Downtown Saab

Over the years I have noticed more and more problems and I think I will have to take my car elsewhere... especially since my car is no longer under warranty. They have changed Saab service advisors too many times for me to feel comfortable. Each advisor seems to be less professional and on top of things. Maybe they are being overworked, that's why they keep leaving.

On a whim a friend and myself decided to go to saab on Broadway. The sales man was odd to say the least! When I asked about the car in "Transporter 3", ya you know the one. He then insinuated that I could not afford the car and stated that it was $80,000 (they did not have one). Ironically I could and can afford the car but no longer want it.
They also do not have brochures or any paper with the colors available so the salesman suggested "I go home and look on line at the colors" He was partially right because I went home.

I love Saabs - the look, the feel, the slightly strange European elegance they bring that is totally unlike BMWs or Mercedes. But I really, really, really hate Downtown Saab. Our buying experience with them was an odd one, but they're right down the street from my house so I chose convenience over any other consideration. Now, I'm at the 2 year mark on my car and getting anything fixed is a bit of a headache.

We got a notification from the DMV that before we could re-register our car for the year we'd have to replace a part that was on recall. We called Downtown Saab and they had no idea what we were talking about. Turns out it was a part they were supposed to replace 2 YEARS AGO, before we even bought our car.

I'm routinely getting stability control failure notices lighting up my dashboard but they don't seem too concerned. In fact, I dropped off my car last week to get an oil change, have the random recalled part fixed and get the stability control looked at. At 4pm when they were supposed to be done with my car they said they never got a chance to look at it and could I pick it up tomorrow at 4pm? Um, negative.

My husband took the car back today - a week later - to find out that our ABS are broken. And we're in the midst of a huge storm, when I need my breaks working at their best. Of course, they 'll need to order the part and fix it next week. So yeah, if you're following the timeline, they should have found out LAST week about this problem and fixed it THIS week, in time for my majorly gnarly commute tomorrow morning.

Thanks Downtown Saab, you suck.

I'm not sure whether the folks here are dishonest or just incompetent. I've had chronic problems with my Saab. Some problems are major, some of them minor, but none of them can seem to be fixed. In one example: I have had a persistent battery drain, such that the car will die if I, say, leave it in the airport parking lot for a 10-day trip. This problem is undoubtedly the alternator, but the guys at Downtown Saab insist that I've had the misfortune of having 6 straight faulty batteries, refuse to fix it while it's under warranty, I'm too busy to deal with it, and viola!, now I've got to replace the alternator on my own dime. Maybe this came out of the new GM customer service play book because the guys at Ellis Brooks did the same thing to me.

These guys are incompetent. (maybe with the exception of Larry, it's unfortunte he broke a bone in his hand the day before I was scheduled to drop it off. I probably then would not have gotten Tony and I probably wouldn't be writting a review) A few months ago, Larry was able to get my Saab fixed, it's just too bad the part took 2 days to get there.

Anyways, the reason for my review, I listed a few items for the mechanics to look over. Mainly, underneath the vehicle to see if there was some type of seaping from my transmission (under warranty) ...Never once did they call to follow up with what I had wrote on my drop off envelope, I was the one who called every time and I'm still the one having to call. I requested to have my tires rotated and brakes checked since the vehicle was up on the machine. They didn't check the brakes (I requested it twice bcs that was important, but nope....didn't do it). As for the transmission leak, they checked for an oil leak. Are you serious??? I wrote transmission why would you check the oil? I've never looked under the vehicle myself so I can't confirm where each location of these items are. But seriously, transmission... oil.... are they not two different words? How can you mix that up?

Out of the six things I requested two of them were completed. Probably bcs they're kindergarten words, tires & e-brake. I'm never taking my vehicle back there. I'm going to suggest to my friends and family to not shop or service their vehicles there. Very disappointed!!!

I went to an actual Saab dealership and they did check the items I had requested and found the transmission to be leaking and have kindly ordered parts to repair it. No thanks to Downtown Auto's imcompetence.

Just the worst, never coming back here again!

I have to agree with most of the people on the HORRIBLE Saab service at Downtown Saab. David is never nice when I am in there. Today (Sat.) my front light went out on my car. When I called they told me to bring it in and when I got there they said no one would be able to fix it and then they tried to tell me it wasn't covered under warranty. It took us going to a new car manager to get them to help. The guys in service were rude and disrespectful.

Finally a different guy told us that it was covered and handled it in 30 minutes. It's amazing how they couldn't get their stories straight. If you need something done there it looks like you have to go to upper management to get it handled. I will pay the $5/gallon gas to go to WC for honest service.

Had my Saab convertible repaired at their facility many times. The fixing cost got more and more expensive each time. Last time I went I wanted to have the roof and the radio fixed. They quoted me an enourmous amount of $ so I decided to have it estimated by another Saab technician in Berkeley. The quote was 10 times less expensive than the one I received from Downtown Saab in Oakland. They lost my business forever... I do not recommend them.

Hi All,

I use my Saab for almost 4 years. This is the best car for me. But Maintenance and Service of this car is really bad around USA. I realized that Service cost too much for me. Oakland Saab service is Money soaker. a year ago to change my break pad and break disks they ask me to pay almost 1500 $.

I've been taking my Saab to Downtown Saab since I purchased it a decade ago. The service is, in a word, terrible. Once again, I needed to get something fixed and called the Saab service guy. Once again, I leave a message. Once again, no call is ever returned. You can almost NEVER reach this guy. Last time I had my car into the shop, they kept it twice as long and they agreed because the didn't have the part (and only told me after the car had been in the shop several days). This is another problem: they almost NEVER have parts in stock. I've had it. I'm moving over to Planet Saab in SF even though it's much less convenient.

Unlike most, I had many great experiences with the service dept. here. Don't know if they are the best but from my service experiences i had at 3 other saab dealers. They are by far the best. I've always had this one asian guy helping me... I think his name is Tony C. Its been a year and a half since I moved out of he bay area so I don't remember his name too well.
I truely missed the friendly, complimentary, and thorough services I was provided when living near there! Every experience was a positive one. Prices may not be cheap but Saabs aren't cheap to fix. As long as they take care of my car without giving me any over problems, they are considered great. They always took care of my minor concers free of charge; all concers were addressed and fixed!!! All my Saab service experiences I had elsewhere were unmatched with Okland Saab! From my experiences, they are the best in Saab services!