New guy

[Chief]

Hi All,

New to SaabWorld, Great Site !!!!

My Saab Adventure started over 4 years ago when my son started driving. I was looking for something practical as in a beater, knowing the type of things kids may do. I found the best bang in an '06 9-3 Sedan. After a little love the car really started to shine. I had a stage one tune put on, didn't feel totally ok with making a fast car faster for a young driver but it was a one and done chance. I drove it occasionally to keep up on it. Decided I didn't like the tune, the car was more enjoyable without it and might break less. A few months later I had tune removed. My son never noticed. From that and lack of wear on the drive wheel I guess he must be a conservative driver.

Two years later my daughter got her license and it was off to the races again. The only decent deals I could find again were on Saab. I stumbled across a convertible. When I test drove, it had a pronounced miss when the turbo kicked in. I offered the guy 2,000 less than he was asking, prayed it was a coil, and limped it home 80 miles. The next day I replaced a coil and all has been good.


Fast forward another two years, Kids are gone away to school, I sell my Harley from lack of use and start driving the convertible. I always chuckled a bit at people in convertibles but here I was, driving with a passenger, Shooting the shit, Tunes, not having to watch out for people trying to kill me, Too Hot? Theres the AC. Too Cold ? Turn on the heat. Look Like Rain? So what? I started realizing some of the obvious and not so obvious reasons why there are a lot of bikes sitting in garages getting no use. I didn't want to be one of those guys so I let the bike go. It broke my heart but it had to be done. I started shopping around for my next toy and after about a month I came across another '04 convertible. This one had low miles, low use, but the top isn't fully functional. I'll get to it. It can be raised and lowered with a little finesse and manual labor and I'm good with that until I get to it. Winter is coming. I have full intentions of using this car every day for work instead of my full-size pickup. Working out the little things and getting it up to snuff. Loving every day with this car. Best Thing about it, It's MINE LOL !!!


Thanks For Reading !!!


Joe

[nordwulf]

Hello and welcome Joe. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.

I used to have a motorbike for many years and did quite a bit of long distance touring with it. I never owned a convertible but rented a few in Florida and California. And after that, I was pretty much hooked on the idea of being out in the open and the wind in your hair while not having to wear protective gear and a helmet. And when it gets cold or starts to rain, just put the top up and you're driving in comfort. You don't know what feeling cold and miserable is until you ride in the cold and the rain for many hours just trying to make it home.

Some day I will have one of these Swedish convertibles as a second car.

Your thread was hanging in the moderation queue so it took a little while to appear on the forum here.

[Dave T]

Welcome. 4 years ago? Better late than never.

I knew about Saabs but was shopping for a new Volvo many years ago. The dealer also sold Saabs. Test drove both and became a Saab driver. One Saab replaced another and another until I was on Saab #5.