Last week I asked you whether Saab owners were changing brands, holding on to their Saabs and/or waiting for NEVS to release either a revised Saab 9-3 or an electric Saab.
I thought I’d summarise the results here in a new post. It’s hardly a scientific poll, but I think it’s interesting to get a look at what this small sample of people are driving 14 months after Saab’s bankruptcy and a few months into NEVS’s ownership.
There are a few really interesting things to come out of this.
First, nearly half the respondents haved moved on to something else, or have picked up something else in addition to the Saabs they’ve owned for a while. That was about what I expected.
The second (and quite surprising) thing was that out of those who have moved on, no successor car was mentioned more than once. The only brands mentioned more than once were Subaru and Mercedes – one of the Subarus was sold again quite quickly and the Mercedes’ were both very, very different types of vehicles.
It just goes to show that Saab had a very special mix of qualities and characteristics in their vehicles. It’s a combination that’s very hard to replace.
Thanks for your input.
ps – the car at the top is one of the replacement vehicles mentioned below. Thanks to Saabdude for posting the link to the image 🙂
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Holding on……
“I’m a very happy owner of a 2011 9-5 Aero. I hope to drive this for 4-5 more years.”
“In May last year I bought a 22 months old Saab 9-3 SS”
“I purchased a 2008 9-5 Sedan aero with lows miles which I imported from the UK to NZ. The car is in good condition and this will be used as our daily car.”
“Have 2003 & 2006 SAAB’s, love them both, drive them for as long as possible. “
“We bought last April a MY 2008 9-5 2.0t Linear SportCombi”
“I have a friend who has mentioned selling her 2006 9-3 sedan, and I’ve told her that I want to be the first person she calls when it goes up for sale…… If my Honda were to die and I couldn’t find a Saab I wanted, I suppose I’d consider a Mazda3 hatch, a VW Jetta wagen (prefer TDI), maybe a VW Golf.”
“Saab for as long as we can get them fixed…. afterwards, probably Buick or Audi.. but hell will freeze over first before I go to BMW.”
“I still own my 2000 9-3 as my daily driver (now at 201,000 miles and counting). It is needing more repairs as parts wear out, but $1000-$1500 a year replacing worn out parts is still cheaper than car payments and it still drives great.”
“You know my answer. I’m still 100% Saab.”
“I bought my 2009 9-3 Aero XWD from the local GM dealer in mid Dec, 2009 during the GM firesale …. I still hope to drive this car for a long time and I am enjoying the car more than ever. “
“We have a 2004 9-5 and a couple c900s. If the 9-5 lasts half as long as the c900s we won’t need another car for 10 years at least”
“I bought a TTiD Aero XWD in dec 2010. That will do for a while.”
“Bought a 2009 9-5SC last week”
“Since the bankruptcy of Saab I changed jobs, and decided to take Redna (my red 9-5 Wagon) with me, so I had to buy it from the lease, and last christmas I bought SnowWhite for my wife a ’08 9-3 Aero TTiD Convertible.”
“I still love the 9-3, but I really needed a backup. Got an Abarth as a second car.”
“I bought a 9-3 SC Aero TTiD -08 for my wife last year. Last week a bought a 9-5 Aero Biopower -11 for me.”
“Planning to keep my ’04 9-3 Sport Sedan for my years to come as the second car in the family. Most of the km’s , believe it or not, we now put on a Suzuki Swift”
“I instead went about as far in the opposite direction to Saab as is possible in many ways and leased a Mercedes Benz Valente people-mover/van. This is now my daily driver while my wife drives the Combi.”
“My Turbo-X SC is about to go over 100K miles, and I’ll keep it until the wheels fall off”
“If we can get parts (no issues so far) I imagine driving Saab (and Volvo) for some years to come.”
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Moving on…….
“So, Saab died and set me free…? Alfas, Porsches, Mercs, Bimmers, and even VWs are, as I now realise, a viable option.”
“I changed to a 2010 Renault Laguna”
“I’ll consider a 9-5 Aero, but I think my next car will be a Jaguar XJ8 or XJ12.”
“I decided upon a 2007 Infiniti G35x. While it has taken some time the car has grown on me, but that’s not to say I don’t still miss my 9-3.”
“Switched to a Subaru Legacy wagon when our lease was up, and I hated it so much (particularly the seats) that we got rid of it within 9 months and bought a VW Tiguan.”
“Once our ’99 9-3 SE 5-door bites the dust I’ll be done with Saabs from the GM era and beyond. ….. I’ve started keeping an eye out for a good deal on an Acura TSX Sport Wagon.”
“Our eyes are on a Kia Optima (not necessarily turbo) and VW Passat TDI”
“Sadly I have got to the point where I cannot wait to get rid of my 200 93 convertible. It has caused me no end of trouble with huge annual repair bills…….given that I am trying to be more sensible with cars and rationalise what I spend on them, at least for the next four years or so, the Saab replacement is likely to be a Skoda Octavia.”
“Bought a Toyota hybrid for running around and am just about to swap my Merc CLS for a Lexus SC430. So all Japanese for me soon.”
“Next car willed probably be a CPO C-class.”
“I still love the 9-3, but I really needed a backup. Got an Abarth as a second car.”
“I started looking for a diesel. I went out to my local SAAB pusher and looked at a used 9-3. I also tried a brand new Hyundai i30 and I must say that I was stunned by the build quality. I got the Hyundai.”
“Planning to keep my ’04 9-3 Sport Sedan for my years to come as the second car in the family. Most of the km’s , believe it or not, we now put on a Suzuki Swift”
“I instead went about as far in the opposite direction to Saab as is possible in many ways and leased a Mercedes Benz Valente people-mover/van. This is now my daily driver while my wife drives the Combi.”
“Looks like the S60 will keep the T5/T6 engines for ’14, so might try and see if I can get another trouble-free year out of the Saab.”
“So, as a short term solution I am looking at a FWD, 4 cyl luxury sedan that gets 45 mpg with a minimalistic design and a reputation for dealers willing to let then go at less than msrp. So, a SAAB? No, shockingly, a Lincoln MKZ hybrid.”
“I moved from my 2008 9-5 SC Aero to an Audi A5 in 2010, then a 2013 S5 last November. My wife switched from her 2003 9-5 Aero Sedan to a 2013 A4 with Sport Package & 6-speed manual trans.”
“I´ve bought my second Subaru Outback (2010 model right now) and it seems to be perfect vehicle for our needs now.”
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Picked up a classic (recently)
“I also purchased a 1992 Classic 900 3 door and amongst other things have had it painted, new leather for the seats, new suspension so the car is like new and I plan to keep it for many years to come.”
“I will remain true to the vintage, pre-GM SAABs that I love to collect. I have no desire to drive anything else. I added two more SPG’s to my collection last year.”
“I snatched a 9000 cc -92 from the dealer while the 9-5 was in for an update.”
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Waiting for an electric……
“If NEVS can produce the 9-3 as an electric car with a range of at least 250km on a charge, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a used one”
“we will definitely look at EV/hybrid options (if our Saab dies)”
“If nevs will provide agood enough ev, I’ll get one!”
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