40 Comments
User's avatar
Speed's avatar

i always found saabs kinda neat but never enough to go much further then cursory examination. i assumed that like the old mercedes benz cars the money was spent on things you couldnt see.

anyway those guys sound like assholes (how on earth do you even scratch a car and a watch up that badly anyway) but hey free air king

the dominoes branded ones amuse me even if the pizza is awful

Allen's avatar

Stick your head under the hood of the next (classic) 900 you see. The engine is in there backwards, with a primary chain just aft of the radiator fan driving the gearbox, which is bolted to the bottom of the engine forming the oil pan, that sends power to the front wheels through a transmission adapted from a rwd platform in a Saab-specific case. All of that so the Saab engineers could use the double A arm front suspension they wanted.

Dan's avatar

I think you mean because transverse engine setups are wrong*

Allen's avatar

I've had several transverse 9000s and 9-5s as daily drivers over my driving career. It makes the interior packaging easier/better. It's nice to have the weight over the drive wheels in Cleveland winters in my specific case.

After moving on to some rear wheel and longitudinal all wheel options lately, I realize what I've been missing.

Glen Gray's avatar

I loved Saabs and how the Swedish turned their noses up to their corporate overlords when developing cars. They were safe with an unbelievable high strength structure that would never ever be seen in any GM product.

Your story is one of Karma. People get what is coming to them.

Allen's avatar

I once had an old friend tell me that the steel the Swedes used to make Saab bodies was of better quality than what the Americans and Japanese were using, at least in the 80s when Saab made a car worth owning. I never did any research to corroborate the claim and have instead accepted it as truth.

Jack Baruth's avatar

Based on what I've seen of rusty Saabs, I can easily accept it.

Building old cars out of better steel, rather than taking the time to engineer more strength into a structure with the common steel grade, is SOOOO North European.

Gen X Garage Talk's avatar

I'd agree based on the Saabs I still see on the road here in MN. They seem to hold up better, either because of the materials they used or because of the design standards they developed to keep brine and crud out of vulnerable areas in the space frame and body.

I too have heard from enthusiasts that they used a higher grade of steel. I also heard that they fought GM over design details and standards that they insisted on keeping because they were a proud Swedish car company no matter who was holding the checkbook.

Harry's avatar

I too am a big believer in not showing much profit on the books. Perhaps less by design than your previous associate.

Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

While I admit that "Night Panel" was somewhat a gimmick, I actually DID find it useful on many long drives.

snavehtrebor's avatar

Night panel mode, much like the A/C oscillation button in a few of my Mazdas, should come standard on every car.

Ice Age's avatar

I always thought SAABs had the same problem as the second-generation Charger: the windshield was far too upright for the rest of the car.

But beyond that, the styling of the 900 was always off-putting to me the same way English cars are. They're weirdly-proportioned, fat-looking, awkward things, like they were designed by an autustic 15-year-old who knew nothing about cars and had no sense of style.

Speed's avatar

so its like a tesla then

Ice Age's avatar

Yeah, especially the Model X.

Stan Galat's avatar

Exactly. The styling of the 3 and the X have always reminded me of Saabs.

Lynn W Gardner's avatar

There was a Cadillac Saab dealer in West Chester PA that had 30-35 Saabs at the end of production. The floor plan bankrupted the dealer as no one would buy a new car from a company that no longer existed. GM sent a team in to try to save the dealer as West Chester is a high income town for executives that work in Philly but would never live in Philly. Ended up having to sell the real estate the dealership sat on and open a one car showroom Cadillac store in an abandoned Saturn store. The real end came when Cadillac demanded money for the great EV conversion, the dealership went dark. Epilog: the original Cadillac Saab property became the used car lot for the Mercedes dealer across the street.

KoR's avatar

Ruggeri right?

Another issue for them was that not terribly far away you had Delaware Cadillac (also a former Saab dealer!) and Hill Cadillac/Buick.

Too many Caddy dealers for the area to be sure.

It's been a minute since I've been through that way, but last I knew, Mercedes Benz West Chester used the lot for Sprinters and such. They have a pretty cavernous basement where they kept a bunch of their used and new cars.

Lynn W Gardner's avatar

Yes, Ruggert, we had a car show there when the people from GM were pretty much running the dealership trying to off load all those SAABs out of inventory. It was sad they did not have but a few new Cadillacs in stock and some of the new SAABs were two model year old. One of the GM people said the owner would not mark them down to clear them out so GM had to come in. You are correct Delaware Cadillac is in Wilmington and is the only Cadillac dealer in the entire state. Interesting fact, it has been in the same building for over a 100 years and owned by the same family. The Service department is on the second floor. It may be one of the last remaining down town dealerships in the country. I did not know sboit Hill Cadillac though there is a huge Cadillac dealer just off the elevated part of I-95 in Philly, but boy is it a pain to get to if you are unfamiliar with Philly. We had a show there a decade ago and I almost got run over by traffic trying to get there and then trying to leave.

L

KoR's avatar

That sounds about right for about 90% of dealer principals I've met. Tend to be... stubborn to say the least.

Hill Cadillac is in Newtown Square. Right across the street from, like, Ferrari of Philadelphia and such. Very small store, though maybe it's changed in the years since I last was there.

I am unaware of the big Philly one! There's FC Kerbeck across the bridge in Palmyra, NJ which interestingly enough doesn't have a Cadillac (hence "FC Kerbeck Cadillacs" instead of "FC Kerbeck Cadillac" franchise but DOES stock hundreds of used Cadillacs. Very funny to see them, various new Buicks and GMCs, and then also brand new Bentleys and Astons and Lambos and the like that Kerbeck also deals in sharing the same lot.

I COME IN PEACE's avatar

Ironic that the demise of the brand was such a SAAB story.

Thank you, thank you

I'll be here all week

Sherman McCoy's avatar

Rolex story:

I purchase My First Rolex ™ - a Daytona, naturally (stainless steel, black dial) - as a bonus gift for myself in 2017. At that job, bonuses were paid on the last day of February. So I executed the wire and had it on my wrist within the first few days of March.

Enter the “Chirish” weekend in Chicago shortly thereafter, which occasioned the propitious inaugural encounter between Sherman McCoy and his oft-referenced, extraordinarily corpulent Trustafarian friend who later moved to Charleston. Rather than wear green and drink outside in the snow, he and I were ensconced within Biggs Mansion, the private cigar club where he was a member.

We were in the sitting area just in front of Seinfeld and Steve Harvey in this clip, by the fireplace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ-jL7w4DwQ

In addition to smoking cigars all day, we were drinking. A lot. In fact, I was matching him drink for drink, and he was both a heavy man and a heavy drinker (at the time).

Around 1 AM, it was time to go home. I had to have help shuffling down the stairs and into an Uber.

I woke up around the time the sun was setting on Sunday afternoon: Terribly hungover and confronting the reality that I had at least 10 hours of work to complete before 9 AM on Monday. I surveyed the damage: I had my keys, obviously. I had my glasses, and they were undamaged. I had my wallet, as well. And yes, my phone.

But where was my Rolex Daytona? The Rolex Daytona that I had purchased about two weeks ago for more than $11,000 and not yet insured?

It was nowhere to be found. I thought, “well, there’s hardly any way I can ask my new … ‘friend’(?) … if he might know where my Rolex could be.” He might very well be wearing it right now!

After snoozing, and showering, and napping away the hangover, I opened my refrigerator in hopes that I might have some bottled water to drink … and realized that there was only one thing within my appliance:

My Daytona, which I had left there for some reason the night before. Some time later, I mentioned this to my friend and he said:

“Oh yeah, you told me you were going to do that - “for safekeeping” - when you were essentially crawling down the stairs at Biggs.”

Jack Baruth's avatar

Alright, NOW tell the story about your 911 GT3 keys, since I'm honor-bound from repeating it!

Sherman McCoy's avatar

I don’t remember enough of THAT story to recount it.

But I appreciate you NOT telling it either. To protect the innocent.

Jack Baruth's avatar

Sir, you were the only innocent person in that story.

Allen's avatar

RE your partner: The firm I work for is owned by my father, who is the third generation of our family to own the business since it was started by his grandfather 75+ years ago. Myself and my brother are his only employees. It has been our goal (and the goal of the generations before us) to finish each fiscal year with as little profit to show as possible. I'm still waiting for the year we're tripping over so much cash that we have to lease some swanky cars.

RE the Saab: those 9-3s were awful cars. I owned a 2000 9-3 Base in about 2007, and even 17 year old me knew it was a turd. That being said, my high school girlfriend's dad accused me of being a drug dealer based strictly on my ownership of the thing at my young age. Later, I had a 99 Viggen. I'd bought it to flip thinking it needed an engine, got away with just putting a cylinder head in it. That car was quick, and quite pretty to look at, but still ultimately the same turd as the first one just in a prettier wrapper. Everything that GM had a hand in at Saab was garbage, despite Saab's best efforts to put a positive spin on what they had to work with.

RE your partner's new partner's treatment of your Saab: I once detailed a 900 NG for a friend that I swear could have been a stand-in for your car as described coming out of the storage locker. Never seen a carwash, interior used as an ashtray. Sadly, my version of the story does not include the Rolex come-up.

G. K.'s avatar

I got accused of being a drug dealer for buying a CPO 2014 Lincoln MKS in 2017.

It's not my fault the racist bitch who though this drove a gen. 1 Nissan Versa Sedan.

As far as Saab, it died an ignominious and effective death of poor stewardship and outright neglect under GM, but would likely have died a quicker death had GM not purchased it. No one else wanted it and was willing to write a check. Fiat expressed some interest, but walked away pretty quickly. Ford, Toyota, Renault, Peugeot-Citroën, and BMW were only casually interested and never seriously considered it. As I understand it, GM only bought Saab in a fit of pique after losing the bid for Jaguar to Ford, as it wanted a premium European brand (which Opel and Vauxhall were not).

Allen's avatar
Dec 4Edited

I would honestly love to know more insider details about how that all worked when all the euro brands were being bought/sold.

Sometimes I sit and think about what could have been if GM got Volvo and Ford ended up with Saab instead.

BKbroiler's avatar

Seems like Ford wasn't quite as cynical - they at least tried to do something with Volvo-derived platforms, even if it meant some very off proportions for Tauri and Explorers alike.

But what did we get from GM? Saabaru's and TrollBlazers.

G. K.'s avatar

Those off proportions were entirely due to Ford deliberately deciding that the D-platform sedans should have a high H-point. The Volvo P2 cars that donated their platform to the D-platform were not so afflicted.

Allen's avatar

I heard somewhere that GM wanted Saab for their turbo tech, and that they used a fair few Saab ideas in the 2.0 ecotech. No source to cite of course, I don't even remember where I heard that.

The Saabaru and Trollblazer were at least better-looking versions of the cars they were badge-engineered from. My wife demands that if I insist on owning a truck, it must have a pickup bed. Otherwise, I'd probably have a Trollblazer SS with the 6.0.

BKbroiler's avatar

Those Saabaru and TrollBlazer were def better looking and appointed. They did well despite what they were asked.

I used to think Saab did a great job with the TrollBlazer, but then later realized it was basically just the Bravada shell with Saab front end.

G. K.'s avatar

The 9-2X was definitely a prettier and *nicer* car than the WRX on which it was based. And because of GM’s generous discounts, was often a better deal, too. Subaru wasn’t giving you any kind of discount on the WRX, whereas the 9-2X could be as much as 20% off of sticker.

Supporting your statement, there was also a stillborn second Saabaru, which was the Saab 9-6X. It was a reskinned and much handsomer version of the controversial Subaru B9 Tribeca. It had a much more conventional grille and a prettier quarter panel, but it was canceled at the eleventh hour because GM sold its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s then-parent) to Toyota.

Subaru actually used the front fender tooling from the 9-6X when it did the emergency facelift on the B9 Tribeca (at the same time the car dropped the B9 prefix).

Allen's avatar

The 9-2 was definitely better appointed. I've never been inside a 9-7X, but I do know they went to the trouble of moving the ignition switch to the center console as part of the shtick, even if it did still use the same key as a Chevy truck.

I had forgotten all about the 9-6X that never was, thanks for that.

While we're at it, let's mention the 9-4X that was a Cadillac SRX under the skin. It launched the same year Saab went away, They built almost a thousand of them before the music stopped for good.

The current gen Hyundai Tucson looks a lot like it from the rear three quarter view. I did a double take the first few times I saw those in the wild.

Jack Baruth's avatar

"I got accused of being a drug dealer for buying a CPO 2014 Lincoln MKS in 2017."

Of all the things I want to go back in a time machine and see, this is top ten.

"LADY, THIS CAR HAS ALREADY SUFFERED 47% DEPRECIATION!"

G. K.'s avatar

Right. Meanwhile, I happen to know that her brother—who I was sort of dating at the time—has since resorted to selling his, erm, *assets* on Grindr.

And she had the nerve to judge *me.*

I believe my purchase price on that Lincoln was $22,900, with 29K miles and a dealer-sponsored FoMoCo ESP that made up nicely for the fact that said dealer tried to lie about it being certified when it wasn’t. A new Civic spec’d to my liking would have been more expensive, let alone a new Accord.

countymountie's avatar

She can still hold her head high. He hasn't resorted to selling himself on Craigslist. A family has to have some pride!

G. K.'s avatar

Only because Congress passed the FOSTA-SESTA legislation in early 2018, which removed protections afforded to the proprietors of online platforms. Previously, they could claim plausible deniability for sex trafficking or prostitution facilitated through their platforms by other people, but FOSTA-SESTA effectively made them legally liable. So Craigslist shut down its Personals section, and has been pretty militant about preventing prostitution on its platform in the intervening years.

Were it not for that, I’m sure this fella would be a frequent flyer there.

BKbroiler's avatar

Speaking of lease support, just dug this up from Ye Olde Gmail 2005. Courtesy of Saab of Sherman Oaks, when I lived in LA:

Current programs being offered by SAAB for the month of June:

* Employee Pricing on all 2005 models in stock. That's right, you pay what we pay for every Saab product.

* Special Leasing Programs for all 2005 models.

* As low as 0.9 for Certified Pre-Owned.

Quotes

***** All Quotes are based on 36 month lease with $1,995 drive off at 12k miles per year.

MODEL 205 9-2X LINEAR

STOCK S25023

MSRP: $28,630

GMS: $23,760 WITH 2,500 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $359.57

MODEL 255 9-2X AERO

STOCK S25009

MSRP: $29,495

GMS: $26,141 WITH 1,000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $390.61

MODEL 304M 9-3SEDAN LINEAR

STOCK S25216

MSRP: $28,095

GMS: $22,133 WITH 3,500 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $297.75

MODEL 304ASR 9-3SEDAN LINEAR

STOCK S25195

MSRP: $30,645

GMS: $24,448 WITH 3,500 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $338.47

MODEL 344ASR 9-3SEDAN ARC

STOCK S25210

MSRP: $32,845

GMS: $26,488 WITH 3,500 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $370.64

MODEL 354ASR 9-3SEDAN AERO

STOCK S25224

MSRP: $36,940

GMS: $30,054 WITH 3,500 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $457.96

MODEL 302M 9-3CONV MANUAL LINEAR

STOCK S25259

MSRP: $37,820

GMS: $33,426 WITH 1000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $497.45

MODEL 342A 9-3CONV ARC

STOCK S25038

MSRP: $45,960

GMS: $40,556 WITH 1,000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $629.30

MODEL 554A 9-5SEDAN ARC

STOCK 25227

MSRP: $39,390

GMS: $32,465 WITH 3,000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $488.76

MODEL 525 9-5WAGON LINEAR

STOCK S25200

MSRP: $35,145

GMS: $28,968 WITH 3,000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $442.10

MODEL 555 9-5WAGON ARC

STOCK 25201

MSRP: $40,190

GMS: $33,178 WITH 3,000 IN LEASE SUPPORT

MONTHLY PAYMENT $495.47

MODEL 725 9-7X

STOCK S25235

MSRP: $38,990

GMS: $34,472

MONTHLY PAYMENT $511.08

Thank you once again for contacting us and please allow our dealership the opportunity to earn your business.

BKbroiler's avatar

FWIW, I thought this piece was going to be an NG * defense * !