Saabs may become cool again

[wa-loaf]

Looks like it's about over for Saab:
http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNewsConsumerGoodsAndRetail/idUSN241889020091125

 

[mlctvt]

Looks like it's about over for Saab:
http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNewsConsumerGoodsAndRetail/idUSN241889020091125

It would be a real bummer to see Saab die. Although I've never owned one I am a fan. My boss has had 3 of them and they all have gone over 250,000 miles. His current 1999 Saab 9-5 has 360,000 miles on it with many orginal parts like the turbo, shocks, and even clutch.

I considered the 9-3 SportCombi but I bought a mint '05 Subaru Legacy GT wagon with manual transmission instead.

 

[Glenn]

It would be a bummer if the brand went away. Hopefully, someone will hammer out a deal.

 

[gladerider]

Koenigsegg probably liked the saab part of the deal. i bet they didn't like all the GM baggages it now comes along with the deal

 

[Philpug]

I wouldn't be surprised if whoever buys Volvo, also picks up Saab and markets them together.

 

[Glenn]

Koenigsegg probably liked the saab part of the deal. i bet they didn't like all the GM baggages it now comes along with the deal

The WSJ said it also had to do with the Swedish government not giving as much $ to the deal as they had originally said they would.

 

[billski]

Saabs may either become cool again or dead!

I was a happy 900S owner for 10 years....

 

[tjf67]

Saabs were never cool. they are not fast. They are ugly. They dont handle particularly well. and they are expensive to fix. oh yeah and they are not cheap.

 

[hammer]

I wouldn't be surprised if whoever buys Volvo, also picks up Saab and markets them together.

As long as it's not the Chinese...:roll:

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/10/30/crash-testing-geelys-volvo-bid

 

[riverc0il]

Saabs were never cool. they are not fast. They are ugly. They dont handle particularly well. and they are expensive to fix. oh yeah and they are not cheap.

My coworker owns a Saab and seems to think it was a bad decision in hind sight because it was too expensive for what the car is and repair is expensive. I can't speak towards the handling but as for looks, they have a distinctive ugliness to them. If Saabs were branded by Chevy, everyone would think they were ugly. But since they are branded as Saab which has this lesser known mistique, so many people think they look cool. I don't understand it.

Warp- I don't know how you get the MPG that you do as all the current Saabs are like 28 MPG max as I recall when I last looked. Maybe MPG has gone down for Saabs (much like most other manufacturers due to bigger cars).

 

[Warp Daddy]

Opinions are like rear ends everyone has them GM effed up Saab not vice -versa. Its a cult car man .


Its easy to get good mileage Steve , my road /city mix is disproportionate and i don't do jack rabbit starts. I had an 88, 92 , 03 and 07 model yrs , 3 were 5 speeds and the 07 is AT all got me over 30 mpg winter and about 32 /4 in summer

 

[billski]

Opinions are like rear ends everyone has them GM effed up Saab not vice -versa. Its a cult car man .

+1 My 900S was great. It was an old design, it worked, I had no major problems, kept it to 170K miles and looked awesome when I sold it. It seems after GM took over, the quality went down when they started sharing parts and assemblies. The GM touch, I supposed.

 

[mlctvt]

Opinions are like rear ends everyone has them GM effed up Saab not vice -versa. Its a cult car man .


Its easy to get good mileage Steve , my road /city mix is disproportionate and i don't do jack rabbit starts. I had an 88, 92 , 03 and 07 model yrs , 3 were 5 speeds and the 07 is AT all got me over 30 mpg winter and about 32 /4 in summer

This is in line to what my boss gets with his 1999 manual 9-5 . He reports 30-32 mpg highway. Pretty good for a mid-size car with over 350K on it.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Yumping yiminee Sven.....Saabs have been popular in ski country for years, guess they are all going to have to buy Subies, all built in Indiana.

 

[skijay]

When GM gave SAAB the 9-2 (the Impreza) I always thought that should have gone to Saturn to give them a DECENT AWD wagon. Perhaps something like that may have helped save Saturn.

Why did GM give SAAB the 9-7? How about having Subaru rebadge something quirky like the Tribeca? That seems like a better fit than a TrailBlazer rebadge.

Before my Subi purchase I went to look at a Volvo XC and they also had a new 2008 9-7 for less than my Subi.

GM did get something decent, I do believe that the 2.0, 2.2 and the 2.4 liter Ecotec 4 cylinder motors were of a SAAB / Opel design.

 

[Philpug]

When GM gave SAAB the 9-2 (the Impreza) I always thought that should have gone to Saturn to give them a DECENT AWD wagon. Perhaps something like that may have helped save Saturn.

Why did GM give SAAB the 9-7? How about having Subaru rebadge something quirky like the Tribeca? That seems like a better fit than a TrailBlazer rebadge.

Before my Subi purchase I went to look at a Volvo XC and they also had a new 2008 9-7 for less than my Subi.

GM did get something decent, I do believe that the 2.0, 2.2 and the 2.4 liter Ecotec 4 cylinder motors were of a SAAB / Opel design.

First, if it wasn't for GM, SAAB would have been gone years ago, they wouldn't have been able to survive on their own.

Saab was supposed to get a variation on the Tribeca, it was going to be the 9-6X.

 

[Warp Daddy]

GM did absolutely nothing for SAAB , their product planning , management vision and archaic featherbedded production system was/is totally out of synch with the marketplace -- i sincerely hope GM disappears sooner than later -----sayonara baby no more of our $$$ for this bunch of brigands

 

[Geoff]

I don't particularly care about GM. I have only owned one GM product in my life... a 1987 S-10 Blazer that had an unlimited mileage extended warranty. GM lost their shirt on that deal. The dealer collected more in repairs in the 167,000 miles I put on that sucker than I paid for the car.

I have good friends I ski with most days at Killington (the famous Mr & MrsG) who have Saabs. MrsG is sporting a CPO SportWagon they picked up a month ago. It's a very attractive car. They trust their dealer and have been treated well for many years.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

First, if it wasn't for GM, SAAB would have been gone years ago, they wouldn't have been able to survive on their own.

Maybe, but if it wasn't for the 25B bridge loan GM got from TARP and the crisis bringing the UAW to the table to solve the huge retirement financial anchor GM had it would have gone bankrupt. It was in the 11th hour that GM escaped from going bankrupt. It's a crazy new world as it wasn't that many years ago when GM was the largest company on the planet.

 

[billski]

Maybe, but if it wasn't for the 25B bridge loan GM got from TARP and the crisis bringing the UAW to the table to solve the huge retirement financial anchor GM had it would have gone bankrupt. It was in the 11th hour that GM escaped from going bankrupt. It's a crazy new world as it wasn't that many years ago when GM was the largest company on the planet.

And it wasn't that long ago that GM reeked of arrogance. My first first-hand experience with a GM exec in Detroit was my last. He didn't care that cars totally died at 60K miles. In fact he was more upset with me buying a Subaru (this was 1982) and "putting 6 Americans out of work" than he was with improving quality. He honestly believed that Americans should be buying new cars every two years. Of course, he got a new car every six months, all expenses paid. Entire disconnect with reality.

Even as late as four years ago GM was whining about job loss instead of focusing on quality. Sure, quality improved, but they never caught up with their competition. What happened to the execs who made all the bad moves? They got fat parachutes and live comfortably, while blaming everyone else for GM's failure. They had 25 years to fix their mistakes. Let them eat cake.

By the way, I bought a Saab 900S in 1986, it lasted 10 years. When I heard GM was buying Saab, that was my last Saab.