Maintain Your Identity - Saab

No video?

- tex

i have to agree...if nothing more, the press on saab does seem more upbeat in recent weeks. after the past two years of negative press surrounding lackluster lineup (the aging 9-5, the controversial 9-2x and 9-7x), sagging sales and finally the trollhattan loss to russelheim. saab finally has restarted its product launch to beef up its lineup starting with the 9-3 combi (a welcomed return of the sport-hatch concept). then in 2006 an overdue refresh of the veritable 9-5 along with new engine/trim options for the 9-3 series.

- tex

in article snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com, Tex at snipped-for-privacy@aspam101.org wrote on 28/06/2005 02:03:

There are a few snippets here:

You might be able to stitch a few together.

Paul

Var tog vägen vägen? SAAB : Nothing on earth comes close

I've heard that all before, especially from European folks, but not so much here in the US. See, I don't really care all that much what other people think, one way or the other. I don't buy my cars so people think I'm wealthy (I'm definitely not) or important, and I don't care if somebody thinks I'm an *SSHOLE because I drive a particular brand. Those people are the ones who have problems.

I belong to the BMW CCA and there a lot ( a really lot) of "just regular folks" who are truly automotive enthusiasts and appreciate the car for what it is. Sure, there are people who own BMWs as a "status symbol", but there are just as many (here in the US) who do the same thing with SAABs. Let's face it, a loaded 9-5 Aero ain't cheap!

The big difference between the status grabbers and the "regular folks" is not the trademark on the hood, it rests entirely in the nut behind the wheel.

-Fred W

I get so much of this over here (UK). The stupid thing is, I paid significantly less for my used 528i than those same people (those who deride BMW owners) pay for their brand new 1.2l Ford Fiestas. Do you have Fiestas in the US Fred?

Tex,

I got the video now, uncompressed in high quality. It is like 200MB. I have no idea where to store it. It looks great! The footage is amateur, but it's decent.

SaabGuy

ote

Paul,

I've got about 5 minutes of video from the team, so I will look to getting = it together in high quality but compressed from the original DV raw format.

In the meantime, I also took some photos.

Fred W,

That's funny. :) I like it!

SaabGuy

Tex,

I hear you, it's all sounding really positive! I can't wait to hear the continued news at the Saab Owners Convention in August as well.

In addition, 2006 is Saabs 60 year anniversary, so big things are planned next year as well!

SaabGuy

Why do you consider an aging 9-5 to be negative? From MY2004 Saab now seems to finally get control of the weaknesses like SID display, crankcase ventilation, headlight wipers etc. and the car should now be a better buy than ever.

TH,

He said nothing of the 9-5 being negative. He said it is aging in it's current form basically. If old meant negative then, old people are bad, old cars are bad, old habits are bad, old wine is bad, etc. :)

There is nothing wrong with old anything, so remember bad=bad, good=good, new=new and old=old and that's that.

SaabGuy

That may be true, however most buyers, myself included don't see it that way. Compared to other vehicles in its class it lags behind in features and modern design. It's a good car. In fact, I could have bought one cheaper than a 9-3, but I still opted for the 9-3, because it was a fresher design. The 9-5's interior, while comfortable, just appeared to be of an older design. If I'm going to spending a bucket load of bills on a new car, I want it to feel as new as can be.

- tex

Not anymore. THey never caught on here and got some really bad press. The lowest model Ford here is the Focus, which was the replacement for the Escort I believe. My daughter had to leave her 9000 at the body shop (long story, but a neighbor backed into one of the rear doors) and the insurance paid for a rental loaner for the duration of the repairs. They gave her a new(ish) Focus 4 door hatchback. While she had it I gave it a spin. Not a terribly bad car considering how inexpensive they are. I have no idea how it will stand up to 200k miles, but it drives pretty nicely off the lot (not like a SAAB or a BMW mind you...)

-FRed W

Actually I had a 2001 ZX3 hatch prior to my current 9-3. I loved my it! For my needs it was perfect and the performance wasn't bad at all for an engine pushing out 130hp. It plowed through deep snow like no tomorrow. The SVT model had a bigger 170hp engine, but didnt come out until after I had bought mine.

When I sadly gave it up it was still in perfect shape at just 46k miles. Only needed fresh brake pads, otherwise flawless.

Unfortunately, last year Ford stupidly broke design development into separate Focus models for both the US and European markets. Sadly, the US models became far more conservative/boring than their European cousins.

- tex

Tex,

Newer isn't better, plus newer generally has more bugs, then again some newer things have the bugs worked out. It's six or a half dozen... :)

SaabGuy

Correction: Newer isn't _always_ better. But generally speaking, designers & engineers leave behind old designs for a reason...b/c the newer design/engineering simply is better than the old one. Now you could argue, that management also plays a role in design/engineering, in that, they want to control costs. This forces designers/engineers to improve the product while keeping costs low (perhaps, e.g, at the expense of better quality materials).

Agreed...as a programmer, I'm well aware of bugs. New code is always buggier than older, more tested code. But the nice thing about new code, is that while it may have bugs, it generally adds functionality or improves on existing functionality. The same goes for car design/engineering (albeit on a different scale).

- tex

Tex,

I know. This is all true. It's always a mixed-bag so to speak.

SaabGuy