What car(s) were you looking at before you bought your Saab?

[J-Rod]

Saw this thread on a Mazda forum, and thought we'd try it out here.

The list I looked at is as follows:
2003 Saab 9-5 Linear-Got sold the day I went to buy it.
2002 Mercedes E320 4Matic-It was too slow, too heavy, and it was gold. lol But it was comfy.
2001 Mercedes SLK320-Black, beautiful, roadster, perfect. Couldn't do the insurance and needed 4 doors.
1999 Mercedes CLK430-same as above.
2002 Volvo S60-Hated the interior. A lot.
2003 Saab 9-3 Linear-Not bad, but not enough options.
Looked for a 1998-2003 535i/540i-They were either too much money or beat badly
Looked for a 325i/328i-Same as above.
2000-2003 Lexus GS-Too much money for a decent looking one.

Found my mint fully loaded 9-5 with 72k miles for a price I couldn't pass up. Plus I had been in love with the 9-5 for years, since I sat in one at a car show.

[nordwulf]

Before I bought my first Saab in 2006, I was looking at a Ford Mustang Convertible and a BMW 8-series. I wasn't exactly shopping in the same class or segment.

I still would like to own either one of those some day.

[J-Rod]

I still would like to own either one of those some day.

Same here. Well, since I already own a hardtop Mustang, I guess I mainly want the 8-Series. lol

[euromobile900]

I saw my SAAB after I had a Toyota Corolla. I wished I'd found it sooner and bought it instead of the Yota, but two days later I totaled it and bought the SAAB.

Cars I'd looked at before I bought the Yota included mid-'90s Honda Accord, Nissan Maxima, and VW Golf, and mid-'80s Audi Quattro and Mazda 323. Pretty much running the gamut of beige, except for the Audi.

[Hirsch]

When I started looking in early 2007 I wasn't sure what car maker would get my business.

I knew what I wanted. A wagon with some guts and good looks. I seriously considered a Subaru Legacy GT spec B wagon, but they were next to impossible to find.
Once I decided on European delivery, my list started like this:
VW Passat wagon W8 4motion 6spd. Expensive, hard to find plus VW doesn't offer euro delivery.
BMW 328xi wagon. Even with the ED discount and a buddy that sells them in Indy, they were more than I wanted to spend.
Audi A6 Avant. Too much money, not enough interior room, IMO.
Volvo V70. Expensive and, well, it's a Volvo.

I happened onto Saabs website kind of by accident. I saw the 9-3 SC and was immediately infatuated. When I started to build my car online, the infatuation quickly turned to lust. Station wagon, turbo V6, 6spd manual. It wasn't AWD, but that wasn't a deal breaker. The price was inline with my budget after the ED discounts and I was happy to be supporting 2 small companies, Saab and Just Saab.

I've driven everything from full size SUV's and trucks(before I moved to DK, my DD/work truck was a Ram 2500HD 4x4 long bed Quad cab) to "sports cars"(Subaru SVX) to econoboxes(Chevy Spectrum) to pedestrian wagons(Subaru Legacy GT wagon NA autotragic). The Saab is the fastest, most comfortable car I've ever owned with the SVX a not so close second.

[Shazam]

I was looking at small pick-ups. I figured my parents would pay about a grand, and the rest would be up to me. So I wanted something I could throw my mountain bike, skis, muddy lacrosse or football gear in the back and not have to worry about. Also, if it was only a 2 or 3 seater, I wouldn't have to worry about giving people rides all the time, and if I could find it stick shift, 99% of my friends couldn't drive it. But about 2 months before my 16th birthday my dad came home from work with the 900. He saw it in the parking lot of the local hardware store, took it for a test drive and bought it about 2 days later. It was way cheaper than any other car he came across, and he decided to give it to my twin brother and I. Does everything I want (bike has to go on the roof, and the back has to be vacuumed). I shared the car up until about 2 years ago when my brother got a 2001 VW Passat Wagon.

[mattlach]

When I bought my current 2004 9-5 Aero 5Spd Sedan I only looked at 9-5 Aero 5spd sedans.

This was to replace my past 2001 9-5 Aero 5 Spd Sedan.

Before that car though, I looked at a few similarly aged (1999 to 2002) Audi A6 2.7T's and a few BMW 540i's, neither of which appealed to me as much. The 540's steering just felt insulated and not sensitive compared to the 9-5. I just didn't like the Audi at all. It felt sterile and soul less somehow.

[Dave T]

Joe Knapp was a salesman that sold both Volvos and Saabs. He was very diplomatic not wanting to say which was better, a Saab 900 or a Volvo DL, but did seem to like Saabs. He's the man who taught me to drive a stick shift. Unfortunately, he passed away. Passing away of a salesman - Blogs - SaabWorld The Saab 900 was my first new car.

For my current 9-3, the cars that I considered were all over the place...Acura TSX, Volvo S60, BMW 325i, Dodge Magnum, Audi A4, Honda Accord, etc. I think that would offend BMW, thinking that their competition is Honda.

[SaabKen]

Before buying my 9000 in 2001, in 2000 I was looking at 740 GLE Turbo wagon and 850 Turbo wagon. The 850s was pricier than my budget (good ones at least), and the 740 while good had really high miles, or was RWD which didn't appeal to me at the time.

[stamonkey]

I bought my '99 9-3 SE in '05 because it had every option I wanted, got good mileage, and was cheap. After I graduated and worked for a while, I started shopping around late '08 early '09. I looked the Audi A4, but I found it too pricey and too slow for an '06-'08 CPO. I looked at the Subaru Legacy, but was talked out of it before a test drive. I looked briefly at the BMW 135, but couldn't stomach the snootiness. I looked at the VW GTI but it was too boy racer for me. I came very very close to getting a new Volvo C30, I really really liked the test drives I took, but once I started adding up the options, the price tag was just too much for a compact car. So then I was back to Saabs. I test drove an '05 9-3 Aero, an '05 9-5 Aero, an '08 9-3 Aero, an '07 9-5 Aero, an '06 9-3 Aero SC before buying my car. I almost bought the '06 9-3 Aero SC, but I was really turned off by the dealership (Saab of Milford in CT). I ended up with a great deal on my car with a CPO warranty from New Salem Saab in Albany, NY.