What happened to "your" Saab dealer?

What happened to the Saab dealer that you call "yours"? Here's what happened to mine...

Star Motor Cars, Houston, Texas (USA). I bought a Saab 900 from them when they sold Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Saab, Aston Martin, and Lotus. They dropped Saab and I'm not certain about Lotus. They are still in the same location. The building that they serviced Saab and Aston Martin may have been torn down. Summary: Saab is gone, they are still there.

DeBrecht Saab Nissan, Webster Grove, Missouri (near St. Louis) USA. I bought a Saab 900 from them. They closed in 1990. The owner later passed away. A few years later, it was not a car showroom but was used for car related business.

Saab of Indianapolis. I bought a Saab 900 from them. It was a small, old building. I think the dealer was sold to a nearby VW dealer. In Indianapolis, there is now a Saab service center which may or may not be part of the VW dealer.

Carter Saab VW, Seattle, Washington, USA. I bought a Saab 9-3 from them in 2005. Roughly around 2008, they dropped Saab and used the showroom to sell Subarus. At the time, they kept the blue overhang over the front of the building that was a design common to Saab dealers.

Saab of Bellevue, Bellevue, Washington, USA. They became a Saab franchise late and did not have too long to sell new cars. They also sell expensive used cars and Aston Martin. The building is unchanged. There is a big Saab sign on the building. They are an official Saab service center.

Schumacher Saab, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. I picked up my European Delivery Saab from them 10 years ago. Google maps shows a freestanding Saab sign. They are still an official Saab service center. They sell Subaru and VW. The blue overhang design on the building that was common to many Saab dealers is now white.

Lehman Buick Saab, Miami, Florida, USA. They dropped Saab roughly around 2008. I brought my Saab there for a minor repair.

Victor Saab, Abington, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. They closed years ago. I think it may be an auto parts store.

Larson Cadillac Saab GMC, Fife, Washington, near Tacoma. They are still an official Saab service center. The blue overhang exterior design is still there.

I bought my first Saab from the dealer in Mission Viejo, California and the second one from Santa Ana, California. Both these dealers in Southern California were under the same ownership. Both are gone now and the one in Santa Ana is now an Audi dealership. I think the one in Mission Viejo is a pre-owned car dealership. But both still look like Saab dealerships without the signs. There are not even Saab service centers anymore.

The closest Saab dealership in Michigan was Fox Saab in Grand Rapids and is about a 3-hour drive. The dealership building is now Fox Powersports. Looks like they repainted the blue part of the building to red. Fox is still a Saab service center but is located at their Honda dealership.

http://foxpowersports.com/images/FPKBLDG600.jpg

I drove by the former Saab dealer in Southfield, Michigan this weekend. There are a few desks inside and some of the typical Saab dealership interior is still there. No used Saabs for sale though.

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My first SAAB was a 9-3 Anniversary SW bought in Perth (not the sunny warm one!) but this is now a Skoda dealer - change of owner also.
My current 9-5 Aero was bought in Coleraine, Northern Ireland ( http://www.ivanwilson.co.uk/saab/) and they are still trading in used SAABs. Just a bit too far for a service though - there is now a SAAB specialist in Perth almost next door to the original dealership.

Not sure what happened to my Saab dealer but I had to pick up a part once. That was a treat. It was a part of a large multi-dealership that has a few brands. I was told that the parts department for Saab was at the Suzuki? dealership. I then walked around a maze of different departments asking directions each time until I came to a small window that did triple duty as a Saab parts department. It was sad.

I bought a Saab from Saab of Indianapolis. It was a small building that abut the sidewalk. I just found out that it's been torn down. Google Street View has old views by clicking where it says "Street View 2021" or similar in the upper left. You can then pick a previous year.

Saab of Indianapolis was at 2444 W. 16th St. In 2009, they closed down and bought a Subaru dealer about 2 blocks away.
https://www.ibj.com/news-talk/15253-...-mourning-saab
2009 article

Quote:

---

Bob Falcone, who was the only Saab dealer in the Indianapolis area until he closed in April, says he could foresee today’s
announcement that General Motors would kill the brand.

Falcone swung a deal with Fifth Third Bank to unload his
$5 million in Saab inventory and close the dealership in exchange for the bank’s financing his takeover of the former
Duke Gold Volkswagen Subaru on the outskirts of downtown.

But Falcone is still mourning the passage of a brand
he sold for 20 years and continues to service at Falcone Volkswagen Subaru & Saab Service.

“I’m
crushed and heartbroken beyond a shadow of a doubt. But I’m going to survive this,” he says. “I’m
just very glad to be a survivor.”

---

The dealer I bought my first Saab from closed down, no surprise as they were far from helpful.
The one my second Saab came from suffered the same fate, the next Saab, a 9000 Turbo came from a dealership that still maintains Saabs, I bought a 9-5 Aero from them in 2008. Most of my Saabs came from Saab Haymill, yes really the dealership was owned by Saab UK, subsequently it was Haymill Saab until it was taken over by a large local dealership with no interest in Saabs.

In the first post, I mentioned Saab of Bellevue, which became a Saab dealer around 2010, when Saab was on it's final decline. That dealer also sold Aston Martin and Spyker. The building that had a small Saab showroom has been torn down to make way for a light rail line. The Aston Martin showroom is still there. The rest of the dealer moved across the street and slightly away from the main street.

Hey, this may be an area that many friends in the forum have never understood carefully. There are still many Saab cars driven and carefully maintained in China. The dealer selling this 9-5 to me is a joint venture company established by General Motors and Local dealers, which is located in the south of Beijing. It is a pity that this dealer is no longer operating the Saab car business, and has officially become a Buick and Cadillac dealer after moving a few years ago. Our Saab is maintained in a familiar private repair shop.

In the U.S., there are still quite a few Saabs in the Seattle area. In contrast, in the San Antonio area, none. New York City, a few.

I recently learned of wwitv, which gives links to TV stations around the world. I just watched a news story from the Republic of China, Taiwan (not to be confused with the People's Republic of China) where there was a story about drag racing. One competitor was a modified Saab 9-3 (1999-2004 model years).