Gary Fritz ( snipped-for-privacy@xxxfrii.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
They're doing the same retro thing that everybody else is doing - except they're doing it for the P1800ES (which everybody's forgotten) and 480 (which nobody liked anyway).
Adrian ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
I should add...
Remember the Mk3 Granada/Scorpio? Rover 800? Both started out as hatch-led ranges, in roughly the same market as the 900 (my mother replaced her 900i with an 820e, both company cars) - both finished up with the saloons massively outselling the hatches. In the case of the Scorp, it started out with no saloon available, and finished up with the hatch being dropped way before the saloon.
Across Europe, there was a sea-change in the exec car market around the turn of the 80s/90s, with hatches and "mass-market" brands becoming pariahs.
Heh. Saloons are not pointless. As a long story short, I had to replace my written off Ka and I wanted a larger car - saloon, hatchback, whatever. So I bought a '99 Honda Accord saloon. With the seats folded down, the car was surprisingly spacious. The 2000 9-3 has that ledge between boot and rear seats and, worse, in order to put the seats forward I can't have the driver seat all of the way back. This makes it exceptionally uncomfortable for me.
The best compromise for by far is a tow ball and a trailer... given how little I need the extra space.
Hmm. They are bigger, slightly heavier and slightly slower, for the majority of people any difference in handling and economy is a moot point; you can't tell on the road (if you can tell the difference in handling you're in the wrong kind of vehicle, maybe *grin*). What you pay more for up front you tend to get back when it's time to sell it on. Estates - or wagons or whatever they're called - are not as bad as you make out.
The above all said I still don't want one... :)
It used to be easy. Swedish design, estate: Volvo. Swedish design, convertible: Saab. Now you can have either / or...
To a degree you've already done that anyway with the 9-3... :p
Except you're missing the point... they have somebody do this for them... or a tow hitch.
I can.
You're overplaying the ability to see if the lady behind is wearing a wedding ring or not.
Fair enough. Have you tried back to back comparisons between a variety of machines? Say, a Passat saloon and a Mondeo hatchback?
DervMan ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Indeed - who'd want to shove a huge pile of festering building or garden rubbish in the boot of a £25k car, anyway?
Unfortunately, our local tip requires you to have a permit to take a trailer.
Or they use the other car...
Hmm.
LOL. Okay, well if that's what you think. If you're trying to have a go at me for having a small brain, first you should consider writing out your post in full rather than dropping text speak in there. Second, I'm vomiting up the opinion of all too many a company car driver, not my own - hence "that's the spirit of it." On the fleet I managed, people would whine about the colour, minute detail of the specification and this wonderstuff called "image." I was led to believe that a Mondeo saloon was something completely different to a Mondeo hatchback, because it was so much stiffer, therefore handled loads better, oh and it looked better too.
"Okay, like, whatever" was my usual response to such idiots. Unfortunately, people have this belief that somehow driving a saloon makes the car "better" or less utiliatian than otherwise.
Me, personally? I prefer a hatchback, I can deal with a saloon. All bar one of my cars have been hatchbacks and the current (2000 9-3 diesel) is a hatchback.
The Cd figure varies model by model, and really *really* isn't something to pick a different machine for... If you prefer the look, that is.
See my other post - you've misunderstood where I'm coming from. I'm reiterating the opinion of others and not my own...
DervMan ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
And who is it that Saab are building cars to sell to...?
Yep, those company car drivers.
Tell me about it. Still *sighs* I benefit from this. The first owner of my
9-3 was... yes... you guessed it...
The numbers on the road say it was.
One country asking alone isn't likely to be enough.
Graham
I don't recall ANY hatchback Granada/Scorpio ever. Furthermore I always recall the Rover 800 being available in both body shapes. It was ther SD1 that was only a hatch.
But neither of these are Saabs !
Why ? I don't agree. I think boots are stupid.
Graham
It wasn't that way before.
Graham
Lots of things have changed. Change is progress, for better or for worse.
Because those people who do agree bought more cars than you... :)
Depends on the lady wearing them.
Yes, if you're carrying passengers in the rear (e.g. taxis) then the passengers don't like the whiff of cold air when the hatch is opened.
But when the 9-5 replaced the 9000 in 1998, there were big moans in saab clubs about the loss of cargo space. This was addressed much later by the
9-5 estate.
And still the same moans I'll bet.
My solution to the problem (no kiddies): you're a freeloader, walk then... :P
Couple of weeks ago, I used my 9000CS to ship a washing machine. I was amazed that it fit with room to spare. Rear seats folded down of course. The tricky part was loading and offloading it while trying to avoid scratching the bumper. Not easy considering its weight.
Eeyore ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Have you ever considered reading the posts you reply to?
Eeyore ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Perhaps you ought to read it again. Or once.
No, but they were amongst the main competition at the time. You really don't quite understand, do you? Saab do not build cars in isolation from the rest of the market.
Fine. I don't much like German cars, either. However, we're quite obviously in a tiny minority amongst the buyers of new £20-30k cars.
Eeyore ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Before when? It's been that way for twenty years.
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