Absolute Saab Parts & Service

Owning two old Saab 1976 & 1987, l have a short list of «go to» guys for parts. Paul is at the top of the list. He knows old cars and keeps a good supply of used or new old stock parts. We’re diy-​ers but had Paul rebuild our 87 transmission (that we pulled and installed) and he was fast and good. Add him to your list of great resources.

Paul is a must if you own a SAAB. I had a broken tail assembly. Paul ordered it from San Francisco and when it arrived at his location instead of being mailed to me directly, he had someone drop it off at my house. Where do you get that kind of service these days.
Dave Knopp

A SAAB genius. Paul is the Saab guru. A little hard to get to and slightly off the beaten path. Fair, great prices and will NOT sell you anything you don’t need.
As good as it gets and I can tear down an engine.

Paul Vail, the owner of Absolute Saab, is the smartest, most professional, reliable and honest mechanic I’ve met. His expertise is the reason to own a Saab. If Paul serviced boats I’d start sailing.
Saab owners own Saabs instead of, say, Hondas or Toyotas, because we’re willing to trade some measure of reliability for performance and personality. We accept the possibility that something catastrophic may go wrong and pray the dealership won’t charge us infinity dollars to get us back on the road.
I called Absolute for the first time a few years ago, when the clutch went on my beloved 2000 9 – 5 Aero during a road trip out to San Diego. I decided to try Absolute because Paul sounded honest, but just to be sure I called my trusted mechanic back home (Pennsylvania), asked what I could expect to pay, and braced myself for 50% over.
Paul called me every day to let me know how the repairs were coming and in the end I paid 50% *under*. As in *half* of what my own mechanic had estimated.
This summer I again drove out to CA from PA. About 5 miles over Beartooth Pass, Montana, the turbocharger died. AAA towed us (me, my fiancée, and our dog) to the Saab Dealership in Billings, which diagnosed the problem and drew up an estimate. I paid the dealership the minimum to get the car running, asked my fiancée for her trust and patience, and together we drove the 1,318 miles (un-​turbocharged) straight to Paul’s shop.
As usual, Paul called every day while he worked on the car. As usual, Paul worked around my schedule. And again the repairs cost significantly lower than expected.
Thanks!

I also found Absolute Saab through Saabnet. They have actually relocated out east and are no longer in Encinitas.
Anyway, I had purchased an ’85 900 turbo which needed a new clutch & slave and had called around to several places before I came across Absolute Saab on my list, whom asked if I could describe some of the issues with the car instead of just giving me the same «you have to bring the vehicle in for an assessment» after the first minute of conversation. I am not a mechanic nor a Saab snob, but I did want someone who was knowledgeable with my vehicle to work on it as I have heard horror stories from other Saab owners.
They were able to work around my schedule (as I could not drop of the car until 8pm) and they showed me which parts needed to be worked on. The shop had an inventory of Saab parts and I could tell he had an invested interest with Saabs. During the repair process, they called me with updates and told me exactly what they were going to replace. I was always informed about decisions and there were no hidden costs. The repair took about 2 days and they even delivered my car to my house at no additional cost on a Saturday (and I am about an hours drive away). The price was fair and I did enough research to believe that I got quality workmanship and parts.
This repair took place about 8 months ago and have not had any other problems with the Saab. It runs like a champ and will take my car back to them for any other issues that I cannot repair/​maintain myself. The more I drive this vehicle, I can understand why there are so many Saab enthusiasts!

Am surprised I’m the first one here – Absolute Saab is a fairly well regarded shop on Saabnet online (which is how I found them). I hate to be the first one here and give my bad review, but it is what it is.
I haven’t been to Absolute Saab in awhile – and I only came once. My one experience wasn’t a success so I never went back. I needed a Rear O2 sensor replaced. This is a inexpensive part and a really simple repair if this is really the problem you’re having (you can get a Rear O2 sensor code with a lot of different problems that have nothing to do with the Rear O2 sensor – but that’s a different story).
Anyway – I had a new Rear O2 sensor put in. Check engine light went away, and my experience at the shop wasn’t too bad so I was, overall, satisfied enough – for a little while.
A few months later I get the same check engine light. Faulty part? No – I found out at another shop that it was put in improperly so all the wiring burned up on the exhaust. Huh? So I have the wiring replaced (which was quite inexpensive) and did fix the problem. But hearing «improper install» and «burned up» at another shop was enough to keep me from going back.
I hope other reviewers will weigh in to give a broader assessment of the place. Ever since I have gone to other shops in San Diego or LA (Swedish Auto AB and Independent Saab in town, Swedecar and Right Solution out of town) and have been happy with those so I never felt compelled to give Absolute another try.