Phoenix Croydon Saab Main Dealer May Have Risked Our Lives

I'd like people to make their own minds up on the content of this blog. The events described in this blog are as I remember them and the content is taken from notes made at the time, but are clearly my word against theirs. Please read on and make your own mind up....... you can vote on the right about what you think.......

In February 2008, I bought a Saab 93 Convertible from 4Front on the A20 Sidcup Road.

On Thursday 10th April 2008 I dropped my Saab 93 off for a scheduled 54,000 mile service at Phoenix Saab Croydon, south London, a Saab Main Dealer.

That afternoon, I was contacted by a member of staff I shall call "P" to tell me that they had found a number of faults, some minor, but one major - the timing chain was noisy and therefore probably needed changing - I have linked to Wikipedia for more info on what a timing chain is but, in essence, it keeps all the key parts of the engine synchronised and, if it fails, the engine's moving parts will rip themselves and eachother apart and the car will come to a rapid halt - imagine if this happened on a motorway, at speed, causing a multi-car pile-up and my kids were in the back........... it doesn't need thinking about, does it?

Generally, a timing chain of this type would be expected to last "the life of the car" - in Toyotas you can apparently expect around 200,000 miles.

And yet, mine was apparently on its way out at 54,000 miles!!

I have since found out that premature timing chain wear is a known problem in Saab 9-3s, so buyer beware!! Saab UK are apparently aware of this, but what are they doing anything about it........?

Here are three links to further information about these and other Saab issues:

http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=226769&EL=3205188
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=39607
http://www.saab9-3bulkhead.com/

Anyway, back to my story.......

I told "P" from the Service Department at Phoenix Croydon that I had bought an extended warranty with my car and asked him what the process was to get it sorted out, he told me it shouldn't be a problem......... famous last words!

Next day (Friday), when it became clear that it wouldn't be possible to get it inspected by an engineer from the warranty company until the following week, I asked him if I could have the car back for the weekend. P put me on hold, to speak to a Manager, and then came back and told me categorically that because of the faulty timing chain, the car was unsafe to drive and shouldn't be moved.

The following week, I was told that the timing chain problem was probably due to oil starvation as a result of a head gasket failure, which had caused an oil leak and this meant that the timing chain had not been properly lubricated. I was told that in order to diagnose this properly, it would be necessary to steam clean the engine at a cost of £61.20 + VAT and then wait to observe the source of the oil leak. So I approved this.

Through the week, we had a number of conversations along the lines of:

• "We have requested an inspection engineer but they haven't come back to us yet"
• "The engineer was booked but hasn't come"
• "We have prepared the car as requested and are just waiting for the engineer" (remember this one it's important later!)

It gets to Friday (18th April) they've had my car for over a week and we're still no nearer a resolution.........

On Monday afternoon, I received a call out of the blue to say "your car is ready for collection" - how can this be possible?

I spoke to "P" who told me that the engineer from the warranty company had been and had a look and has said "drive it for a couple of weeks and then bring it back" and he'll take another look, "so we've put your car back together and it's ready for collection", P continued....

I said - OK, but you told me it was dangerous to drive! If this is the case, can you clarify how many miles is "a couple of weeks" and then confirm all of this in writing with the warranty company, so that if the timing chain fails we are all covered? "P" confirmed he'd do this (but, to the best of my knowledge, he never did!).

So, I took the car away and drove it for about 1,500 miles and then called P back on 11th June. I spoke to a colleague, who wasn't very helpful and I asked him to get P to call me....... nothing...... for two days!

In the end, having heard nothing from Phoenix Saab Croydon, I telephoned the warranty company to find out what the situation was from their perspective and I was shocked at what I was told! They sent me a copy of the engineer's report - the critical bit is transcribed below - the colour is mine, to help you spot the important bits.......

The engineer's report states:

I attended the above address to do a vehicle inspection as instructed, after doing a general vehicle condition check which was found to be in a clean general condition, I went on to examine the specific faults and found the following:

1 Rang dealer to say that I was on the way to them and any problems please contact me back. No reply received. Vehicle parked in the dealers car park, no dismantling having taken place.

2 On arrival at the above dealer the engineer was escorted to the vehicle by the Technician. All vehicle details were taken as written above.

3 The Technician explained that when the vehicle was brought in he found oil down the o/s side of the engine but they decided to steam clean it and therefore there was nothing there for the engineer to observe at the time of the inspection.

Now, let's take a moment to think about this.......

• P told me the car had been dismantled ready for the engineer, the engineer stated that no dismantling had taken place
• P told me that it was necessary to steam clean the engine, the engineer stated that this meant there was nothing for him to see - i.e. the evidence of an oil leak had been removed!!
• Having previously told me the car was dangerous to drive, P was now stating that I should drive the car for a couple of weeks - presumably so that the engineer could see where the oil that Phoenix Croydon had steam cleaned away was leaking from.......

As a result of speaking to the warranty company, I called to speak to the Dealer Principle and I was referred to the Customer Care Manager, who is based at the Phoenix Wimbledon branch. He apologised profusely and told me that he would look into it and either call me back himself, or get the Croydon service manager to call me.

The Croydon service manager called me about 15 minutes later, he didn't really apologise but said he'd look into it, however, he suggested I brought the car back and he'd deal with it personally. I agreed to bring it in the next morning (Saturday 14th June), but after thinking about it overnight, I spoke to him that morning and told him I wanted some answers before I trusted Phoenix Saab Croydon further with my car and my safety.

He stated that he would investigate and get back to me on Monday...... I'll update this blog when I hear more.

In the meantime, I have decided to document the whole thing here, as it may help others to avoid the same risks and problems - not least in being aware of the fact that Saab 9-3s seem to have an oil starvation problem, which causes the timing chain to fail well before it should.

My questions/conclusions from this chain of events so far are:

• It feels like Phoenix Saab Croydon may have deceived me throughout this process and may even have lied to me on a number of occassions - this remains to be clarified, so I reserve judgement
• Somebody (presumably a senior member of staff), at Phoenix Saab Croydon made the conscious decision NOT to strip the car down as requested by the warranty engineer, wasting his time and mine - and potentially risking the safety of everyone in the vehicle through having to drive it to recreate the symptoms with a defective timing chain
• The advice to drive the car was in direct contradiction with previous advice and may have put the lives of me, my family and others at risk when we were in the car (imagine if the timing chain and, therefore, the engine had failed on a fast road causing an accident!!)
• Since this is a known and documented fault with this engine, the garage may have been misleading me in the way they handled the whole matter, or (perhaps worse) they are not aware of the problem that What Car? have documented.......

Please remember that this is how the facts seem at this point in time and I am waiting for an explanation that may clarify things further, but based on the evidence so far, it doesn't look good! Clearly, as the fact become clearer, some of the opinions and my version of events, as stated may be incorrect to one degree or another. If this proves to be the case, I will gladly remove the offending text and I apologise unreservedly in advance for any offence or upset caused.

I will update this blog regularly as and when I have conversations with the warranty company and/or Phoenix and, if necessary, I will also name and shame the warranty company if they start messing me around!