Saab?
- Thread starter Big Daddy
- Start date
saab
swenska aeroplan aktien botlaged = saab
saab build very good cars the old 9000 is one of the best cars i ever drive
saab is in the gm group so they lost a lot of sympatics in europe.
best saab models
9ooo
900
9.5
and the new 9.3 convertible (build in austria)
saabs have good engines (a long turbo history), conservative exterior,
perfekt interior (inspired from aeroplanes)
all other infos get here
http://www.saabusa.com/main/US/en/index_flash.xml
saabs top model is always the aero (220 - 250 HP)
the top six about my 14 cars:
porsche 911
bmw the M5 and the other 2
saab 9000 turbo
Mazda rx7 (wankel engine)
volvo 480 turbo
mercedes g wagon 300 diesel
and and and
a saab is a very good and sportive car!
the pic is shot by a friend at the german autobahn is my 9000
swenska aeroplan aktien botlaged = saab
saab build very good cars the old 9000 is one of the best cars i ever drive
saab is in the gm group so they lost a lot of sympatics in europe.
best saab models
9ooo
900
9.5
and the new 9.3 convertible (build in austria)
saabs have good engines (a long turbo history), conservative exterior,
perfekt interior (inspired from aeroplanes)
all other infos get here
http://www.saabusa.com/main/US/en/index_flash.xml
saabs top model is always the aero (220 - 250 HP)
the top six about my 14 cars:
porsche 911
bmw the M5 and the other 2
saab 9000 turbo
Mazda rx7 (wankel engine)
volvo 480 turbo
mercedes g wagon 300 diesel
and and and
a saab is a very good and sportive car!
the pic is shot by a friend at the german autobahn is my 9000
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The owner of the company I work for has leased Saabs for the past 10 years. He has had 900 / 9-3 style cars. I drove all 3 of them at one time or another. My observations:
Pros:
- Nice interior. Comfortable, a little quirky. The console mounted ignition key seems weird, but it is actually pretty cool after you get used to it.
- Nice handling overall, but not like a BMW.
- Body styling is attractive.
Cons:
- Torque steer (Front wheel drive unique - front wheels pull to the side under engine power) is really quite bad on the Turbo. If you jump on the gas, when the turbo starts to kick in you have to steer left (as I recall) to compensate for the torque steering, and of course, then uncompensate when you back off the gas. I thought there was something wrong with the car the first time I drove it. I hear they have somewhat fixed this on the '04 model, but it is just the nature of higher horsepower FWD cars.
- He had A LOT of maintenance problems over the past 4 years. Repeated problems with the top not opening or closing, getting stuck halfway, leaking etc. Electrical problems where the car totally died.
- Check out the 3 to 5 year resale value of Saabs. It's really bad news.
His lease is up this spring. He looked at the new '04 Saab, but is undecided at this point. He's also looking at the Lexus convertible.
Pros:
- Nice interior. Comfortable, a little quirky. The console mounted ignition key seems weird, but it is actually pretty cool after you get used to it.
- Nice handling overall, but not like a BMW.
- Body styling is attractive.
Cons:
- Torque steer (Front wheel drive unique - front wheels pull to the side under engine power) is really quite bad on the Turbo. If you jump on the gas, when the turbo starts to kick in you have to steer left (as I recall) to compensate for the torque steering, and of course, then uncompensate when you back off the gas. I thought there was something wrong with the car the first time I drove it. I hear they have somewhat fixed this on the '04 model, but it is just the nature of higher horsepower FWD cars.
- He had A LOT of maintenance problems over the past 4 years. Repeated problems with the top not opening or closing, getting stuck halfway, leaking etc. Electrical problems where the car totally died.
- Check out the 3 to 5 year resale value of Saabs. It's really bad news.
His lease is up this spring. He looked at the new '04 Saab, but is undecided at this point. He's also looking at the Lexus convertible.
![[confused]](/images/smilies/confused.png "Confused [confused]")
I know a service manager who won't let his wife buy one. Look at all the Saabs on flatbeds, side of road, or in service area of dealers. I laugh on the highway-my wife ( who loves them ) will say "what?" I'll say-"A Saab"
Old friend who I asked about Saab asked: "You want to here a sob story?"
I asked a few dedicated private Saab garages about their reliability: 1 said: You have to pay attention to maintenance", The other said "I'd never own one!"
I won't either! I must admit Viggen is tempting, and some of the older performance packages are cool, but I really need reliability.
Lease one with roadside assist and you'll be O.K.
Oh! My brother had one 7 years ago- a nightmare!!! (How did I almost forget that!!?)
-Mel
Old friend who I asked about Saab asked: "You want to here a sob story?"
I asked a few dedicated private Saab garages about their reliability: 1 said: You have to pay attention to maintenance", The other said "I'd never own one!"
I won't either! I must admit Viggen is tempting, and some of the older performance packages are cool, but I really need reliability.
Lease one with roadside assist and you'll be O.K.
Oh! My brother had one 7 years ago- a nightmare!!! (How did I almost forget that!!?)
-Mel
If you want to know if the "new" Saab's are nice or not find someone with some back issues of European Car magazine and look at their long-term driver articles about the 9-3. It might surprise some of you. Car and Driver also said the the new 9-3 was barely out of the top ten best cars of the year in their round up of the ten best cars to buy this year(meaning that it more than likely finished 11th-of course the BMW 5 and 3 series were on the list![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]")
).
).
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
![[wave]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_wave.gif "Wave [wave]"){kind=icon}
ODDferkOUT said:
The 9-3 was never an all around good car because the chassis was balanced poorly for the turbo it had. Although the 9000 and 9-5 were better cars in my opinion. Then again I've always been a Saab fan.