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If you have other questions of this nature tricitysam, drop me an email.
:-)
I actually live in Eastern Mass., not far from Boston on the North Shore. Although I got fair prices in person from 128 Saab in Wakefield and a reasonable phone quote from Village Saab in Acton, I ended up buying from Saab Nashua North. They have an extensive inventory and move a fair number of vehicles. Check out their web site for info (www.saabnashuanorth.com); they still have a few 02s left, but not many. (my 2002 model was still up on the site last week). If you decide to go there please let me know first and I'll put your name on a referral form they give all buyers. If you buy I get a small bonus.
By the way, I like the red a lot now that I've driven her 500 miles. Good luck.
I am about 6 to 8 weeks away from a purchase, 02's will no doubt be gone by then, so I will be looking at the 03's.
I have bookmarked your response and if I go to NH,
I will contact you first.
Thanks for the information and good luck with the Aero.
Jerry
LOL!!
BTW - what color?
Have any of you used EBC pads and found them to greatly reduce dust?
Is low $30's a reasonable expectation with current dealer incentives?
Jerry
AFAIK - current incentives for Linear sedan = $5K, Wagon = $4K
It does include auto.
I knew I could count on fellow Subaru owners to help me out on this...currently have '02 Forester and '00 Outback Ltd. Outback has 59k miles and plan to transfer to my daughter.
I have had three Subarus great cars.
What is AFAIK?
Also it seems that many Saab owners also have Subarus (or vice versa, this will be my second Saab)
Thanks
Jerry
:-)
We own an 01 Outback Wagon (H4, 5spd) and a 02 9-5 Linear Wagon (auto+prem). Both are great cars and good values in their respective niches. We hope to drive both a long time, although I did test drive an 03 Aero sedan w/stick last week. I was tempted to trade in the Sube but it's just not time yet.
Mark
-Darrin Sharp
No talk of pulling out but that will be GM's call. Saab lost $500 million in '02 and missed their sales targets by a good margin so hopefully they get it together soon.
I agree with you on your comments about the G35, and the BMW's.
I didn't look at the Acura, and Volvo while i was shopping.
I too have the Aero and am enjoying it.
Have had for 4 months now.
Don't know much about current pricing but anything BELOW invoice (imo) is always good.
Enjoy your new car!
$550 seems a little steep but I don't know the complete work order so its hard to comment. I bought by pads from a TSN sponsor (not a dealer) and they cost me $55/set. One of the easiest pad replacements ever. A buddy and I did the work - replaced pads, flushed brake fluid, replaced fuel filter - in about 2 hours.
You can buy a pair of OE rotors for under $200. Zimmerman cross drilled rotors are $120/pair. One liter of ATE Super Blue brake fluid is about $10.
So based on these numbers that $550 price seems like 50% parts and 50% labor. Unless that includes a lot more work than what you described, I'd keep shopping.
Overall, the real market speaks for itself. As for the car, you will have to deal with all of the quirks (e.g., my engine failure light stayed on for two years, after several trips to the dealer). I also hope they fixed the "thunk" in the fuel tank which I finally got use to after two years. However, the car can grow on you over time, and I can see how there is a small group of die-hard followers who will live and die on their saab experiences. For me, on to bigger and better things with the similarly priced Mercedes C-class. A much quieter ride, and less "quirks." As for the 9-5, the car style is nearing its useful life, although I have always thought that the car was attractive. Since, the 9-5, every manufacture as put a lesser priced competitor on the market (including the 9-3). We will have to see what Saab can think of next to survive in this environment of "choices."
The point is that residuals are set not only to help car finance companies from losing their butts but they are set to sub-vent the lease to address things like factory incentives and provide competetive lease deals. If you tried to sell your 9-5 at the end of the lease for 45% of MSRP, you would never get it. The 9-5 is so heavily subsidized that the residual is way too high. Incentives on 9-5's (linear usually) run up to $7,000 sometimes, and that kills the residual value. Residual value should reflect incentives, and if you compare your 9-5 residual with the incentivized cost of the car, which is what it typically sells for, vs. the residual on MB's and BMW's which should reflect MSRP as this is what they sell for, I think you'll find the residual percentages are very close on this basis.
This is not unique to SAAB. I leased a 1997 Maxima and its residual was $20,000 after 3 years but the car was worth about $16,000. But high residuals are great for consumers. The higher the residual, the lower the cost of the lease (if you negotiate properly) because the amount of 'rent' or depreciation you pay will be less.
As for the C Class, this car is not comparable to the 9-5 IMHO. It is a nice car, but smaller and more expensive, comparably equipped to the 9-5. The 9-5 can easily seat 5. You will be cramped with 5 in a C Class and I think the legroom for four is tight. Considering you can purchase a 9-5 new for the low $30's, it's price is equal or less to the C Class, but the 9-5 size is easily in the E Class territory, which is a far more refined car, but is in the $50's.
After my 9-3 lease was up, I looked at the following cars:
New 9-3 SS (it was nice, but I don't like buying new models due to potential for more problems with an untested design. Plus, the leases in December were using 8% MF's, way too high)
9-5: I like this car but the leases with nice equipment were too high, I don't like to spend more than $350/month on a lease and no more than $1000 down
Acura TL - Great lease deals but like a sardine can inside, salesman asked me would I be willing to set aside the fact that all seating positions were extremely tight and uncomfortable for a good price: Answer: No way.
Passat: I usually buy/lease SAAB, VW or Nissan, for me, the Passat was the best blend of safety, performance, comfort and style for a very low lease price, so this is what I got with no regrets (also got a build date beyond coil problems, whew.). In this instance, VW residuals are set very high, they are noted for resale (why so over others I do not know, I think it is because VW's are very stylish right now so they sell well at a reasonable price point), so the lease deals are great, a 25k invoice car for $1k down and $350/month, 36 months, 12k per year.
The 9-3 deals are getting better and 9-3's are better equipped than the Passat and come with free maintenance for 3 years (major only), but I am wary about the 9-3 for a few reasons:
1. New model, new model problems
2. Dealer network is weakening in my area due to low sales volume. My area only has one SAAB dealer mechanic within a 5 hour drive radius and very few independents, so service is very slow (I have lost my 1999 9-3 for close to a month for the heater box issue, thankfully they gave me a 9-5 loaner, but loaners now tend to be saturns)
3. Increasing platform/parts sharing with GM makes me nervous.
The estimated repair $ seems pretty high. Is your car already at the dealer's service department? If not, perhaps look for a reputable independent repair shop in your area. Check www.saabnet.com for listings and/or references in your area.
thanks in advance!
Drew
Rear pads still have 2/3 left on them so I'll wait for another front pad replacement. By that time rotors will need replacing too. IIRC, Brembo OE repl. rotors are $100/set or so.
You'll want to confirm the timing belt was replaced around 60K miles. I'd also take the car to a local Saab specialist and have them go thru it with a fine toothed comb. Hi mile 9-5's do not seem to be worse than any other Euro sedan in terms of danger areas but a specialist will know most of the weak points.
I dunno...... there are lots of SE's with a fraction of the miles for a few thou $$$ more. Why buy this one with 90K on it?
At about 25-35mph I hear a distinct cyclical thrumming from the front end. Don't really know how else to describe the sound. It's not the tires...I recently replaced them, but the sound is the same before and after.
Also hearing a distinct crunching sound in the front suspension over bumps when the car is cold. My normally excellent dealer "can't recreate the problem" that I hear every single morning. Rather annoying. Anyone have similar experiences?
Thanks! Jim
I bought a new 2001 Saab 9-5 (equivalent to today's linear) with all the options (heated and cooled front seats, HK stereo, auto transmission, etc etc.) in early september last year. The car had 50 miles and was not a demo. I paid ~ $28k. Was this too much?? I thought I read that somebody paid or was offered a '03 9-5 linear for $29.9k.
Any comments?
It has been a great car so far : )
If I had waited a couple months to buy my 9-5 the cash-back incentive would've been $2,000 more than what I got, but I can't concern myself with what could've been. You make the best deal you can at the time and go with it.
At any rate, just enjoy your car. I do.
Saab residuals (Reality ones.. not what Chase and Saab dream up) are very soft for a reason:
Crap marketing. This means that GM in their infinite foolishness has to rely on dramatic subsidies to sell these cars.
$400/mo, Nothing down? $40K European Large Luxury car? Gee, that's not such a tough thing to sell now is it?
I think that if GM Marketed the cars the way Saab did when they were owned by the swedes, things would improve. In Europe Saabs have a reputation for iron-clad reliability/durability as well as having strong resale value. But then they are marketed properly there.
For god's sake look at the damn 9-5 linear! It's HUGE, Very safe, VERY comfortable, the LPT 4cyl gets damn near 30 on the highway! And even at MSRP vs Invoice it's still VERY Cheap for what it is!
Instead we get $349 a month, come on down!
There's your problem guys...
Bill
Drew
BTW, just today a friend of mine, who drives BMW 540 (2 years old, 6 speed) told me that the only car he's ever missed badly after sellign it was 9000 turbo (a few years ago), he still thinks it is the best car he's ever had.
Tomek
But SAAB (and GM) are desperate to sell cars to keep the factories moving so they have to revert to "selling the deal" instead of "selling the image". Deal selling gets immediate results, image selling takes decades. SAAB needs results.
There was a time that BMW was seen as a cheap alternative to the "premium" Euro brands like Mercedes and Jaguar. It's taken BMW the better part of 30 years to convince brand-concious Americans to pay full sticker for their cars and be happy doing so.
SAAB needs to sell cars. They need to stop losing money. Once that's done they need to expand their model line. Then they can work on improving the brand. Mercedes Benz is one of the 10 most recognized and valuable brands in the world. It will take SAAB decades to emulate this performance. But first SAAB needs to get thru the next 24 months business plan.
Drew
Now this is making me nutty. Bret stopped by my store last week (Great to meet ya!) and has me puzzled.
2 Months or so ago, I sold an '00 Aero 5-Speed. It was a sort of Slate Green, a grayish muddyish green.. very very pretty color. It was NOT Blue or Scarab Green.
Was this maybe a special order Euro color? i think I have seen it on Saabs in Europe.
and very happy so far .great handler.
but on the snow tire package which is a good deal be careful...i just got burned today.
the gislaved tires are hard to find and when i blew one out this am on the way from ct. to vermont i ended up going to the dealer in hartford ct.
no one had theses tires in stock except for the dealer---and the new series 3 are uni-directional.but the problem with mine is that to buy the tire the dealer forced me to buy the wheel also...........$275.00 total bill for one snow tire that sells for about $80.00----or,wait 3 days for them or a local tire store to get one.
i could have returned home but the spare is not that good . so now i have a spare wheel which i will use to buy a spare all wheather tire and throw away the donut which stinks.
so,when you buy the tire/wheel combo,think about it before you do.