*stands* Hi, my name is L. A. and I am a Saabaholic.
How else do you explain going through this with the first Saab and then buying another Saab?
*sticks chin out resolutely* Well, this is my second and LAST Saab.*
Me, sounding disturbingly like Milton in Office Space: The alarm on my car goes off at odd times for no apparent reason. My husband and I are nowhere near the fobs and suddenly it'll go off, by itself, and I've got to run and get the fob to turn it off. Yesterday it went off four times in a row. The alarm goes off, I run and turn it off, a minute passes and it goes off again! Over and over! This only seems to happen at home. My neighbors are not pleased.
Me: Yes.
Mr. Helpful: Then it's not that. If it was a weak alarm system, you wouldn't be able to turn it off with the fob.
Me: ...
Mr. Helpful: You can bring it in and we can test it. But if it's intermittent, we may not find it since it might not happen while it's here.
Me: It only seems to happen at home.
Mr. Helpful: That might be hard to reproduce, then.
Me, gritting my teeth: Is it possible that something in the neighborhood, like another person's alarm control is setting it off?
Mr. Helpful: Sure! There are only so many frequencies. I've heard of that happening.
Me: Is it possible to just turn the alarm off? Permanently?
Mr. Helpful: We can bypass the alarm mechanism but it'll run you about $250. *pause* It can be done but it's not easy to get to. You'll have to leave it and we'll give you a loaner.
I commit to nothing and get off the phone. I vent to Hubs. Hubs googles it and finds a slew of people reporting the same problem.
Hubs: I found a fix on the Internet!
Me: Great!
Hubs: Get in the car, put the key in but turn the motor off. Then press the "Night Panel" button.
Me: Okay, and then what?
Hubs: That's it. I think you may have to hold the button for a few seconds.
Me: That can't be all there is to it.
All the same, I go out to the car. With the key in and the motor off, I press "Night Panel" for three seconds. The blinking indicator that shows the alarm is activated GOES OFF!!!
The alarm hasn't activated since. For this tremendous effort they wanted $250.
#$^*!%@ Saab!
Question du jour: What percentage of car mechanics do you feel are honest?
* That would sound a whole lot tougher if the company was still in business and producing Saabs. Nope! They've gone under. Can't imagine why. *rolls eyes*
6 comments:
Ours! :-)
Sometimes I think it's not dishonesty as much as it is bafflement. They don't know what the heck is wrong either so they just try a bunch of things until one works - & that costs a lot of money. It's kind of like health care. For cars.
I dunno. Sounds to me like you might now be an authorized Saab service technician. You can press a button.
Even if you find a mechanic that's honest they might not be competent. They never want to admit they don't know, and don't want to do a fiddly job ever. (Therefore preferring to replace an entire antenna assembly rather than just the standard). I feel like crying every time I need to see one. Good luck with your high maintenance but pretty car!
'Hubs: I found a fix on the Internet!'
The internet knows evrything.
oh my god... we had a saab when i was a kid... my mom says THAT is why i dont trust cars..or people..
I swear! lol
xoxo
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