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Friday Snippets

January 2nd, 2009 · 14 Comments



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Another year – another trip to the Australian mainland to buy a car!

I’m writing to you from Melbourne this morning and in a few hours from now my brother-in-law and I will be on the road to go pick up my new Saab – a Saab 9-3 Monte Carlo.

It’s number 9 in a limited edition of 50, is a 9-3, was made in 1999 and I’m purchasing it in 2009. If you’re into numerology then there’s probably something in all that. I’m not, so I’m just hoping it’s a cracker of a car and can’t wait to get it home.

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It’s the 2nd of January, which means car sales data to close out what I’m sure will be the first of two anni horribilus should be released soon. Ill be keeping an eye out, though I’m quite sure it’ll be nothing pretty.

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At the start of 2008, Robin M decided to take a photo of a different Saab on the street every day. A Year of Saabs is the resulting set at Flickr and it contains 367 photos, the last of which is this one.

Well done, cobber, on sticking to the task.

yearofsaabsstats

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So – any of you US Saab types going to take advantage of the sales incentives on offer until Monday?

Just interested.

-

Tags: Troll stuff

14 responses so far ↓

  • 1 joemamaNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 7:25 am

    I thought about upgrading to an 08/09 9-3, but since it’s 0% OR the cash back, forget it.

    If it was both, then I’d reconsider.

    That, and if the ‘09 9-3 2.0T came with eLSD. Or a diesel

    Until then, forget it. I’ll wait.

  • 2 GolfhunterNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 7:50 am

    I’m really impressed by this challenge that Robin did with success !!
    Félicitations Robin !!

  • 3 eggsngritsNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 8:09 am

    Robin, truly amazing. Good work. Even finding that lone 90 would have been a year’s work in itself!

    I’m not buying. Still waiting on the 2010 9-5…

  • 4 swadeNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 8:26 am

    That high number of convertibles shows just how important the model is to Saab, as well. People just love to drive the Saab convertible and with the Eos eating it’s lunch in several markets, it shows how important it will be for Saab to get a new 9-3 range on the road, post haste.

  • 5 WillyDNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 10:03 am

    Good job Robin. Great selection of Saabs there!

  • 6 alfaracerNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Betting that the incentives will stay the same or get better next week. With the state of Saab/GM/the economy, I can’t imagine that GM would be dumb enough to effectively raise prices…wait a minute, of course they could be dumb enough! Beter get down to the dealer…

  • 7 CampNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 11:07 am

    I grabbed a 2008 9-3 Aero AWD fully loaded w/ 8000 miles on it as the dealer was closing on 12-31. My first saab and so far its impressed me.

    I had intended to check out the new ones w/ the 5-6k cash back incentives, but even with the incentives only then did I think they were at a price point that was competitive with the new A4’s, entry level BMWs.

    The used one I grabbed, had been some sort of demo, in service date was set as 12-20-08 when the dealer I got it from bought it, so I have a full term on my warrenties, it was certified, and best of all in exchange for those 8000 miles I got a car which had an MSRP of 47-48k new, for 30k out the door.

    Only issue I have had so far is the navigation/radio interface freezes is unresponsive randomly, only to ‘catch’ itself up 5 or 10 minutes later.

  • 8 MarkacNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Have fun with the Monte Swade. The yellow’s a bit odd when you first start driving one. It bounces around the cabin a bit, but it does brighten things up!

  • 9 Robin MNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 11:42 am

    Hi Swade, thank you for the mention. It was a silly but fun challenge and I must say I thought it would get harder as time went on but some days I took 4 or 5 pics in the hope that one was an unseen and sometimes they were all fresh Saabs. Out of the 366 pictures 280 were taken with in the town limits of Yeovil. We do have a lot of Saabs around here and I think I was most surprised by the amount of classic 900’s there are. :-)

    I know Swisstroll is going to give it a go this year. Do we love our Saabs or what?????

  • 10 zippyNo Gravatar // Jan 2, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    eggs, I cant wait to see the 2010 9-5 either. I just cancelled my trip to Geneva – at a small financial loss to me – now I am 100pc sure it isnt going to make an appearance. All I need is four pictures. Front. Back. Side. Dash. Is this too much to ask?

  • 11 EdagsNo Gravatar // Jan 3, 2009 at 5:18 am

    I test drove a 2.0 Sport and liked it. However, the incentives were much better a few months ago on the 2008’s and that was BEFORE they raised the raised price points on the 2009’s. So before I move I’m going to wait till at least the summer and see if I can get the clearance incentives on the 2009’s. I must say it will be very difficult to part with my 94 900 hatchback even with 300,000 miles. I wish I could make it to the next 9-3 and get a hatch with a direct injection engine and an updated interior.

  • 12 KarenNo Gravatar // Jan 3, 2009 at 5:57 am

    Friday Jan. 2, Saab009 at 2:30 p.m. : my mail just arrived featuring SaabDiscoveries Winter 2008-09 Issue. 9-5 Griffin Edition: ready to pilot on the cover. Great quotes about 2009 models, featurette on 9-X Air; 9-3 as 2008 Top Safety Pick by US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2009 US Auto Show Dates, find your Saab enthusiast club, Q&A on winter; (obviously just for me) snow tire package, and coupons, and the back panel has New Year’s resolution on SERVICE.

    Hope everyone got this from their Saab dealer. Pioneer Saab doesn’t even mention they also sell and service Volvos, and the ONLY clue there is a GM somewhere is a mention of OnStar.

    So, somewhere in SaabUSA, they have a very wise Troll who knows how to reach a Saabista with the kind of print photos and text that reminds us of what makes Saab. ( Except that the 9-X seems to have finally moved the ignition to the steering column).

    The 9-5 Griffin limited edition looks better than the Batmobile…SaabUSA is moving on to 2009 as of January 6.

    Can someone please let SaabUSA know that people with dial-up Internet CANNOT open the http://www.saabusa.com website? Some of us live in the country…

  • 13 NeilNo Gravatar // Jan 4, 2009 at 8:06 am

    I purchased a 2005 9-3 Arc in November. Couldn’t wait for any incentives. Now when was the last time I’ve had this much fun? Whoa,……that far back. Anyway, I live about 20 miles outside of Wash, D.C. and from the beloved White House. I wish you guys could see some of the looks I get driving this thing. It’s an adventure, I always look forward to. An reason or excuse to get behing the wheel! BTW, Thanks Swade and Trollhattan for everything you do!

  • 14 ek900No Gravatar // Jan 4, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    Got mine. I just turned my ‘07 9-3 2.0T in coming off lease, and used the $10,000+ in cash out there to buy an ‘08 9-3Aero…Smoke Beige.

    Have to drive it a lot for the next few weeks. I want to get it past breakin mileage, because it is a beast waiting to be unleashed!

    Great site, btw. Always enjoy it.