When Saab conquered the North American market in the late 1950s, then the company’s management decided on the right approach – before the mass sale of vehicles, Saab will form a service and sales network. Simply put, the management of Saab wanted to provide a service network for its customers before the mass sale. And so it was, a huge service network was formed that covered the whole of North America.
Unfortunately, after the bankruptcy of Saab was announced almost 10 years ago, the number of these Saab service centers began to decline. One by one, the Saab service is shutting down, making it harder for proud owners of Saab cars – of which there are a few hundred thousand more on the North American continent. There are also bright examples, but these services have mostly survived thanks to the large concentration of Saab cars in the given region.
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Jerry Danner and “Mile Hi Automotive”
One such center that unfortunately closes its doors to Saab owners these days is “Mile Hi Automotive” (formally Mile Hi body shop) located in downtown Denver, Colorado. After 52 years of serving the Saab community, the “Mile Hi Automotive” service closed exactly on April 29 this year, a little less than a month ago.
Mr. Saab Colorado
The founder and owner of this Saab center Jerry Danner, also known as “Mr. Saab Colorado” has been the standard-bearer for Saab vehicles since being a teenager. Investing a lifetime of passion and enthusiasm into the brand, Jerry’s created quite a following all over the world for the authentic “Saab Story”. Creating genuine friendships with customers along the way – Jerry has set the gold standard for taking care of people. Now, he has decided to step back from the position of a business owner.
His father started “Mile Hi” in 1969 and this is the only job he has ever had since he was 17 years old. Jerry has been around every Saab production from the two strokes and to the last model Saab 9-4 and has worked on all of them.
Backup plan for customers and employees
His biggest challenge was to let his employees and customers know his plans. He will always be a Saab enthusiast for the rest of his life. He will still run the Rocky Mountain Saab Club of Colorado, organize Saab events, car shows, and tinker with his collection of 10 Saab’s. He plans to spend time at the Saab Heritage Museum in Sturgis. Tom and Patti Donney have over 100 Saabs from the very first to the very last with all variations of Saabs in between and he is sure they need maintenance. If you ever get a chance do not pass up the opportunity to see this remarkable collection.
Jerry will continue his passion for Saab’s as a dedicated enthusiast. It was a sad day just like the day they quit making Saabs. It was a place of true Saab fans – only one of the mechanics worked for 25 years in the service of “Mile Hi Automotive”, and faithfully served the owners of Saab cars.
The Rocky Mountain Saab club
Also, Jerry ran the Rocky Mountain Saab club and helped organize and sponsor the yearly nationwide Saab convention. As one employee says, “We had over one hundred cars for parts. We all own Saabs, the safest, best-engineered cars ever. What a sad day. I’ll have to find a new career, no passion to work on the cookie-cutter ,cheep cars out there. Long live Saabs, as they say my Saab gave its life to save mine…” And we trust him with everything, word for word.
Jerry didn’t want to let down loyal customers, so he made sure to find a suitable replacement for them in the form of 6 other car services. All these car shops are Saab friendly and are happy to take Mile Hi’s position of taking care of their customer. Three are Official Saab Service Centers. He also took care of his employee’s and found them employment at these shops.
Pick & Pull Event
June 5th thru June 12th, 2021 Mile Hi will host a “Pick & Pull” for all the surplus Saab spare parts Mile Hi has amassed over the years. Prices will be giveaway values. Few parts are new, mostly used. Check their website for detailed pictures: www.milehiauto.com
A message for the end…
Jerry Danner: “To all of my dedicated customers, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I still have customers that were with me in the ’70s. I have seen them grow in their careers and they have seen me grow as well.
Again, thank you for the wonderful years and especially the wonderful memories of all of my favorite customers.”
Jerry and his team were great, professional and very very helpful. He and his kind give independent wrenchers my vote as the manner in which business should be managed. Long live Jerry!