VOB Saab

VOB did not catch problems with the AC on a pre-inspection. They did not catch a major problem with the AC, despite our taking the car in and telling them to check the AC, that it was having a pre-inspection. They did not catch a major problem with the AC, despite our taking the car in and telling them to check the AC, that it was having a problem. The AC compressor subsequently exploded, they said it was a coincidence and charged us nearly $2,000 to repair it. Montgomery County Consumer Protection Agency agreed with VOB that it was a coincidence, just like the service manager told us, in advance, that they would. We don't think so, especially given the whole situation. Now we are having problems with the starter that they replaced, at great expense to us, nearly $1,000. To add further insult to injury, we also took the car, which is a convertible, to VOB because we had a minor leak during rain. We asked them to take a look and see if they could find the problem and fix it. Of course they did not find anything. During hurricane Irene, the car's interior was saturated by the rain. That's 3 major strikes agains VOB, actually 4 strikes, if you count the fact that they found no problems on the pre-inspection. We've spent about $3,000, more than half the cost of the used car originally, and we have to do it all over again. We got nothing for our money but rudeness, indifference, dissatisfaction - and more problems. Given the problems that we have had, we are not planning to take the car back to VOB again - EVER. They can't find problems, even when pointed out to them, and they can't fix them properly. We will be taking it to another mechanic and getting their assessment of the problems, at which point we will provide further updates. More

The dealer was friendly (albeit very pushy) until I went back for a final test drive. I wanted to take a second drive without my family in the car to distract me from concentrating solely on the drive and t back for a final test drive. I wanted to take a second drive without my family in the car to distract me from concentrating solely on the drive and to make sure that I'd like my reasonable but nonetheless substantial investment. I informed Wally that, if I liked the car in that last test drive, I would buy it. Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it. Wally got very pushy, saying I liked it before, I was being offered a very good price on it, etc. His points, while true, were irrelevant since I didn't like the vehicle. When I decidedly declined the vehicle, Wally was clearly irritated. He turned out to be extremely uninterested in helping me find the right car for me and obviously just interested in making his bonus (he even directly expressed to me this interest, which I found unprofessional). I thought I would give them nother try since they had one other vehicle I was interested in. The evening I went for the drive, Wally was too busy closing another deal to spend more than a couple minutes with me and had me test-drive the car alone. I actually preferred that, but it wasn't a kind gesture in this case. He also refused to negotiate the price with me until I committed to buying it. I explained that would be impossible without knowing my bottom line, but he still refused. I didn't work with anyone else there, so perhaps other dealers are better. But my experience revealed an unprofessionalism and disregard for service that I was not about to support through the purchase of a car. More

It just went from bad to worse. My 2006 convertible Saab has had problems with the tires every since I purchased the car brand new. I am ready to try another Saab dealer, even though it is 38 miles from my has had problems with the tires every since I purchased the car brand new. I am ready to try another Saab dealer, even though it is 38 miles from my house. I went to VOB Saab for 5 years and the service has always been in the range from 2(bad) to 3(ok). Six out of ten times, I have had to bring the car back for services not completed! I have had enough. I would not recommend this dealer to anyone. More

After having an absolutely horrible service experience at Saab of Baltimore where they basically put me on the road to die when they did negligent service, I started bringing my car for servicing and repairs Saab of Baltimore where they basically put me on the road to die when they did negligent service, I started bringing my car for servicing and repairs to VOB Saab from April 2008. Ever since then I have been provided services by Andrew and then Frank. Both of them are outstanding service managers, always very cognizant of the costs and always recommeded needed repairs versus "nice to have" but not necessary repairs. Both have extended me discounts on very expensive repairs time to time and worked with my schedule on a short notice. Having them on my side is a blessing especially since I have a car that has 100K plus miles and it is that time when things are wearing down and need to be replaced. I recommend this dealer and its service department to anyone who is looking for a reliable knowledgeable team that will ensure your safety. More

I am perplexed by the powerfully negative reviews of this dealer on this site. I bought my Saab 95 sedan in 2002 from Alex Golden and had a fine experience. Since then, I have had the car serviced, both for dealer on this site. I bought my Saab 95 sedan in 2002 from Alex Golden and had a fine experience. Since then, I have had the car serviced, both for routine maintenance and special repairs, at VOB. The first four years were under the manufacturer's warranty, and then I bought an extended warranty policy (a terrific investment for a car loaded with electronics) I have had nearly all of the work done at VOB. I have dealt with Frank Grob in the service department all these years, and he has been uniformly excellent to deal with. He is responsive, gives me honest advice (including when some kinds of work are best, or less expensively done, elsewhere), uniformly friendly and accomodating, in every way. I trust him, and I recommend working with him. The Enterprise station there is of somewhat uneven quality, but I have never had a real problem with them. Also, when I've chosen to accept rides to the Metro, there's been no problem. Often, I pick up my car after the service department hours, and have had no problem with picking up the car from the sales receptionist. The out-of-warranty service is not inexpensive, but I have been satisfied with the work, especially as compared with trying to find independent garages who know about Saabs. More

We recently purchased a 2007 Saab Aero. Before purchasing we noticed the front fender was badly scratched and asked the Mr. Goldin if he would fix the bumper if we were to purchase the vehicle. H purchasing we noticed the front fender was badly scratched and asked the Mr. Goldin if he would fix the bumper if we were to purchase the vehicle. He said it would be no problem and that it could be fixed. When we went over the pricing, my husband felt that the price was high so he contacted the sales manager to go over pricing. The salesmanager refused to negotiate and explained why the pricing was not negotiable. He said they had spent money on new tires, did the 30,000 mile service to the vehicle, and they would also spend money on FIXING the bumper. My husband half-heartedly agreed and we purchased the car. On Wednesday of the following week, they said for us to bring in the car to fix the bumper. When my husband went on Thursday to pick up the vehicle, they had merely painted over the scratches and nothing more. My husband was furious with the salesman and the salesman's response was that he had 'never said he was going to fix, only to paint the car', which was a blatant lie!!!! We feel we have been deceived by Mr. Golden and the used car manager. We are going to go to the owner and make sure we get what we agreed, which was to FIX the bumper, not paint it. More

My husband and I were going in for our first oil change service for our 2006 9-3. I scheduled the appointment last week and called this morning verifying that a car will be available for us to drive back service for our 2006 9-3. I scheduled the appointment last week and called this morning verifying that a car will be available for us to drive back in. I spoke with gentlemen by the name of Frank - he said no problem. When we get there, Phil tells me there will be 25 minute wait for a car. He also asks me if I need a ride to the metro or a car, which didn't make sense to me because I already called in advance for a car, and I live in Baltimore no where near a metro. The service manager suggested we go to Starbucks and wait(didn't offer to drive us, so we walked in the heat). An hour and a half later at 11:30 I call back (because Enterprise has not called me back yet or shown up with a rental car. No one answers, so we decide to walk back. Finally at 11:45 our minivan comes (which I am not happy with, b/c it's a minivan). As we get to the car, Phil comes back and says, our car is now ready. So now we have wasted over an hour and half waiting for a car that we didn't need. Not one person at Saab or Enterprise provided us with an update, yet they both had both of our cell numbers. We were told by Phil and Ben (with Enterprise) three different timelines as to when to expect a car. After Phil realizes that we are very angry with the lack of service, he tells me that we should have called him when Ben told us that it would take longer then 25 minutes. Why should I do anything to make Phil's job easier? We are going to Saab for service, and they should go out of their way to assist us and make sure we are comfortable, not the other way around. We continued to express our complete dissatisfaction with their service, and Phil didn't seem to care. He sounded like a broken record and did not answer our questions until we repeated them about 3 times. I asked him multiple times as to why we are receiving a minivan when we paid 32k for a brand new car. Then he got smart with me and suggested I ask his service manager about his policy. The service manager didn't say a word. At that point I was very upset. There is zero communication between Enterprise and Saab at the VOB dealer in Rockville. Both times I came in, I specifically requested a car, and yet was still asked if I needed a ride to the metro. Phil should be able to look at our address and realize there is no metro where we live, so what good would a ride to the metro do? We were treated like royalty when we bought the car, now we are not good enough to drive a used car off the lot while they service our car and give us an old minivan in return? I don't think this is acceptable. I have received better service from Honda and am very disappointed. When we test drove the car, the salesman clearly said they don't compete with Volvo, but compete with BMW and Mercedes. When my mother drops off her Vovlo XC 70 she comes back with a Volvo, not an American minivan. Same with BMW and Mercedes (the brands the salesman said Saab competes with). We also requested they correct the one-touch setting on the back windows as they only work to put the windows down not up. The service team said they function correctly and that only the front windows function with one-touch. He also pointed us to page 132 of our owner's manual, which does not state anything about the backseat windows not working with one-touch! They are rude and are idiots!! More

I had hoped to be a lifetime Saab driver, until I moved to Maryland and had to deal with VOB. The Service managers are rude and patronizing. When I asked them to check out a whirring noise, they looked a to Maryland and had to deal with VOB. The Service managers are rude and patronizing. When I asked them to check out a whirring noise, they looked at me like I must be crazy then said there was nothing wrong with the car. A month later, we had to take it for emergency service while on a road trip 1000 miles away. The whirring turned out to be a worn bearing that could have left us stranded (it was tied to the whole belt system).<br><br>More recently I took it in because the "check engine" light came on. After $700 worth of "necessary" repairs, I went to pick up my car and light was still on!<br><br>They never return phone calls and always blame me if there's any cofusion, like when they assigned me a new service manager and couldn't figure out which car I was bringing in (the new one or the one that had been totaled) after I described it twice (one was a 9-3, the other a 9-5 wagon, in different colors too!).<br><br>Thanks goodness my car is off of warranty and I can take it to an independent shop. More

Sales and customer service is good, but service dept. sucks meaning multiple visits to get things right. Examples: putting wrong parts on car, their valet scraping car's wheel in their parking lot, not sucks meaning multiple visits to get things right. Examples: putting wrong parts on car, their valet scraping car's wheel in their parking lot, not puting jack parts away in trunk (just throwing them in scattered all over the place etc.). All the aforementioned took a letter to SAAB USA HQ, Dealership owner and SAAB USA Regional Rep. to "get things right." To the dealer's credit, they've been nothing but good to me ever since. Just don't hesitate to ask them to make things right if they mess up.<br><br><br> More