I own a 2002 Saab 9-3 Convertible (OG 900/9-3) (silver body/beige int.)with 78k on the odometer. It has the 205HP turbo with a 4 speed auto and all the available options. I have the original dealer window sticker and the retail price that day was around $44,000 The Viggen for just below $50k was the top of the line 9-3 which had a internally modified stock engine that produced about 30 or more HP, racing suspension, modified body panels and 5 speed stick and along with a few other upgrades. Everything else on mine are identical including the rear spoiler, body kit, 17" Viggen rims. My first Saab was a 1976 99LE that I purchased from a dealer(San Leandro,Ca.) in 1979 that belonged to the service manager's wife with 20k on the odometer. Sure wish I had it today! I don't think I'll ever part with my 9-3, probably my last car I'll ever need since I'm retired!
I have owned several Saabs from 900s to 9000s anywhere from 1984 models to 1995s. I have to say that I miss Saabs and what they offered. They were great to drive, comfortable, utilitarian, and good on gas. I once put a clothes dryer in my 95 900S and closed the hatch! What a great marque that is surely missed by those of us who appreciate it.
Let me speak as a witness for the prosecution. I worked in Saab dealerships from 1988 until 2001, including as Sales Manager from 1990. I never felt that the post GM products were as tough and iconoclastic as their predecessors, but perhaps more tellingly the product failed in the marketplace. Why? In retrospect, it failed to attract new customers to any significant degree: not interesting enough to give anybody a reason to consider it. Perhaps most painfully, it squandered the incredibly strong owner loyalty of existing owners. Those who got one to replace their last Saab invariably never got another one. Some of these wonderful folks had driving Saabs for 20, 30, 40 years or more, and had brand loyalty that was probably the equal of any brand in the world. And GM chased them away.
Back in 95, my uncle won a sale contest at his work and the prize was a lease on any GM product. He chose a 95 Saab convertible. Hunter green, alloys, turbo, with a 5 speed. I asked why he didn't grab a Corvette (which would have been a C4). He said it wasn't "His style". Anyway, he threw me the keys to the Saab (I was 17, new driver, bad idea, but, ok) and said take it for a rip. Rip I did. If I recall it had a respectable 6.5 0-60, which would've been one of the faster cars I would have driven at that point. I remember, despite being not a Saab guy, it was a nice drive.
I bought my Dad's 1995 900 SE 2.5 V6 with auto trans from my Mom after he passed away in 2000. Loved the feel of this car and especially the huge and conveniently accessed luggage area, especially with the rear seat folded. Good overall fuel economy and an effortless highway cruiser. On the negative side, every repair on this car was a pain in the rear, and it had a common problem with a really weak brake booster which made the first couple of braking actions in the morning a white knuckle affair until it built up some vacuum boost!
Saab shouldn’t have worked. Too small, too niche, too weird. But they were quite something. I really wish I’d been 10 years older so I could’ve had a real 900 before the GM nonsense
I bought a new 1999 9 3 SE turbo five door, green with beige interior and drove it to 177K miles before a wreck in the last days of '18. Great, versatile car. Hauled clients for work, kids to school and mountain vacations. Towed the wreck to Saab mechanic and bought his Christmas Special '91 900S convertible that had not sold for my wreck plus $2,800; non turbos with a slushbox are very cheap, even in great condition. It has been my daily driver ever since, now approaching 190k miles. Normally aspirated is great in the city and flat lands but you need a turbo for the Mountains or long highway trips. The Classic non turbo will last longer than the turbo but less fun. The Classic 900 is a better built, higher quality car. The 9 3 is still good and much more modern. Each has thier foibles but are very fixable. As an old dude you need the nicest one you can find. My ultimate would be a '94 commemorative turbo convertible or maybe a yellow Monte Carlo. Ruby reds are nice. Anything pre 2000, no ecotech.
My 1972 Saab 99 had an electric heated driver seat that made winter driving much more comfortable. I don't recall any other low priced car with that feature.
I drive a 1994 900 as my daily for years now, doing 325miles with it, and totalling around 1,500,000 with all my SAAB cars. It started as a naturally aspirated 2.3 litre, and transformed to a stage 5 23 turbo. I worked as a service technician for the Israeli importer of SAAB during the 90's, later servicing them as an independent, I was also certified as a trainer by SAAB. I happened to drive all versions of the NG 900 on the same day on the test track in Trollhattan. The V6 was fitted with the soft suspension as the 2.0 litre naturally aspirated version, where the 2.3 and especially 2 litre turbo where way better. Take the soft suspension with the extra weight of the V6 engine, and the understeer becomes terrible. As for this specific 2.5 V6, including the 3 litre version of the 9000 and the 3.0 asymmetric turbo version of the 9-5, this engine is RUBBISH and its character is far from SAAB. As long as these cars are maintained properly, the are extremely reliable, and they are very sensitive to neglection and bad servicing.
Thanks for the video, I always love SAAB 99 and 900, But you know it is not only GM who kill it but also Lexus, Acura and Infinity in a certain degree.
I’ve owned my ‘95 900 turbo convertible for nearly 18 years, it’s been the most robust and reliable Saab in my stable (I’ve had over a dozen different Saabs)
I love the SAAB 900. I owned two including my favorite, the1990 five door turbo. Maintenance was expensive. The original French shocks started leaking within 10,000 miles, I got them all replaced under warranty with Bilsteins. The engine failed soon after the warranty expired The dealer was not very helpful, stating it was out of warranty. I stopped unannounced at SAAB HQ in Milford, CT and actually got an audience with CEO, Robert Sinclair, he sent a corporate rep to look at it and they agreed to pay for the engine rebuild. It was my favorite car I owned till I bought the 2005 Mitsubishi EVO VIII.
1985 900 S turbo 3 doors, I loved thar car so much. Loved it when the turbo kicked in. I had 2 a. 4 door and the S. 450, thousand miles on rhe 4 door 200 thousand on the S, both with manual trans. T Hat was joy driving those cars.at the time 20 years ago I paid $ 400.00 for the sedan, and $1400 for the S. Guys are stupid I loved it to my step daughter by by Saab saab
I came to SAAB late in life, just a couple of years ago. I now have an 1983 900 that is my occasional daily (if there can be such a thing). I'm sorry I didn't buy SAABs years ago when they were plentiful and cheap. They feel right, ergonomically they fit me, the engineering involved is commendable, the safety, and the competency in which it drives is engaging. The body is still solid decades later and that translates into a car that feels as solid as an old Mercedes with lighter less ponderous handling. As an aside on this road test, kudos to Motorweek for testing a manual transmission model. Manual transmissions are the only way to go in any car, especially a car that's supposed to be fun to drive.
I love watching your reaction videos. I always respected SAAB for their innovative and different sense of engineering. One thing you won’t experience with these videos is the smell of that SAAB leather interior. Their leather always had a wonderful smell. I don’t know how they did it.
GM deluded the brand more than anything. Especially towards the end. I mean they took a GM trailblazer platform and gave it Saab badges. There's nothing wrong with that platform, but it's no Saab and buyers knew it. It's about as insulting as a Cadillac version of the Chevy Cavalier or a Buick version of the face lifted Chevy Venture aka Uplander. The Uplander was an insult on it's own let alone trying to compete with Chrysler or *gulp* Honda.. it's one of many, many mistakes we call GM.
I now own my second Buick Terraza and it is a fantastic minivan. It should have been an Oldsmobile Silhouette but GM killed America's oldest car brand in 2004. Between the two Terrazas (2005 and now a 2007) I bought a trade in Mercury Monterey with 46,000 miles in mint condition. I tend to buy the best but never asian brands as my father fought on our side in World War II.
Actually...GM has done nothing BUT ruin their european brands. The cost-cutting and profit before quality mentality of GM has lead to its downfall. They replaced the 900 by the Opel Vectra based 900 in a time when Opel was...already feeling the result from GM's disastrous company strategy, with cheap materials, cheap and unreliable parts and GM US literally removing the actually great platforms Opel had (like the Omega platform, which was a decent, reliable FR platform). The engine was built in the worst european factory (Lutton in the UK was and IS a disaster) plagued by the worst quality control. Saab did improve a lot of the stuff, much to the chagrin of GM, even if in fact Saab's philosophy was closer to say Toyota as in: build quality cars to bind customers through trust and quality rather than price and quantity. To finally point out just how bad GM truly was and in many opinions still is: when they sold off Opel to PSA/stellantis...after decades of losses, it took PSA two years to run a massive profit on Opel...
Naw,truth is that saab was constantly wasting money, the company was run by engineers,not businessmen. I was in the saabmuseum in trollhätten once and most of the ex employees openly admitted that, for example that their insisted to have the dealer network in malta ( their only sold 1-2 car per year on the island.) Their build excellent cars per se,but always came up with extraordinary expensive technical concepts and solutions for them,which madr them so expensive in the first place. Saab never made much profit and GM basically paid for all the fun for decades. But i have to agree with horrible company strategy of GM. When GM nearly went bankrupt 13 years ago their saved themselves on the expense of many traditional Brands like Opel. ( btw,im still holding a grudge against GM,especially for the closure of the Opel factory in bochum.)
Yeah in the end of saab GM just wanted to rebadge Saabs to diffrent Gm models or even Subaru. I think even a chevy trailblaser ect that was not real saab. too bad Gm did Saab so bad in the end. And i think they shared alot whit Gms European brand German Opel for a while . Saab being saab tried to go there own way even under Gms ownership while Gm just would have like badge swaps.
Another car brand with a cult following. I also know people who love these cars. I will always lean towards cars with hatchbacks they just allow so much versatility when you don’t have a truck. I know GM didn’t help them but let’s face it profitability is important and it’s difficult to be a small independent car company unless you have deep pocket customers.
I own a 2002 Saab 9-3 Convertible (OG 900/9-3) (silver body/beige int.)with 78k on the odometer. It has the 205HP turbo with a 4 speed auto and all the available options. I have the original dealer window sticker and the retail price that day was around $44,000 The Viggen for just below $50k was the top of the line 9-3 which had a internally modified stock engine that produced about 30 or more HP, racing suspension, modified body panels and 5 speed stick and along with a few other upgrades. Everything else on mine are identical including the rear spoiler, body kit, 17" Viggen rims. My first Saab was a 1976 99LE that I purchased from a dealer(San Leandro,Ca.) in 1979 that belonged to the service manager's wife with 20k on the odometer. Sure wish I had it today! I don't think I'll ever part with my 9-3, probably my last car I'll ever need since I'm retired!
I have owned several Saabs from 900s to 9000s anywhere from 1984 models to 1995s. I have to say that I miss Saabs and what they offered. They were great to drive, comfortable, utilitarian, and good on gas. I once put a clothes dryer in my 95 900S and closed the hatch! What a great marque that is surely missed by those of us who appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing!
Let me speak as a witness for the prosecution.
I worked in Saab dealerships from 1988 until 2001, including as Sales Manager from 1990. I never felt that the post GM products were as tough and iconoclastic as their predecessors, but perhaps more tellingly the product failed in the marketplace.
Why? In retrospect, it failed to attract new customers to any significant degree: not interesting enough to give anybody a reason to consider it. Perhaps most painfully, it squandered the incredibly strong owner loyalty of existing owners. Those who got one to replace their last Saab invariably never got another one.
Some of these wonderful folks had driving Saabs for 20, 30, 40 years or more, and had brand loyalty that was probably the equal of any brand in the world. And GM chased them away.
Back in 95, my uncle won a sale contest at his work and the prize was a lease on any GM product. He chose a 95 Saab convertible. Hunter green, alloys, turbo, with a 5 speed. I asked why he didn't grab a Corvette (which would have been a C4). He said it wasn't "His style". Anyway, he threw me the keys to the Saab (I was 17, new driver, bad idea, but, ok) and said take it for a rip. Rip I did. If I recall it had a respectable 6.5 0-60, which would've been one of the faster cars I would have driven at that point. I remember, despite being not a Saab guy, it was a nice drive.
I bought my Dad's 1995 900 SE 2.5 V6 with auto trans from my Mom after he passed away in 2000. Loved the feel of this car and especially the huge and conveniently accessed luggage area, especially with the rear seat folded. Good overall fuel economy and an effortless highway cruiser. On the negative side, every repair on this car was a pain in the rear, and it had a common problem with a really weak brake booster which made the first couple of braking actions in the morning a white knuckle affair until it built up some vacuum boost!
That explains a lot 😂
Saab shouldn’t have worked. Too small, too niche, too weird. But they were quite something.
I really wish I’d been 10 years older so I could’ve had a real 900 before the GM nonsense
I bought a new 1999 9 3 SE turbo five door, green with beige interior and drove it to 177K miles before a wreck in the last days of '18. Great, versatile car. Hauled clients for work, kids to school and mountain vacations.
Towed the wreck to Saab mechanic and bought his Christmas Special '91 900S convertible that had not sold for my wreck plus $2,800; non turbos with a slushbox are very cheap, even in great condition. It has been my daily driver ever since, now approaching 190k miles. Normally aspirated is great in the city and flat lands but you need a turbo for the Mountains or long highway trips. The Classic non turbo will last longer than the turbo but less fun.
The Classic 900 is a better built, higher quality car. The 9 3 is still good and much more modern. Each has thier foibles but are very fixable.
As an old dude you need the nicest one you can find. My ultimate would be a '94 commemorative turbo convertible or maybe a yellow Monte Carlo. Ruby reds are nice.
Anything pre 2000, no ecotech.
My 1972 Saab 99 had an electric heated driver seat that made winter driving much more comfortable. I don't recall any other low priced car with that feature.
This is my favorite up and coming channel let’s get some shares for this guy
I drive a 1994 900 as my daily for years now, doing 325miles with it, and totalling around 1,500,000 with all my SAAB cars.
It started as a naturally aspirated 2.3 litre, and transformed to a stage 5 23 turbo.
I worked as a service technician for the Israeli importer of SAAB during the 90's, later servicing them as an independent, I was also certified as a trainer by SAAB.
I happened to drive all versions of the NG 900 on the same day on the test track in Trollhattan. The V6 was fitted with the soft suspension as the 2.0 litre naturally aspirated version, where the 2.3 and especially 2 litre turbo where way better. Take the soft suspension with the extra weight of the V6 engine, and the understeer becomes terrible.
As for this specific 2.5 V6, including the 3 litre version of the 9000 and the 3.0 asymmetric turbo version of the 9-5, this engine is RUBBISH and its character is far from SAAB.
As long as these cars are maintained properly, the are extremely reliable, and they are very sensitive to neglection and bad servicing.
Thanks for the video, I always love SAAB 99 and 900, But you know it is not only GM who kill it but also Lexus, Acura and Infinity in a certain degree.
I’ve owned my ‘95 900 turbo convertible for nearly 18 years, it’s been the most robust and reliable Saab in my stable (I’ve had over a dozen different Saabs)
I love the SAAB 900. I owned two including my favorite, the1990 five door turbo. Maintenance was expensive. The original French shocks started leaking within 10,000 miles, I got them all replaced under warranty with Bilsteins. The engine failed soon after the warranty expired The dealer was not very helpful, stating it was out of warranty. I stopped unannounced at SAAB HQ in Milford, CT and actually got an audience with CEO, Robert Sinclair, he sent a corporate rep to look at it and they agreed to pay for the engine rebuild. It was my favorite car I owned till I bought the 2005 Mitsubishi EVO VIII.
1985 900 S turbo 3 doors, I loved thar car so much. Loved it when the turbo kicked in. I had 2 a. 4 door and the S. 450, thousand miles on rhe 4 door 200 thousand on the S, both with manual trans. T
Hat was joy driving those cars.at the time 20 years ago I paid $ 400.00 for the sedan, and $1400 for the S. Guys are stupid I loved it to my step daughter by by Saab saab
I came to SAAB late in life, just a couple of years ago. I now have an 1983 900 that is my occasional daily (if there can be such a thing). I'm sorry I didn't buy SAABs years ago when they were plentiful and cheap. They feel right, ergonomically they fit me, the engineering involved is commendable, the safety, and the competency in which it drives is engaging. The body is still solid decades later and that translates into a car that feels as solid as an old Mercedes with lighter less ponderous handling.
As an aside on this road test, kudos to Motorweek for testing a manual transmission model.
Manual transmissions are the only way to go in any car, especially a car that's supposed to be fun to drive.
I love watching your reaction videos. I always respected SAAB for their innovative and different sense of engineering. One thing you won’t experience with these videos is the smell of that SAAB leather interior. Their leather always had a wonderful smell. I don’t know how they did it.
Saab, Born from jets, died from GM.
If I owned a Saab.... I'd totally have that made into a Tee Shirt!
I liked Saab but the ease of working on an 83 Volvo 242turbo was much more valuable.
My 93' 900 Convertible was the 2nd best car I ever owned; the first was the Saab 9000CD!! Don't consider any Saab from GM.
My 93' 900 Convertible was the 2nd best car I ever owned (the first was The
Jon. Thank you for this classic Motorweek review, and you're right: GM did ruin Saab!
Saab ruined Saab, ahmen
GM killed the quirkiness of Saab, and tried to make SAAB go mainstream.
They used the same dash for years ...
GM deluded the brand more than anything. Especially towards the end. I mean they took a GM trailblazer platform and gave it Saab badges. There's nothing wrong with that platform, but it's no Saab and buyers knew it. It's about as insulting as a Cadillac version of the Chevy Cavalier or a Buick version of the face lifted Chevy Venture aka Uplander. The Uplander was an insult on it's own let alone trying to compete with Chrysler or *gulp* Honda.. it's one of many, many mistakes we call GM.
OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA
I now own my second Buick Terraza and it is a fantastic minivan. It should have been an Oldsmobile Silhouette but GM killed America's oldest car brand in 2004. Between the two Terrazas (2005 and now a 2007) I bought a trade in Mercury Monterey with 46,000 miles in mint condition. I tend to buy the best but never asian brands as my father fought on our side in World War II.
Actually...GM has done nothing BUT ruin their european brands. The cost-cutting and profit before quality mentality of GM has lead to its downfall. They replaced the 900 by the Opel Vectra based 900 in a time when Opel was...already feeling the result from GM's disastrous company strategy, with cheap materials, cheap and unreliable parts and GM US literally removing the actually great platforms Opel had (like the Omega platform, which was a decent, reliable FR platform). The engine was built in the worst european factory (Lutton in the UK was and IS a disaster) plagued by the worst quality control. Saab did improve a lot of the stuff, much to the chagrin of GM, even if in fact Saab's philosophy was closer to say Toyota as in: build quality cars to bind customers through trust and quality rather than price and quantity. To finally point out just how bad GM truly was and in many opinions still is: when they sold off Opel to PSA/stellantis...after decades of losses, it took PSA two years to run a massive profit on Opel...
Naw,truth is that saab was constantly wasting money, the company was run by engineers,not businessmen. I was in the saabmuseum in trollhätten once and most of the ex employees openly admitted that, for example that their insisted to have the dealer network in malta ( their only sold 1-2 car per year on the island.) Their build excellent cars per se,but always came up with extraordinary expensive technical concepts and solutions for them,which madr them so expensive in the first place. Saab never made much profit and GM basically paid for all the fun for decades. But i have to agree with horrible company strategy of GM. When GM nearly went bankrupt 13 years ago their saved themselves on the expense of many traditional Brands like Opel.
( btw,im still holding a grudge against GM,especially for the closure of the Opel factory in bochum.)
yeah look at German GM Opel brand i tihnk they had alot of that cost cutting for a long time quility was not great on some of those opels
What is funny about GM Europe is it is now owned by Stelantais.
@@danielsweeney6742 deserved!
I couldn't agree more.
Yeah in the end of saab GM just wanted to rebadge Saabs to diffrent Gm models or even Subaru. I think even a chevy trailblaser ect that was not real saab. too bad Gm did Saab so bad in the end. And i think they shared alot whit Gms European brand German Opel for a while . Saab being saab tried to go there own way even under Gms ownership while Gm just would have like badge swaps.
Another car brand with a cult following. I also know people who love these cars. I will always lean towards cars with hatchbacks they just allow so much versatility when you don’t have a truck. I know GM didn’t help them but let’s face it profitability is important and it’s difficult to be a small independent car company unless you have deep pocket customers.
GM is run like the Government. Everything they touch, they break since about 2006 and newer generic GM dull feel.
Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of that brand
S A A B
GM-Vauxhall engine made in England sounds like a disaster. Other than that, seems like a spectacular car.