With all of the changes to Saab in the past few years, and with many of us now keeping our Saabs longer as a result, you may be wondering what is the best way to obtain parts these days. Are dealers still a reliable option for parts? What about independent repair shops, the Internet, Saab Owners’ conventions and even eBay and Kijji? How worried should I be about shipping and customs fees? In our first ever Parts Panel we have invited several experts in obtaining parts for recent and vintage Saabs to share their experiences and advice.
Date and Time: Wednesday October 16th @ 7:30pm – eZone in Etobicoke
Moderator:
Fred Hopper
Panel Members:
Markus Halbmeier – Parts Manager, Budds’ Saab
Scott Hutchings – President, Saab Club of Canada
Christian Skovbjerg – Owner, Aktive Motors
Ed Trejis – BOD Member, Saab Club of Canada and Website Saab Parts Discussion Moderator
Hit Dom’s and Standard yesterday.
Dom’s has three or four 9-3s, one NG900, a 9000 CD turbo, and a few 9-5s, both sedans and wagons. All the cars are quite picked over. missing lots of trim, drivetrains, suspensions, etc. I got a few soundproofing insulators and a couple of orange headlight relays to make it worthwhile, but that’s about it.
Standard has one single 900S turbo coupe. They are busily scrapping for fall. The yard is a muddy mess with no organization. Would not recommend.
Thank you. I will have to explore these places as well.
In response to an inquiry about junkyards in the Toronto area that are good for Saab parts hunting:
Mike’s Auto Parts up on the mountain in Stoney Creek usually has 4-6 NG900/9-3, and the odd 9000, 9-5, and C900: usually the best Saab selection at any yard in the GTA that I’ve visited recently (but see my comments on Dom’s below). Prices sometimes seem high to me, but http://www.mikesautopart.ca/
Tip: Sunday hours may be less than advertised. Good idea to call ahead.
Cookstown’s selection tends to vary more; right now there are a couple of NG900s, an actual C900 16V turbo, and one sad 9-5 sedan. Quite a few of their other Saabs were crushed earlier this summer; they clean the yard up annually. I find their pricing policy to be reasonable, especially on small parts which don’t really increase the price if you’re also getting some more major assemblies. http://www.cookstownauto.com/
For those in the east, I have not been to Standard for quite a while; I should take a trip that way one day. I think there was a lone 9-3 and an already-flattend C900 when I went there back in the spring. Who knows what they have now. Their “free parts day” is best avoided unless you have scouted them out beforehand and know exactly what you want. http://www.standardautowreckers.com/
Further east is Dom’s: http://domsauto.com/contactpage.html Their website shows quite a few Saabs. (I tend to take junkyards claims of inventory skeptically until I’ve touched them myself.) Sounds like a field trip to there and Standard is going to be in my plans for a nice day this month!