turk, President, V.S.C.N.A. (pictures by Scott Prentice
Walter Kern was a nuclear physicist trained at MIT. Dur- way in Connecticut in May of 1960, taking first in class.
ing the 1950's he was an amateur sports car racer who had At a race in the rain at Vineland, NJ, the Quantum won,
beating out a Ferrari and a Maserati. In fact, in its first
racing season the Quantum took first in class every time it
ran.
Another Quantum was built; this time with a gorgeous
fiberglass body that Walter said resembled a 3/4 % scale E
-type Jaguar. The car was shown at the 1962 New York
Auto Show, the public absolutely loved it. Saab gave out
press reports that said the car would be in production soon,
with the anticipatled price of $2,995, FOB New Haven,
CT.
some success with a Fiat powered Siata and a Porsche,
until the cars engines were blown. Walter realized that
engine oil starvation on tight turns was responsible for
many engine failures, so he was drawn to the Saab two
cycle engines.
He decided to design and build his own car, incorporating
the Saab power plant. Walter worked with Al Conrod of
The CEO of Saab at the time, Ralph .Millet, supp0l1ed
Kern's efforts by handing Walter the "keys" to the Saab
warehouse parts bin. Mr. Millet believed in Walter's design and made arrangements to have the car sent to Swe-
Itek Corporation and Jack Soumala of the MIT
instruments lab on an IBM computer to design a chassis
with neutral steering. Walter told me that he believed his
was the first car to have its chassis designed entirely by
computer (remember this was around 50 years ago!) The
computer he used filled an entire room.
Walter settled on a chassis configuration made of sheet
metal with a Saab engine and trans axle. The completed
chassis, which he called the Quantum, had a hand built
aluminum body. The car was raced at Thompson speed5
Who Was Walter Kern?
by Bruce Turk, President, V.S.C.N.A. (pictures by Scott Prentice—continued)
He loved Saab Sonett's. He had a need for speed so his
Sonetts always came equipped with a custom installed
turbo. When his turbo Sonett got boring he helped develop
a fuel-injected turbo! His cars were all about innovation.
When he was 78 years young, he commuted to work (yes
he still worked) in his electric Sonett III. His self-designed
electric car would travel 60 miles at 50 miles per hour between charges. I had a chance to see the car on a few occasions. This was a professionally built car that WORKED.
He said that free wheel drive made vintage Saabs the perfect candidate for an electric conversion. GM could have
spent 50 million dollars to design a car that didn't work as
well.
den for review. Saab was designing what would become
the Sonett and thought that maybe, just maybe, they would
use Walters design.
The rest of the story is history. The Swedes picked Walters Quantum apart because they couldn't bear the thought
of producing a sports car designed by an American. A
purely political decision was made to manufacture what
we now know as the Sonett II. This was an error of epic
proportions. The Sonett II was not "taken well" by the
American press, to put it mildly. We can only speculate
what would have happened had they produced the super
sexy, convertible Quantum.
Walter was Chief Mechanical Engineer at Teradyne Corp.;
He lived in a retirement community the last few years of
his life. One day his community was having a hobby
show. The residents were displaying their handiwork on
the great front lawn. On display were needlepoint, quilts,
crafts etc. Then Walter drove in with his screaming yellow
1974 electric Sonett III. He just parked that thing right in
the middle of all the other items on display. His grand entrance gave him instant celebrity status in his new community!
He was a true gentleman that always had time to explain
things to anyone who asked. His work wasn't always esthetically pleasing but always challenged the senses and
improved the breed.
The nice thing about the Walter Kern Award is that it can
go to the owner of any year or model Saab. lfyou're an
innovative genius, maybe you will be the next to be
honored by receiving the prestigious Walter Kern Award.
a computer controlled testing systems company. He
developed formulas for some of the earliest synthetic oils
ever produced. He was the president of The New England
Sonett Club (later became the VSCNA) for almost twenty
years.
6
Automotive A/C Refrigerant Changes Again!
by Don Wollum
Air conditioning was working perfectly well with R12 so there was no change for 55 years (1940 to
1995). Around 1990, scientists determined R12 refrigerant was associated with ozone depletion and the
loss of a protective ozone shield in the northern hemisphere. Chemically R12 interacted and decreased the
protective ozone layer allowing increased UV radiation damages that alarmed the residents of Canada
and Alaska. Manufactures fazed in using R134a and
by 1997, and R12 was illegal for new car makers to
us. Also its availability for R12 repairs on pre-1997
cars was severely restricted.
than R134a. Also the EPA has not as of this date
made provisions for over the counter sales to the public. Until amended, no home mechanics will have access to HFO-1234yf. To service any HFO-1234yf
system, every shop will need to be HFO-1234yf
trained and state licensed and the shop must have the
EPA required HFO-12234yf specific and dedicated
equipment that will cost somewhere North of
$10,000.00!
This new refrigerant will bring a multitude of expensive changes to the A/C service landscape. For instance, until manufacturing plants are in full swing
during 2014, HFO-1234 will cost 10 TIMES more
came an attractive trait in helping the industry choose
HFO-1234yf over carbon dioxide (CO2), which requires higher pressures ( 2000 lbs!). Of course, HFO1234yf must have its own fittings and service label,
which is typical for different refrigerants. One important characteristic of
the new refrigerant is that
it is “flammable in some
settings”. Smoking in
shops has been illegal for
some time and new A/C
equipment will be spark
free, yet car accidents
where the HFO-12124yf is
released quickly with a
smashed condenser has me
wondering what happens
then.
2012 American cars using this new refrigerant is the
Cadillac ATS and all 2012 Subaru’s. Dealerships will
need to consider service equipment for HFO-1234yf
Now just 17 years later it’s R134a turn for environduring this year. This may also be the case for collimental banning because of green-house gas carbon
sion shops, depending on whether they perform A/C
content. Though safe for the Ozone layer, R134a does work in-house. Your local independent shop will
have a carbon content rating of 1433, a high and
need to consider HFO-1234yf-ready equipment withharmful number. By comparison HFO-1234yf has a in the next couple of years.
global warming friendly carbon pollution rating of
For the most part, systems filled with HFO-1234yf
just 4. By the end of this year the switch to HFOare substantially identical to R-134a systems. Both
1234yf as factory fill in new cars will be underway.
systems work at very similar pressures, which be-
We can trace the ruling
about carbon restrictions
and CO2 to EPA regulation upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010.
7
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
Who's to say that the last 900 new 2011 Saabs imported into North America will be the last Saabs ever? It could happen that in a few years there will be
all-electric vehicles coming from the NEVS factory
in Trollhattan, Sweden to the US with a Saab badge.
But I can't wait for that possibility, and the 2011
Saabs are just too darned nice to pass up. So this is
the story of having a chance to buy, brand new, some
of the last Saabs imported to our country. And I wasn't the only one of our RMSC members that bought a
car; there are four of us to date, and there were several other club members who seriously considered the
opportunity; some are still looking for the right car.
A little background information is in order before I
get to the activity of these past few months. In 2009,
when GM was in process of shedding Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab there was a
major push in the global Saab community to influence would-be potential buyers and investors that
Saab should live on, and that there were indeed many
customers out there for all the new Saab models coming. I was one of the hundreds, or were there thou-
After the December 2011 bankruptcy of Saab in Europe, followed shortly by the bankruptcy of SCNA
(the Saab North American distributor) in Michigan I
started hearing rumblings about 900 brand new Saabs
caught in limbo during the process. Then there were
photos of dozens of new Saabs in every model, trim,
and color imaginable setting forlornly in warehouses
and parking lots at ports on both coasts of the US. A
Some of the 900 port-stranded Saabs at a Newark,
NJ Warehouse (Photo by SaabWorld.net)
blogger on SaabWorld.net had access to the developing story about a court battle for ownership of the
cars. These 900 cars had been ordered for distribution
to US dealers but never paid for by SCNA
so the court awarded the cars to Ally Financial
(formerly GMAC). In addition, Ally was awarded
ownership of all the SCNA company cars, another
50+ late model used Saabs that were mostly located
at SCNA HQ in Royal Oak, MI.
Saab 9-5 SportCombi for 2012; Unfortunately it
The 900 brand new Saabs at ports in NJ, GA, and CA
never got to production
along with the 50+ SCNA company cars made a list
27 pages long, organized by VIN, model, body style,
sands? of believers that signed an internet pledge to
value, and location. This listing was published by Alpurchase a NEW Saab in 2012 or 2013. I fully exly Financial in June 2012 along with the announcepected it was going to be the all new 9-5 Sport Combi ment that the grand plan was to auction the cars indithat we would buy, and that it would be a 50th Anni- vidually in batches, to Saab dealers only, starting in
versary present for my wife Avis, to replace her 2003 late June. The on-line auctions were to be conducted
Aero Wagon that she has loved dearly for almost 10 by Smart Auction, a connection that all remaining
years. That dream was not to be, of course, but hold Saab dealers already had in place. The plan also was
that thought for about 3 years of turmoil in the world said to allocate 300 of the new Saabs to the individual
of Saab leading to early 2012.
auction approach, and the remaining 600 cars would
8
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
representative for the bidding. Greg got to work immediately for the July 24th auction and provided a
choice of 3 that fit the criteria....... 2 black ones in the
Newark, NJ port, and a Diamond Silver beauty in the
port of Brunswick, GA near Savannah. All were
equipped the same, only difference was color and location. This was a no brainier for me as we cannot
own another black or dark blue car with our very
dusty gravel/dirt roads where we live. My investigation of the 4 various trim levels on the 9-5 had
showed me that for sheer driving fun ........ the Turbo4 with 6-spd manual was definitely the way to go,
and it weighs almost 700 lbs less than the XWD V6
models. I didn’t feel a need for all-wheel-drive as we
have always felt that tires make the real difference.
And finally, for a car that comes with no warranty, I
wanted minimum bells and whistles; so much less to
go wrong during the life of the car.
Greg reported the minimum bid to be $17,700 which
was computed as 45% of the MSRP at $39,350. Ally
Financial had previous announced that the starting
bid would be 50% of MSRP for all the cars, but closer examination revealed that 9-5 models with manual
trans were 45%, while 9-3X and 9-4X were 60% and
55% respectively.
Apparently the Ally Financial folks expected demand
for the 6-spd manual versions of the 9-5 would be
minimal so priced it lower. They were certainly right
on our Diamond Silver 9-5, as no other dealers placed
be sold in lots of 100.
But before the first new car auction, Ally offered all
the SCNA company cars in one lot. The successful
bidder on June 27th was Schmelz Countryside VW
Saab in St Paul, MN. These cars arrived in Schmelz
inventory in early July and most were quickly sold.
The first new Saab auction offered 45 cars on June
28th. At that point I was still going through the 27
page 900 car listing trying to find a 9-3 Sport Combi
with 6-spd manual gearbox. There was only one, and
it was a very "stripped-down model" without even
heated seats. I knew better than to bid on this car for
Avis. After all, every Saab we have bought since our
new 1972 model 99SSE has had heated seats!!
To place a bid on any of these cars I needed to get
locked in with a Saab dealer to bid for me, so I started with Mike Shaw Chevrolet Saab in Denver, as
that's where Avis bought her new Aero Wagon in
2003. But the General Manager said emphatically
that they would not be participating in the auction.
Period. I then hooked up with Julie Gardner of Kelly
Cadillac Saab in Lancaster, PA as I had become enamored with her postings on the internet that detailed
her successful bidding on a 9-3X Sport Combi for a
client in Washington State. She even agreed to try to
influence the Smart Auction folks to add any car I
wanted to bid on. But by the time the second auction
date was set for July 24th Julie's boss had decided
(temporarily) to not participate, as the labor intensive
process was not worth the effort for their dealership.
Meanwhile a couple things happened...... Schmelz
Countryside, who had bought the SCNA company
cars, announced they would represent anyone who
wanted to buy a car. And I had decided that maybe a
better purchase would be the upscale 9-5 model, even
without the offering of a Sport Combi. As Steve
Goldberger said ... the NG 9-5 4-dr sedan has a "3body trunk," and I was assured that with the seats
folded flat Avis would be able to get her Moots road
bike inside without removing either wheel. And I
need to add that, from the time I first saw and drove
the NG 9-5 sedan at the introduction of the 2010
models, I was struck by its beautiful lines.
So I decided to search for a 9-5 Turbo4 sedan with 6spd manual with Greg O'Neill at Schmelz being my
You can spot a Hirsch-Tuned Saab by the Bull Elk
Logo
9
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
bids. Greg calls my auction purchase the "deal of the
century." My car had 12 miles on it when picked up
in GA for transport to Schmelz, and the detailed inspection report showed only one defect...... it was
missing one of the remotes. Once the car arrived in St
Paul, the dealership performed the new car PDI, replaced the missing remote, and installed the Hirsch
40 HP performance upgrade. I then had the car
shipped to Denver, after a very good experience being represented by Greg O'Neill throughout the entire
process at Schmelz Countryside.
Here's where the story gets a bid muddled..............
recall that this was to be a 50-year anniversary present for my wife? I had successfully kept it a secret
for all these weeks until the car was loaded on the
First stop at Jim's ABCarwash in Golden, with our
transporter headed to Denver......... not really knowing what reaction I'd get from Avis. I knew she loved truck driver didn't even need a parking lot...... just
her Aero Wagon, easy transport for her road bike, the unloaded the new 9-5 with 2 lanes of traffic whizzing
5-spd manual shifter, the heated seats. She just flat
by on either side.
Trucker unloading the new 9-5 ….
loves that car. Then ........ a snafu in the mailbox;
State Farm sent a declaration page mailing on the
new 2011 9-5 with her name on the envelope!! Of
course before I could do anything she had opened the
mail and, suffice to say, things went downhill from
there ..........
So the car came (sort of) as planned with the automobile transporter unloading it in the middle of Jewell,
east of Kipling, in Lakewood, CO. It amazed me the
right in the middle of Jewell & Kipling
First stop for the new 9-5 was at Jim Beetham’s A
Better Carwash in Golden to get rid of the transportation grime, with our grandson Ethan enjoying the first
ride in the new car.
Next stop was our home in Evergreen, to show Avis
what could become her new set of wheels. Her loyalty to the ’03 Aero Wagon is alive and well as she appeared to be, shall we say, “not very impressed.” She
also felt more than just a little bit left out of the pro10
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
cess. I had not realized how much she had valued and
enjoyed being at the center of all the decisions associated with the purchase of her new Aero Sport Wagon
almost 10 years ago.
only 155,000 miles ...... it may be a lot of years. In
the meantime I will certainly enjoy driving the new 9
-5 .....with the Hirsch upgrade to 260 HP, and the
wonderful 6-speed manual shifter ..... as one of the
last Saabs ever produced, and hopefully one of the
best!
Addendum ..... Three More New Saabs ....... When
I started getting serious about bidding on this new
Saab 9-5 I also let many of our fellow RMSC mem-
19x8 Saab Accessory Wheels & Tires ...... Installed
I quickly mounted a set of new 19" Saab black and
silver 10-spoke blade accessory wheels with performance tires, which Avis did notice as a real improvement in looks. She had seen the new 19” wheels at
SOC12 in Iowa City when I bought them from the
parts tent. A suspicious purchase she thought, as she
wasn’t really sure what car they would be used for.
Val & Jim's 9-3 Sport Combi parked next to Avis &
A month later, Avis is still not too sure of this new 95 ......... she calls it OUR car, or YOUR car, definitely Tom's 9-5 at Clive
not HER car. I expect she will eventually warm up to
it, but if her 2003 Aero keeps running well, now with bers know what was coming....... sharing the listing
of the auction cars, the auction dates, and my relationships and experience with various dealers. It turns
out that Jim Beetham liked the idea of also owning
one of these last Saabs so he hooked up with the Garry Small dealership in Portland, OR and successfully
bid on a 2011 9-3 Sport Combi located in Port Huemene, CA in the August 16th auction.
Jim Beetham’s Purchase Experience - New 2011
Saab 9-3 Sport Combi:
Well, as Tom mentioned, I also ended up with a new
9-3 through the Ally auction process. There were 4
identical Sport Combi versions with all of the cool
options that I wanted. Garry Small Saab in Portland,
Oregon not only successfully bid on one of the 4 on
my behalf but ended up buying 2 others of the 4 for
their own inventory along with another 9-3 for anothFirst drive with Avis in the new 9-5; aspen gold
11
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
Three iden6cal 2011 Saab 9-3 Sport Combi's in
Portland, OR - Which one
did Jim drive home?
er customer of theirs. The remaining identical Silver
Sport Combi was bid up higher by the buyer from
Schmelz and so it went to St. Paul. Anybody who
can figure out which of the 3 cars in the photo is the
one that I flew to Portland to drive home, will get a
free beer from me at the next meeting.
At any rate, the process of buying the car sight unseen through a dealer I had never visited worked out
perfectly well. The worries I had about damage to
the car after sitting at the port for so long were unfounded. It was flawlessly perfect. I have not been
able to find a single thing about the car that is in need
of attention in any way, and it has been said that I can
pick the fly crap out of pepper. If things continue this
well I may never miss not having the warranty. The
fact that Garry Small bought the 3 identical cars not
only helped prevent bidding from climbing on a sin-
Jim Beetham's "new" 2008 9-3 Aero ...... NOT an
auc6on car
gle car but it allowed me the advantage of being able
to physically inspect the cars and pick between the
triplets just like picking out a new puppy from a litter. I then hopped in and drove it 1,450 miles home
in 2 days.
I have since had it tuned by fellow club member John
Williams of JZW Tuning in Longmont, CO for improved performance; the difference is like night and
day.
Too much of a good thing is just right, so shortly after returning home with the new 9-3 I came across a
nice example of a 2008 9-3 Aero, V6, and ended up
with it also, as shown in the second photo. About 24
hours after taking home the Aero it was also in Longmont for tuning. John was able to do even more for
the V6 engine management system and so far it is at
about 320 horsepower. More fun things coming in
the future will put it at about 400 hp!
While the two 9-3s are impressive in many ways such
as all of the electronic technology and an incredible
suspension system, I still absolutely love my 2 older
900s and the 2 sweet 9000s. Like I said, too much of
a good thing is just right! ............. Jim Beetham
Two More New Auction Cars from John Elway
Chevrolet Saab
Two of our RMSC board members also decided to
join the action after the individual car auctions were
completed. Both Paul Bottone and Darrell Christiansen bought 2011 9-3 XWD Sport Sedans from John
Elway Chevrolet Saab in Denver. Their cars were
both listed among the 900 new “port” Saabs on the
Ally Financial listing, but ended up in the Elway inventory in mid September. The route from the port in
Newark to Denver is not yet clear. Here are Paul’s
and Darrell’s respective stories.......
Paul Bottone’s Purchase Experience - New 2011
Saab 9-3 XWD Sport Sedan:
On Sept 14th we had our 1st RMSC board meeting
with the new Directors. I sat next to Darrell Christiansen and we talked about seeing Jim's and Tom’s
new Saabs at the Clive Cussler Museum tour. We had
heard that Rich Giorgi at Elway’s Saab dealership
had received 28 new XWD 9-3's. I told Darrell we
should go there and see what they had after our meet-
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Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
curves; then I got "nice car” out of her. ............ Paul
Bottone
Darrell Christiansen’s Purchase Experience - New
2011 Saab 9-3 XWD Sport Sedan:
First of all, I have to say that it is all Paul’s fault that
I have a new 2011 9-3 XWD. It started out after the
Friday Saab Club board meeting at the Breckenridge
Brewery, about 3 weeks ago. Paul says, l am going
over to Elway’s to look at the Saabs that they got in
from the Ally auction. I first said that I really shouldn’t, but finally succumbed and said, sure why not.
The short story going forward is that Paul buys one
on the spot and I wandered on home for the weekend.
I knew better than to commit to a car before checking
in at the home front. Saturday was the big Saab event
at John Elway Chevrolet Saab, which I wasn’t able to
attend, but by Sunday I had my wife interested
enough to go down and look at what was left on the
lot. We get there and can’t find a single one sitting
on the lot, our conclusion being that they sold them
all on Saturday. Rich Giorgi, the Elway Saab sales
guy, called me on Monday and indicated he had more
coming in on the weekend, and I ended up holding
the last Nocturne Blue one that was not presold. I
picked up the car the following Tuesday.
The process was painless as I had no trade, and the
price was the price. The only misgiving that I had
was the car had no window sticker, so I had to rely on
the information given to me by the salesman. Apparently all of the stickers were taken off at the port prior to the auction. I have since found out that what he
told me was the MSRP, was possibly about $1000 too
high, but still feel like I got a killer deal on a new/
Paul Bo<one's New 2011 Saab 9-3 XWD; color is
used car.
Java
My impressions of the car to date have been very
Darrell was saying he should have not come with me good. The key is still in the center console, but I do
find myself groping around for the window switches
since he too got the bug to buy one. (See his story
in the same area. The controls for ventilation, and the
below.)
radio, are all analog knobs, which I really like. The
I did purchase a 4year/40k mile warranty since it was car drives and handles wonderfully, and has plenty of
available on the 9-3. This will be my last new car and power. The 6 speed auto is smooth and functions
as my wife said "It's a new Saab of course." That is
smoothly. In full auto mode, the car is a bit slow off
all she said until we went to see the aspens on the
the line, much like the older manual Saabs, but once
Squaw Pass road where I played/learned with the 6- you get the squirrels all wound up it really gets up
speed auto/manual shift transmission on all the
and goes. In the manual mode, you literally have to
ing. I had attended the Haldex lecture by their engineer at a SOC09 tech session and was more than impressed by their cross drive technology. On race
courses it out performs, by several seconds, front or
rear drive only cars of the same make. On the 2011
Saabs it is the 4th generation system. There are 20
sensors that are monitored 20 times a second and correct for pitch and yaw, plus in adverse condition
like snow/rain/gravel/mud, it sends power only to the
wheels that have traction.
I couldn't see buying a new Saab without this latest
technology. On a test drive Rich told me to take a
right turn with out slowing down. It was like driving
my MINI. I was sold. They had silver, black, midnight blue and other colors. Some were still being
cleaned up; boy were they grimy. Rich had new batteries put in just to be safe after the year in the ports. I
spotted a Java colored one, dark coffee brown with
copper flakes, and knew that was my car.
13
Buying Some of the Last New Saabs, Ever ........ (continued)
by Tom Nelson, with contributions from Paul Bottone , Darrell Christiansen and Jim Beetham
hold on to the steering wheel to keep from being
thrown into the back seat. The only negative to date
is the slight shaking that appears when braking hard
at highway speeds. I had the car into Mile Hi, and
was told that the rotors have some rusts spots where
the east coast moisture resided between the pads and
rotors while the car sat in the New Jersey port for
over a year. The shaking seems to be getting better
the more I drive it and the rotors wear in. ............
Darrell Christiansen.
Darrell Chris ansen's New 2011 Saab 9-3 XWD in
Nocturne Blue
Infrared Thermometers
by Charles Stoyer (continued)
(Continued from page 2)
warmer than the other, this might indicate a sticking
caliper which is causing the brake pads to stay in firm
contact with the rotors.
Infrared thermometers measure the temperature of an
object remotely by measuring the infrared radiation
of the remote object. The further you are from the
object, the larger the area you are sensing. Some have
lasers to indicate the center of the area being measured. They are not expensive and readily available. I
only personally know of Harbor Freight Tools, which
sells several different kinds with several different
ranges, but there are likely other sources. On sale
(which they often are) they can be had for as little as
$10 or as much as $30 for the higher temperature
14