Performance Automotive

Having went to 3 different Saab shops for opinions trying to save my wife's pristine 9-5 (6 cylinder) I received 3 different opinions. There are no more actual Saab dealerships anymore. So finding a trusted mechanic is tantamount to me before I allow anyone to work on my two Saabs. The issue with the 6 cyl Issue was that the car was blowing white smoke. The first guy said it is the turbo charger (but that was a guess that could have cost me $2500 and then if still smoking I'd need a head gasket anyway) My experience was white smoke was more often a possible head gasket. 2nd repair shop (25 years repairing Saabs) said it was definitely a head gasket and since its a 6 cylinder, he said it's not worth fixing as it alreDy had 124k on it. The best he could offer was to put a used motor (with even higher mileage) in it from a junkyard for $3500 or he suggested I "junk the car"!

Then "John Fiorini" the owner of Performance Automotive in Pittsfield, MA was recommended to me by my local Saab mechanic who has been taking car of both my Saabs for years. He did not want to undertake a head gasket job since it would tie up his one man shop. He said John has the experience, the trained mechanics and equipment to do the job right.

I had never been to John's shop before. To do the job right, in the end, John actually had to replace both the head gasket and the turbo. Reason being was that his only concern in the end was to have me satisfied. And he did it at a cost that in my 45 years of dealing with car dealerships, has never happened to me before.

We bought this 2000 Saab 9-5 off a 3 year lease with 63,000 miles. After leaving John's shop 2 months ago and after owning this car for 13 years, we have never realized how much power this car was actually capable of. It's remarkable how smooth this engine runs now. Im so satisfied with the work that John did that I'm bringing my other Saab, the 2001 9-5 4 cyl to him in March. I'm having him pull the engine out and replace an oil seal thats been leaking for 5 years, because I never trusted anyone before to do any major engine work to it.

Disclaimer: I am no relation to John . . . Paul Stone, Albany, NY