DEALER’S DIATRIBE

I enjoy CM and have done so since the early 1970s, but I have to take issue with Steven Ward’s diatribe against the Saab 9-3 (‘Saab story’, Dealer’s

Diary, February 2018). I’m perfectly happy with a journalist not liking a car, but his piece is so full of inaccuracies that I just can’t let it pass. I’ll simply refute his comments with some facts: 1) “Parts and knowledge… are in short supply these days.” All OEM parts for the 9-3 are still being manufactured by Orio, which is wholly-owned by the Swedish government and was set up to ensure a future for these cars when GM pulled the plug in 2012. Also, lots of parts (brake calipers, etc) are standard GM kit available off-the-shelf from folks like Autovaux, and consumables like filters and brake pads are easily found. With something like 175,000 Saabs still on UK roads, there is a thriving network of specialist garages, most of which are ex-saab franchises. 2) “I couldn’t even see it making bottom book bearing in mind the EML and Saab’s unique ECUS.” Saab’s ECUS are probably better than GM’S given that Saab’s are not badge-engineered Vauxhall/ Opels. Like most of the car, the ECU has been engineered way beyond the spec of the original GM item. In fact, Saab’s Trionic ECUS are based on Motorola hardware. And it goes without saying that Saab’s safety credentials were probably head and shoulders above every other manufacturer for many years – in fact, a senior engineer at Volvo was quoted as saying that none of Saab’s competitors could understand why Saabs were so expensive to make, until they crashed one! 3) “…a ludicrous and painful handbrake arrangement.” The 9-3 has a normal cable-operated ratchet handbrake, just like 75% of cars on the road. It certainly doesn’t have one of the ridiculous and costly electric abominations now so loved by many manufacturers. 4) “…an obsolete car by an obsolete manufacturer.” In that case, most of the cars designed since 2000 fall into the same category. Look up the Epsilon and Epsilon II floorpan and just see how many current cars are underpinned by it. 5) “Someone out there must still love these relics.” Yes, about 175,000 of us in the UK and a hell of a lot more in continental Europe and North America. Nevertheless, I can sympathise with Mr Ward’s comments about service costs for the Mitsubishi Shogun, having recently owned one myself. I was staggered at the £500+ cost of the first annual service; I had owned a couple of Land Cruisers in the past and they never cost more than £300 to service at a Toyota dealer. However, it’s important to keep it all in context: the purchase price of a new top-of-the-range Shogun is about £40,000, which is a lot less than the competition, and I’m willing to bet the Shogun will still be running well when either the RR or M-B are consigned to the crusher.

Martyn Knowles responds: You make a lot of valid points, Jim. I tend to agree with you, being a Saab fan myself. I think they offer good-value-for-money motoring. To be fair to Steven, he provides a bit of entertainment among all the serious ‘how to’ features in CM. He may hold opinions that others don’t agree with, but being controversial and outspoken aren’t necessarily bad attributes to have. We are always glad to hear opposing points of view from readers.