Now The Service Is Due
12 February 2007, 74,997
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y estimate of when Chef will be due his next service (early to mid February) proved to be spot
on. Just over 9,000 miles has passed
since his last service attention and as I write this, Chef is going in for his
service in just a few days time. I’m
expecting the bill to be close to £200 or so plus anything extra –
unfortunately, something is amiss with him.
In the cold weather the car has been making an alarming crunching noise
over a bump or two. Now Saab 9-3s do
this – they’ll crunch over bumps first thing in the morning. This may be caused by the lower suspension
bushes needing lubrication or it may be caused by something else, such as the
bulkhead cracking or separating. I'll
have this checked by Griffin Autotechniks.
The bulkhead issue... I hope not.
There is some evidence that the bulkhead has cracked. Since my last update the car has felt more
and more unwieldy when changing direction.
Okay, yes, the 9-3 has a wallowly feeling about it but when I tackle a
roundabout with anything other than the most ginger of control inputs, the nose
waggles under acceleration or steering input.
We either have a duff shocker or parts various are moving about
independently of the chassis, which is not a good thing.
However, I’ve driven several of the first generation Saab 9-3 in the
past and they’ve all had the traditional Saab torque steer, that is, rather
than tend to steer to one side or the other, they waggle from side to side in a
celebration of being front wheel drive and Saab. Chef has this trait, but it has gotten
worse. I could put this down to the
Michelin Energy E3A tyres bedding in or because the
weather is getting colder and wetter, except it still isn’t all that cold or
wet compared to say the autumn.
Otherwise the car has simply worked exactly as it should. I have to drive it hard to see the Saab
Information Display under forty five miles per gallon and I have to be extra
gentle to see the Saab Information Display over around fifty three on winter
diesel.