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11 September 2013 #1
Dave T. Super Moderator
- Join Date
- 03 Aug 2010
- Location
- near Seattle, Washington
- Posts
- 1,515
- Saab(s)
- 1999 9-3SE (2013-2015), 2005 9-3 (2005-2013), 1990 900 (1990-2003)
How have your feelings towards your Saab changed?
I can understand if a car becomes unreliable and the owner starts to dislike their car. With Saabs, I've never disliked them but my feelings towards my Saab has changed.
My 2005 9-3 was a blast. It was fun. It was practical. It drew a little bit of envy by some people on the street who saw it.
As you might know, I no longer have the 2005. As an emergency replacement, I got a 1999 9-3. To me, it's like an elderly pet. It's a fine fellow but it doesn't handle anywhere near the 9-3SS. Maybe because it's old, I don't push it at all. I mainly drive it on weekends and then only to the store or an errand. Once I had the courage to take it to Canada, where it drove fine. Nearly everything is fixed, just a few minor cosmetic things and those number less than one handful (SID pixels, rear ashtray, one fog light, missing jack handle and tire iron). The latter two will be fixed very soon. Even a small dent was repaired. Needless to say, all routine maintenance is up to date or even done earlier than the manual says.
In short, the current Saab is a fun and fine elderly dog, unlike my previous one, which was a jackrabbit with a backpack.
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12 September 2013 #2
Frank Administrator
- Join Date
- 30 Jul 2010
- Location
- USA - Netherlands
- Posts
- 7,901
- Saab(s)
- previous: 2006 9-3, 2001-06 9-5, 2011 9-4X
I still like the feel and looks of the earlier 9-5 models (up to 2005). They are pretty old compared to the current cars available but they also have more character. Older cars seem to get a bit looser and parts wear out with age. Your new BMW will probably also feel different after 10 years and 100K miles than what it feels like driving it now.
You should get a fun Saab as a second car like a 9-3 Aero convertible with the V6. You have the garage space for it.
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12 September 2013 #3
Jared The young one
- Join Date
- 05 Aug 2010
- Location
- A little town in Indiana
- Posts
- 580
- Saab(s)
- 2003 Saab 9-5 ARC ( and care-taker of a '98 900SE)
I've owned mine going on 5 years now. When I got it, it was "Super fast" and I thought that everybody would think it was super cool. (It's my first car and I was 15, so bare with me lol) I think I've grown out of that though. It doesn't seem nearly as fast anymore, and I don't have as much fun driving it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still love it and still like to drive it, its just not as fun anymore. Maybe when I get a new suspension setup and a tune that will all change.
I had also always thought I'd keep it forever (and there is that possibility still) but now things are a little different. I was at the BMW dealership last night and actually pictured in my mind the process of handing over the keys and driving off in a new X1....and I was okay with that. A couple years ago, I'd have never even imagined it.
I still see my 9-5 as an old buddy, a faithful companion, but he's getting a little old and I need to breath some new life into him to keep going.I don't drive fast...I fly slow
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12 September 2013 #4
Mike Moderator
- Join Date
- 30 Jul 2010
- Location
- Rochester, New York, USA
- Posts
- 1,985
- Saab(s)
- Saab-less
Hmmm, I still like the car, but not as much as I once did. It is almost old enough to vote now, and the NG900 wasn't nearly as a sturdy design as the C900 or 9000. So, it hasn't exactly aged gracefully. The soft chassis has gone even softer. I've lost the hood emblem completely, and I've got about a dozen very apparent and growing rust spots. Four of the have eaten entire holes out of it. Stuff breaks... and it breaks quite frequently. And plastic bit (especially connectors) like to break off when I'm dismantling things for a repair. The cabin fan is all wonky, and I don't want to drop $200 to see if it will fix it.
The driver side seat is pretty worn (although, it looks great for it's age and hours of use), and everything likes to rattles. Problems will appear one day, only to be gone the next for no apparent reason. The trunk likes to leak, even though the gasket is perfectly fine.
The front bumper, grille and headlights don't line up like they should. No matter how many times I take it apart and put it back together, I can't figure out where the extra "slack" is coming from.
My AC has been broken for the two past sweltering summers, and a recharge didn't fix it. I think it's related to the wonky fan.
I'm ready for this car to die. I'd like it to go out with a bang. Really. That would probably be best. Any insurance money I get for it could probably be more than I could sell it for. I don't have the time or the space to part it out, and I wouldn't feel right selling it to some high school kid unless I made him fully aware how questionable the reliability is. I've had this guy for seven years. The first three years I owned it, it was basically problem free. The last two years, I've been towed home four times.
It's become the car that I sink the bare minimum into, while saving for another car. I would like a TurboX, but I don't think it would fit my lifestyle real well. So, in the meantime this will do.Free SaabWorld Stickers
"Sometimes it is better to travel than it is to arrive." - Robert Pirsig
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12 September 2013 #5
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
I have never owned a brand new Saab, the newest I've had is my 9-5 Aero, which was already 12 years old when I got it. I generally dislike new cars. I have owned three new cars (Hyundai, Toyota and Subaru), and found them lacking in character. New cars feel too tight, too perfect, too clinical. The two BMWs I recently rented confirmed that feeling. I realize that the most memorable cars I have ever owned are usually cheap, high mileage cars, like my $900 Benz 300D, my $100 Ford Courier, or even the two 900s I have owned.
That being said, I think it is the novelty of driving the same car every day that starts wearing off. Sure, fixing an old car over and over isn't fun, but in the long run I still see it as being cheaper than having a new car. If I were to put $300 a month into my 900 every month for a few years I'd have a banging car.
Truth is, I just get bored of cars I own quickly, and I want to sell them and buy something else, another option is changing (upgrading) your car into something else, so that interest in the car is renewed. Right now I am at that crossroads with my C900.
I love the car but it needs work. I need new shocks, new springs, new bushings, a new suspension, the driver's seat is sagging in the middle, there are some small rust spots to fix, and now there is another winter coming. Sometimes I think I really want to keep the car forever: fix all the rust, renew the suspension, change the transmission, and drive it like this for a while. A little voice inside my head tells me later I'll drop a turbo engine in it. Another voice says put some headers, cams, carbs and port and polish the head and turn the 900 into a highly unlikely non-turbo-Saab-track-car.
Another side of me says sell the car to some new Soldier, cut your losses, and buy something else fun and crazy. Now, my notion of fun and crazy is a bit different and lately I have been really day dreaming about real slow cars. Preferably Italian, like a Fiat Panda, or East German, like a Wartburg.
If I do keep the 900 I have the option of bringing the car to the US with me later. It is older than 25 years, but it isn't a real special Saab per se (8 valve 900i), but Saabs will get rarer and rarer, and if I keep this car in good condition it will feed my inner odd-car hankering. The thing is, I really need to decide very soon if I want to keep the 900. Winter here is around the corner, and If I am going to keep this car I will really have to think hard about garaging it and not driving it during the winter. Germans salt thei roads to the extreme, and rust is the biggest enemy to an old car. If I want to keep my 900 it needs to stay off the roads, and I'll have to buy me a winter beater to get me around.
The 9-5 on the other hand cannot come to the US with me so I am not too worried about rust. I fix stuff as it breaks on that car, but I still try to keep it in decent shape as someday I'll have to sell it, and I would be ashamed to sell a beat up car. Right now the car is awaiting a front bumper thanks to my wife's fender bender, but other than that it needs new brakes up front, one wheel bearing and I need to install the rear shocks I got from Frank.
So to answer the original question, I don't think my feelings towards my Saab has changed that much. I still enjoy the car alot when I drive it, and I am sure I would enjoy it that bit more if I fixed all the little problems. But I think any boredom I might feel with the car is driven by my inner lust to have many cars and drive many different cars. And there is no single car that would fix that, I reckon.Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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13 September 2013 #6
Dave T. Super Moderator
- Join Date
- 03 Aug 2010
- Location
- near Seattle, Washington
- Posts
- 1,515
- Saab(s)
- 1999 9-3SE (2013-2015), 2005 9-3 (2005-2013), 1990 900 (1990-2003)
The huge garage space is only for a limited time. I have 4 spaces but the house is a duplex and my real allotment is 2 spaces. My brother will be claiming the other half of the duplex, including the 2 spaces next year.
I tend to buy a car new and try to keep it a long time. During this time, I usually continue to like the car. The recent purchase of the 1999 9-3 breaks the pattern. It was 15 years old when I got it. Will I keep it a long time? It already has 160,000 miles. It's true age is 160,000 miles, not a pampered life but not completely neglected by the previous owners either. I was thinking of replacing it with a 2006 or 2007 9-3 SportCombi. Not a V-6 and not a convertible. Finding a good classic 900 hatchback is going too far back in the past, I think. To do so, I'd be getting a trusty, but elderly, pet at best.