Scanwest Autosport in Seattle hosts annual festival again in 2018! (today)

[Dave T]

One of the greatest yearly events in Seattle is not the Gingerbread Village, a Christmas season display of gingerbread skyscrapers and houses at the downtown Sheraton Hotel. It's not even Seafair, where a few ships of the U.S. Navy and the Canadian Navy are displayed as well as performances by the Blue Angels F/A-18 aerobatics team. The greatest annual event is the Scanwest Autosport Customer Appreciation Barbeque!

Previously reported here was the 2010 event (http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=538) and 2012 event (http://saabworld.net/content.php?r=9...ptember-8-2012). Today, August 25, 2018 is when the current year annual event is held.

It's a chance to see others' Saabs, the friendly and skillful staff at Scanwest Autosport, and grab a hot dog or hamburger or spare ribs.

Scanwest Autosport is located at 9520 Greenwood Avenue N in Seattle. Previously an independent repair shop that serviced Saabs, they are now a Saab Service Center, what dealers are now called. They also repair Subaru, Audi, BMW, and MINI cars.

This is how it looked like earlier in the 2018 event. As of this writing, it's still going on for an hour more.

Rob, the owner, is to the left of the bicyclist. Craig, the office manager and one of the people who takes orders, is the next man on the left.

[nordwulf]

Looks like a fun event with like-minded Saab enthusiasts. And good to see there still are these Saab Service Centers with qulaified and knowledgeable technicians. Is this the only Saab service center in Seattle?

[Dave T]

Is this the only Saab service center in Seattle?

Not really. In Bellevue, a large suburb to the east, a dealer got a Saab franchise late in Saab's life (2011) and remains a Saab Service Center. See 2011 article http://saabworld.net/content.php?r=1...-Seattle-(USA)

Scanwest Autosport in Seattle has worked on Saabs exclusively for decades but only within the past few years (sometime after 2011 and maybe around 2014) became a Saab Service Center. They added Subaru roughly around 2006 when the Saab 9-2X came out. After Saab, the car company, withered away, they added BMW, MINI, and Audi. Judging from the cars in the front on a weekday, their work is almost all Saabs, it seems.

Near Tacoma, almost an hour's drive to the south but still within the greater metropolitan area, the former Saab dealer remains as a Saab Service Center. They are also a Cadillac dealer. They have been a Cadillac dealer for many years but a Saab dealer for roughly the last 5 years of Saab selling new cars in the U.S.

In Seattle, there are a few independent repair shops that work mostly on Saabs or Saabs + Volvo.

On a normal day, one can drive around Seattle and see a Saab every few minutes. Still, there appears to be fewer than 10 years ago. In other U.S. cities I've been to, you can make an errand, like drive to the supermarket and back and not see a single Saab.