Schoen Place Auto Commits to Supporting Saab Owners
On December 19, 2011, Swedish Automaker Saab declared bankruptcy and ceased all operations. Saab owners were left with no dealer network, no parts network, void warranties and limited options on where to service and repair their cars.
Many Saab dealerships have since closed their doors and many have stopped repairing Saabs because factory parts are very hard to come by. Independent repair shops are turning Saab customers away because working on Saab’s is now considered a time consuming hassle.
Jerry Elman, owner of Schoen Place Auto has taken a different approach. Schoen Place Auto is the Rochester areas oldest specialized Saab repair shop going back to 1971. Up to 2008 Schoen Place Auto worked exclusively on Saab’s. Today Saab repairs remain a specialty while the business also services and repairs all other makes and models of cars.
Jerry is getting the word out to Saab owners that his business is committed to supporting Saab owners for as long as they own their cars. He is growing his network of Saab parts suppliers nationwide and is more than willing to take the extra time and effort to find parts that others can’t find.
“Given our history of working on Saab’s, I feel a personal commitment and obligation to take care of Saab owners and minimize the difficult predicament they are in” says Elman.
"The word is getting out that we are the go to shop when it comes to Saab’s today" says Elman. "Customers have been referred to us by former Saab dealers and third party extended warranty companies have started directing their Saab customers to us."
Elman indicates that in the end, the warranty and parts situation will get worked out, but it will be drawn out for quite some time in the bankruptcy proceedings now underway.
Elman is very willing to take calls from any Saab owner to answer any questions they may have regarding continuing support for their car. He has talked several fearful owners out of selling their cars telling them not to dump their cars out of fear, but to hang in there, the support structures will come back in place and the cars will have value. “No one should panic if they own a Saab” says Elman