After 24 Years, Perry & Prouse Is Closing – UK Saab Owners Lose a Trusted Name

When a Saab specialist closes, the loss is not measured only in workshop space, ramps, or MOT bookings. It is measured in trust, model knowledge, and the number of owners suddenly asking where they can take their car next.

Perry & Prouse, the independent Saab specialist from Taunton, Somerset, has announced it will close its doors on Friday, July 31, 2026, after 24 years in business.

The message from Kevin, Graham, and Nadine was direct and personal. After “24 wonderful years,” they said it was time to think about a slightly slower pace of life. They thanked customers for their support, loyalty, trust, and friendships built across more than two decades.

For most garages, retirement would be a local business note. In the Saab world, it carries more weight. A good Saab specialist carries model memory: classic 900 roof behavior, 9000 trim problems, 9-3 diesel routines, 9-5 Aero quirks, parts sourcing, Tech 2 diagnostics, and the small practical decisions that keep aging Saabs usable. That is why the closure of Perry & Prouse matters beyond Taunton.

A Saab workshop built around repeat customers

Perry & Prouse presents itself as an independent Saab specialist, while also offering servicing, repairs, and MOTs for all makes of cars. The company describes itself as a small family-run team with customer service and personal technical know-how at the center of its work.

That wording sounds modest, but the reaction to the closure says much more than any About Us page. Customers did not respond like people losing a convenient garage. They responded like owners losing a workshop they trusted with cars that many ordinary garages no longer want to touch.

One customer wrote that a friend who had bought a Saab 900 Turbo S Convertible from Perry & Prouse was now “extremely worried” because no garages in Exeter or East Devon were prepared to work on classic Saabs. The car had already received major work, including a new roof, and the owner wanted to keep it. The question was simple: who can look after it now?

Nadine Prouse’s reply was honest. She wrote that many customers were “in the same boat” after being with the business for most of its 24 years, and that there were still a few Saab specialists dotted around – Perry & Prouse could point people toward a couple of them.

That exchange is the core of the story. The closure is not only about nostalgia. It immediately creates a practical problem for Saab owners in the region.

The Bishops Saab connection runs deeper than 2002

Their story under the Perry & Prouse name began in 2002, but the Saab connection clearly goes further back.

Several customer comments point to a longer shared history in Taunton. One recalled buying his first Saab from Bishops Saab in East Reach in the mid-1980s, when Kevin and Graham were already working there – adding that he had known them for nearly 40 years. Another customer also mentioned the “Bishop days,” putting the relationship at close to four decades. A third wrote about following Kevin and Graham from Bishops to Perry & Prouse, buying cars from them, and driving from London for MOTs.

Those comments change the scale of the story. Perry & Prouse is closing after 24 years under its own name, but for some customers, the relationship with the people behind it reaches back to the era when Saab still had a formal dealer presence in the area.

That long memory matters. Saab support after 2011 has survived partly because former dealer knowledge moved into independent workshops. When those people retire, the cars do not disappear – but the support structure becomes thinner.

Trust is the part owners cannot order online

The most repeated word in the customer reaction was not “Saab.” It was trust.

Several customers wrote that Perry & Prouse would be hard to replace because they could fully trust the team. One said it is difficult to find honest and professional workshops. Another wrote that the business had kept them safely on the road for ten years and always gone above and beyond. One customer even said they might have to sell their car because they could not trust another garage.

That may sound extreme to people outside the Saab community. It will not sound extreme to anyone who owns an older Saab and has tried to explain the car to a generic workshop. A 900 Convertible roof fault is not the same as a modern hatchback service booking. A 9000 with electrical issues needs a patient hand. A 9-5 with age-related faults often needs diagnosis before parts swapping. Perry & Prouse had become one of those places where owners did not have to start from zero every time.

Another gap in the UK Saab map

The United Kingdom still has a strong Saab presence. Cars remain on the road, clubs are active, parts still move, and specialists still exist. But the map is becoming more uneven.

Elsewhere, the community continues to find ways forward. In Trollhattan, Factory THN opened a dedicated Saab workshop inside the former industrial area where the cars were once built. In the Netherlands, Saab Partners Meppel has built a sustainable operation around new old stock and full workshop capacity. In Sweden, Mannes Bilservice opened a Saab showroom in Solvedborg combining sales, restorations, and community space. These businesses show what the support network can look like when it survives.

But for owners in Somerset, Devon, and the wider South West, the gap left by Perry & Prouse is immediate and local. When one specialist closes, the effect is not evenly spread. Some owners will manage. Some already know another specialist. But for classic Saabs, convertibles, and long-owned cars with history, the loss is more serious.

Perry & Prouse’s own reply to customers confirms it. There are still Saab specialists “dotted around” – but the phrase itself says enough. The network is no longer dense. It depends on individual businesses, individual technicians, and long-standing relationships.

A retirement earned, and a loss clearly felt

There is no sign here of a business failure. This is a retirement decision after 24 years of work, customer responsibility, and constant workshop pressure. Customers understand that. Many wished Kevin, Graham, and Nadine a happy retirement and a slower life.

But the comments also show what happens when a trusted Saab workshop exits. People panic about bookings. They ask where to go next. They remember rescue missions, late fixes, family cars, and long journeys made simply because they trusted the people at the other end. Even fellow specialists noticed – Hagstrom Saab from Norfolk left a simple farewell on the post.

For long-time customers, the remaining weeks are a chance to book one final visit, collect advice on where to go next, and thank the people who kept their Saabs usable long after the factory story ended.

For everyone else, the message is practical: support the remaining specialists while they are still there. The cars can survive. The knowledge around them needs places to live.