SWMBO got her brand new 93 Cab Anniversary in Ice Blue yesterday with cream leather interior. Why am I telling you this you may be asking? Well, Saabs seem to get a lot of knocking on this site so I thought I'd try and introduce some balance by telling you how stunning it is. Hopefully, it will be reliable (my 93 saloon has been) but I will let you know how she goes with it.
They're both 1.9 diesels and hers seems to be a bit more refined. Could be the newness I suppose but it could be that it's been more refined by the company over the last couple of years.
Why a Saab? Well, the new 3 series is way too expensive as is the C Class and Volvo for that matter. We got £1000s knocked off for being a Vauxhall Partner and having GM points so it was a bit of a no brainer. Went to look at an old shape 3 series but that was still way too expensive and the BMW "salesmen" ignored me anyway. Not being a Premiership footballer they probably thought I was too poor.
VW, amazingly, wanted the same sort of money as the Saab for an Eos but as you know I've been stung by VWs in the past so that was never likely to happen. Liked the Astra and Focus cabs but they still weren't in the same class as the Saab.
So there you go. Let's hope she can redress that balance a bit by reporting over the next few weeks how good a car it is once the initial novelty has worn off.
But most importantly we bought it from a dealer who cares, who rings and keeps you informed of what's happening when they say they would and who has fixed the couple of electrical glitches on my own car in the last couple of years with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of courtesy. And who clearly want to keep the customer happy in the knowledge that they'll highly likely come back in two or three years time and buy another. Not hard is it.
Take note VW.
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For some reason franchised dealers get a lot of criticism. I suppose it's because the minority of car owners who are dissatisfied feel the need to let everyone else know about it. The majority of owners, who are satisfied, just take their satisfaction as being normal and consequently don't broadcast it. Over the last 40 years or so I've dealt almost exclusively with franchised dealers and I've invariably been totally satisfied ~ and it's not because I'm not fussy or not knowledgeable.
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L\'escargot.
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I had a 93 SS a couple of years ago from new on a 53 plate, and to be honest I absolutely couldn't wait to see the back of it, sorry !
I'd set my heart on a SaaB some years ago but am well cured now. These cars look nice addmitedly, but suffer from a whole buffet of build quality issues, constant rattles and creaks, peeling trim, rusting wheelnuts, software issues causing all sorts of strange effects the cause of which can never be traced by the dealers. Poor residual values, (despite what the motoring press said when they came out).
Granted the dealers are attentive and polite, probably because they aren't as busy as VW or BMW dealers.
In my oppinion GM have ***** SaaB in their cost cutting badge-engineering attempts to sell expensive Vectra's.
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Sorry to say this but I agree with Roly to some extent. When I was looking for a 4 seater 'vert I tried a 93 and yes I think they look stunning. Can't speak for the quality issues obviously but I was dissapointed with the driving experience. Then I drove a 3 series 'vert ------- case closed.
To be fair I agree 3 series 'verts are expensive and I had to get an older one but you ge what you pay for --- usually!
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Sorry --- didn't say that it is good to hear about the dealer service though. To be fair I bought my 3 series from a dealer and they were very good -- better than I expected in fact. Will it continue? We will see!!
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We couldn't stretch to a Saab when Mrs V bought her Mx5, but I'd certainly have been happy to have had one!
& as for the value for money, against the VW, wise choice, I'd say - can't see Eos long term residuals being soooo much better than the the Ford or Astra - excellent deals on this, according to This Weeks Best Deals.
Are we allowed to know how much £$£$ you ended up parting with for it?
I'm sure she'll enjoy her new car!!
VB
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>> Sorry to say this but I agree with Roly to some extent. When I waslooking for a 4 seater 'vert I tried a 93 and yes I think they look stunning. Can't speak for the quality issues obviously but I was dissapointed with the driving experience. Then I drove a 3 series 'vert ------- case closed. To be fair I agree 3 series 'verts are expensive and I had to get an older one but you ge what you pay for --- usually!
Are the green ones more expensive, then??
;-0)
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We saved about £5000 on new so, like I said, it was a no brainer compared to the other offerings. We've had it a week now and are getting used to all the sat nav, voice recognition and bluetooth stuff. All very funky and a novelty to us as we've never had them before. As you'd expect after only a week it's been faultless so far and has attracted many positive and admiring comments.
As for islandman's comments I'd agree with his statement that the BMW will be better. I'm not so blinkered to believe the Saab is better. It's just the pinnacle of what we can personally afford and I'd rather have a lesser but newer car than a better but older car as at least I've got peace of mind for three years. After spending this much I couldn't afford an expensive repair.
I suspect that statement could spark off some debate in itself.
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