The most glowing Saab 9-3 review I’ve ever seen
I need to look at some of the other reviews these guys have done to see if this is for real. Maybe they absolutely adore every car they drive? Maybe they’re just happy to be alive and have jobs that get them on television, driving cars and stuff.
I don’t know.
But this is one very, very positive review of the Saab 9-3. We run that car pretty hard here because we’re familiar with it and even more, because we want so much for it to do well.
The fact is, though, that it’s a pretty darn good machine. I could live with a 2.0T with no complaints at all. Would I like a better interior? Yes, but I could live with it and not complain. Quite happily.
This review is from some a program called Miles Around. I don’t know where it shows, but it tells me two things. 1) you’re never too tubby for television, and 2) there’s some people out there who really like what the 9-3 brings to the table. And so they should.
One thing that rings true from this - not enough people take the chance, or the time, to put the Saab to the test. That’s a strong message to Saab’s marketing arms, if you ask me.
Enjoy.
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Is that the George Washington Monument in the background a couple of times as they go over a bridge? Hard to tell…
Their review is quite similar to my post a 8 months ago titled: “Two Germans and a Swede”. Having gone thru the selection process I agree with their statements about the vehicle and also about people’s attitude’s. I only went into the Saab dealer on a whim and I suppose some nostalgia.I came out knowing this was the car - and it was an easy decision.
Yeah, baby! Way to go. Finally some folks seem to really get what Saab is all about. Even the most fanatic fans do not pronounce their pride of Saab ownership as much as those guys do.
There´s so much more in a Saab 9-3 than the most people know. Go´n testdrive one today!!
Another Saab video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpxQXijNPk8
Saw the video the other day “wink” and they accentuate the problem that GM does not seem to get when thrying to have people buy Saabs in a realy good way. People never hear about the Saab brand and therefor discard it. So GM.. commercials commercials comm… GM could sell so many more Saabs if they get people to get into a one and take a testdrive.
Vheers/Tom
This reminds me of a tag line Saab used a few years back, “People who test drive a Saab usually buy one”. There’s some wisdom in that which I often feel is lost in the current advertising campaigns.
I don’t get it. GM is REALLY setting Saab up to fail. Saab needs to advertise. Not some crazy “born from jets” BS, but just remake the 80’s Saab ads. The “Two Sides”, “Nothing on Earth Comes Close”, and even the Aero X commercial. I love Saabs, and so would everyone else if they were out in pop culture.
Great review! They really hit the key selling points.
They do sound a bit too enthusiastic for a couple of car reviewers but they very well expressed the same thoughts I have every time I’m in that car. People don’t know too much about Saab and they usually don’t have a chance to find out.
I have not owned a Saab in about 10 years. Watching this review has really brought back alot of memories about what Saab is about and it really makes me miss owning a Saab.
The main reason that made me buy a Saab about 13 years ago when I was living in Australia was that when I opened the boot to check on the spare tire, I noticed a pair of gloves. To many, that is probably not a big deal. But to me, it said alot about Saab.
The fact that Saab can think to put in a pair of gloves with the spare tire kit so that you won’t get your hands dirty when you get a flat. Made me wonder what else they had thought off to put in the car.
Till today, when it comes to the little things, I don’t think any other car I have owned has come close to my 900S.
Some of the things I remember about my Saab (Please bear in mind that while alot of these features are now standard in other cars, this was about 13 years ago and Saab had them all):
1. Black Panel
2. Key/ignition in the middle
3. Flash light on the key
4. Luggage net in the boot to prevent groceries from rolling around
5. Fold down rear seats to increase boot space
6. Head light timer so that you get illumination for a few seconds even after you get out of the car.
7. SID panel that provided me with useful information when most cars back then had just a radio/tape deck.
Can new Saab owners tell me if the gloves are still part of the spare tire kit?
gloves…? How would there be extra gloves in a car where the rubber dead pedal was removed after a short while, and where even more things disappeared over the years?
That is a great review and pretty much a good summary of what the brand entails. It is sad that Saab’s biggest downfall is that they are the unknown player in this industry. I hope that this perception of the brand can be changed before it is to late though. The 9-3 is an excellent car, but it’s been an excellent car since it’s inception. It’s just that it has gotten that much better over the years. I think Swade said it best, that “Saab is a interior make over away from eating Audi’s lunch.”
It’s about time!!!! I’ve been saying it for years. I’m in Houston, Texas and sometimes it feels like I’m one of 10 in the fourth largest city in the US that knows how good my cars are. I own 2 9-3’s proudly!!! Way to go, I hope GM has someone watching this!
enjoyable video.
the ‘08, 9-3 may be the biggest “sleeper” (”undiscovered treasure,” as it were) in the brand.
i have received lots of compliments about mine; and from people that have probably never driven saab. that amazes me.
A good review. I still don’t really like the 9-3SS, but it looks okay in red. I could probably live with a Sport Combi if I needed a wagon. Fortunately, I don’t.
I have to agree with some of the other comments. Saab may have been ” born from jets”, but that was a long time ago and it’s time to grow up now. Saab needs to start “moving peoples minds” and their cheque books too. It needs to focus on where it’s heading with only a casual glance back at the “jets” heritage.
Swade, maybe you should audition for the Aussie Top Gear?
Anyone else have to laugh at the cheesy cut scene featuring the red vert? It was some canned engine and road noise, but the car was hardly breaking 30 mph. That makes me wonder about the legitimacy of this program.
Nonetheless, glad they liked it.
^that noise was used every time they showed a clip of the car in motion. I think they need to find a new sound editor.
Positive reviews are always a plus though.
The English guy is Nik Miles. Hence the name of his show, “Miles Around” (get it?). He was my driving partner at the 9-3 U.S. media debut (”ride and drive”) in Washington D.C. this past August. His show airs locally in the Portland, Oregon market on the CW network.
The shots of the red 9-3 were shot in Northern Virginia near the airfield (where the shots of the snow silver 9-3 on the slalom were taken) where we got to drive the pre-production 9-3 Aero XWD.
The shots of the red 9-3 driving around Washington D.C. (where you can see the Washington Monument in the background) was stock footage shot by Saab USA Marketing during the same event.
I believe this same red 9-3 was the one Ryan Emge and I drove back to D.C. from Northern Virginia at the end of the day.
All these cars were the pre-production versions and were the first 2008 models to hit U.S. shores.
Nik has apparently been holding-onto this footage since last August. I know he’s busy with his show, so maybe he just didn’t have time to put it together until now.
«…from the company that builds jets» Oh, give me a break. When did GM start building jets ? What a pair though! Probably the average male size in the US now. Keep gulping those big Macs and the US health care system will totally collapse, but that’s another story.
As others mentioned, the review has the merit of bringing much needed awareness to the brand and also points out the very good deal the 9-3 represents in the US.
Now all Saab needs is such glowing reviews from automotive journalists who actually MATTER.
A couple of fat guys from local TV in Oregon are nice,
But a good review from Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile, Car, or Top Gear would be a whole lot nicer
Alex, unfortunately I don’t think writers from those magazines show-up unless it’s for a BMW or Lexus or MB event, or if there are expensive freebies thrown-in. I was told at the Saab “drive and ride” that BM gives away expensive jackets and such to journalists at their drive and rides. One of the journalists I was speaking with at the event was heading to some exclusive resort ranch in Wyoming or somewhere for a Toyota Land Rover drive-and-ride directly after the Saab event. They fly-in “journalists” from the magazines on private planes onto a private airstrip and put them up at this exclusive resort. It’s all a scam. There can’t be an automotive journalist out there who isn’t swayed by this kind of luxury and unfortunately Saab isn’t given the funding to compete on the same level.
I can’t complain Saab put us up at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington though!
Seriously though, that’s just GM’s aversion to the idea of “spending money to make money”. A fancy press event like that for Saab can’t cost more than $100-500k.
Sure that’s a lot to you and me, but let’s look at how much GM pays it’s executives. Now let’s take a guess about where that $500k would better be spent when it comes to actually selling more Saabs.
And let’s not have any illusions here, it’s not just the lack of party favors that keeps Saabs from getting good reviews. It’s the handling, acceleration, fit/finish, NVH, interior materials, platform age, chassis dynamics and road feel being almost unilaterally inferior to the Japanese and German competition that leads to the automotive press seeing Saab as a bad joke.
The cars may be good enough for you or me, but that doesn’t make up for them being quantifiably inferior to the competition in so many glaring areas.