I have waited a long time to have a full service Subaru dealer near downtown Seattle. It was fitting that Carter Volkswagen would add Subaru in Ballard. I know that they still service Saabs there but how cool is it that I can service my Subaru there and it's near home! Thank you to the Carter family for investing in Ballard.

You can still get you Saab worked on at the Ballard Carter Subaru (formerly Carter Saab) dealership.I got mine work on day

GM Is a jerk for saying no to Carter Saab.They are a great dealership and it suck that GM is plugging the plug on them. Hopefully in the future they bring them back.I gets I would have to drive all the way to fife to get my Saab work on.

The Carter organization is on the move in the right direction. New General Manager is a doll...her name is Jennifer Moran...real nice lady. They are super active in the community...various charitable events...causes and the environnment. The Mountains to Sound project is amazing...they have donated enough money to plant 10k trees...you dont hear of any other dealership doing this. The staff is super friendly...very fair...I have bought 6 cars from them...they will always get my business. My sales person is Scottie deCelles...friendly..laid back easy to work with...give him a shout at Carter Subaru in Shoreline...you will be glad you did.

strange, I didn't ask but just had my Saab worked on under warranty yesterday and no mention of the change??

Subaru dealership? My god, I thought every second person in Seattle had already been issued with a green Outback on arrival. Is there even any more market share to be had?

Maybe their manufacturing is more green, but so many people drive them back and forth to work every day - one person in a station wagon that gets worse gas mileage than many 3-series BMWs - yet still feel smug about being green.

But somehow the fancy pants showroom they renovated for Saab just doen't seem to match the Subaru image. Maybe they should move VW into the Saab space and move Subaru into VW...

Ballard is such an amazing community! I think it is quite fitting to bring Subaru to Ballard. I personally feel that the Carter organization really cares about our environment, just as we do here in Ballard. I heard that they have planted thousands of trees in the Mountains to Sound Greenway...Wow! Welcome to Ballard Subaru!

I'm a Subaru driver and purchased my Subaru from Carter on Aurora - so I'm very happy about this change since the Ballard Carter will be closer to home. It's sad for Saab drivers, but I am excited to see their car stacker filled with Subarus!

Oh! Oh! I got it! SMARTer CARter...

That is just too bad. Seattle is a big market for Saab, and now potential buyers are going to have to drive farther to McCann Motors in Fife. And Scanwest Autosport in Greenwood will be flooded with service work.

I love Saabs (I drive a '94 900 S), but they are way expensive for what they offer compared to the competition . I drove a new top-level 9-3 Turbo X SportCombi a few weeks ago, excellent-performing car, but they want $45,000 and the interior is full of cheap plastic. That won't fly along the comparable BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes. And the current line of Saabs are older than dirt, and no hatchbacks. GM may save Saab from extinction, but the way the company is managed is typical GM - Build them to the nearest dollar and the nearest foot.

Looks like I'm jumping ship to VW then. The four-door GTI hatchback is the car I've always wanted that Saab used to offer but doesn't anymore.

I have always been a loyal fan of Carter-Both for my Forester(s) and my old Golf. I recently discoverd High Road Auto repair on Leary, almost within sight of Carter. they did work on my 99 Forester and I was so impressed, I will never go back to the dealer again. Also they have loaner cars!!

Saab is going away, but great news for Subaru owners in Ballard. Carter Subaru, currently on Aurora in North Seattle, just announced that they are opening a 2nd location - this one taking over the previous Carter Saab location across from their VW store on Leary Way. This is also good news for people considering buying a Subaru!

If Carter was smart, they would open a Mini Cooper dealership because I do not see how you can fit any other car between those townhouses to get into the garages...

GM may have saved Saab from bankruptsy, but is the product really better? Most old time Saab owners I've talked to (who have been driving Saabs for 30+ years) tell me that quality, and especially originality, has been on the decline. It's a common trend among European autos who have been swallowed up by the Big 3. Ford's effect on Jaguar is another example.

Our world is becoming too homogonous. But maybe I'm being too picky. Maybe a Saab that's really a Cadillac with different badges is OK with the rest of the world. I just think it's a little sad to see the "little guys" fall by the wayside.

I was getting my car serviced this morning and they were retraining the sales staff and removing the signage. Carter's new Saab inventory is gone. GM took them away last week. They will continue to service Saabs but are no longer doing factory warranty service. Too bad, now Ballard's Saab drivers will need to go to Fife for factory authorized service. The people at Carter are fantastic and I am a client for life so I think it's time to look into an Outback.

GM Ruined Saab eh? Not quite, more like saved. I will give you that Saabs were best when they were 2-stroke.

From wikipedia group dis-thought:
In 1987 the 2,000,000th Saab was manufactured. However, the company began to struggle and to cut costs, the Arlöv plant was closed, but heavy financial losses continued. On March 15th 1990, General Motors bought 50% of Saab for US $600 million, with an option to acquire the remaining shares within a decade. Despite this, losses continued and the Malmö plant was closed in 1991.

GM's involvement spurred the launch of the "new generation" Saab 900 in 1993. The new car used the same platform as the Opel Vectra and polarized Saab aficionados, but thanks to its sales, the company declared a profit in 1995 for the first time in seven years. In 2000, GM purchased the remaining shares of Saab, making the company a wholly-owned subsidiary.

In March 2005, it was announced that GM would move the production of the Saab 9-3 from Trollhättan to the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany. The Trollhättan factory now produces European Cadillacs.

Current models are the 9-3 and 9-5, both of which are manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden and the Saab 9-7X SUV, manufactured in Moraine, Ohio. The Saab 9-2X, a rebadged Subaru Impreza that was manufactured in Japan, was discontinued after the 2006 model year.

A new crossover SUV, dubbed the 9-4X will share a platform with a new Cadillac BRX is on its way for 2009.

is this effective now?

Hello,

What was the reason for this?

- R

httt://www.saabhistory.com

Seems fitting. Subaru seems to be a Ballard favorite, and Saab is merely a shadow of it's former self. Thanks GM, for ruining yet another great European automobile.