Anyone have experience with Saab?

[richpike]

I know this isn't the correct forum for this question, but I respect your guys' opinions.

I'm vaguely thinking about looking at a Saab 9-3 - either a 2007 2.0T or a 2004 Aero. Both are CPO, have similar mileage and are within a few thousand bucks of each other.

I'm planning on going and driving them this weekend, but I wanted to get some early thoughts from people who may have owned them or driven them before. I'm a little nervous about owning a front wheel drive car - it has been a LONG time since I drove a FWD car (over 10 years) - however, the TT's quattro system is actually FWD biased, so I'm betting it may not be too big of a change. I'm also concerned about reliability on Saabs. Plus, I've always thought they were sort of quirky - I've never thought of myself as a "Saab" driver.

Having said all that, I love the styling, they get great gas mileage, the interiors appear to be very nice, they have awesome safety ratings, the pricing on used ones is very good and the dealer who sells Saab in town is awesome - my favorite salesman works there.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Auburn92]

the wife likes her 2006 conv aero, however the turning radius sucks, it is worse than the LR3, but she feels safe in it, and loves the way it drives.

 

[richpike]

the wife likes her 2006 conv aero, however the turning radius sucks, it is worse than the LR3, but she feels safe in it, and loves the way it drives.

Hmmm - the first couple words in your post tells me a lot - "the wife" Of course, I drive a TT today, which is pretty much a chick car too

Thanks for the feedback - have you all had many problems?

-Rich

 

[macrover]

I've had family friends that have driven Saab for years and swears by them. From my perspective you get a lot of bang for the buck in terms of styling and performance. You do however have to put up with a bit of a quirky niche vehicle aka more shop time and warranty work...but heck if you have an LR3 you are used to that.

They are also not great in terms of depreciation but apparently not as bad as general perception:

Quote from http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2006/02/on_depreciation.html

"The 9-3 Vector Sport is remarkably similar to the other models examined. It’s still at the bottom of the group - the Saab retains 40.17% of it’s value after 4 years, the Audi 43.95%, the Bimmer 41.96% and the Merc 44.97% - but it’s nowhere near as far off as I thought it would be."

If you are buying CPO used you have probably taken out most of the depreciation bite anyway..smart move.