Article Comments - 2008 Saab Turbo X First Drive

16 messages, Last post on Jun 17, 2008 at 2:34 PM

You are in the Saab 9-3 Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens

What is this discussion about? Saab 9-3, Sedan

First Drive: 2008 Saab Turbo X - First Impressions: A high-tech all-wheel-drive system gives the 9-3 a larger dynamic envelope than ever before, but we'll reserve final judgment until we've driven it on dry pavement. (more)

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#6 of 16 Crapshoot? by tompa Feb 29, 2008 (11:49 am)
I beg to differ. Look at the Saab 9-3 Viggen from 1999. The value of that car has held on quite good. Why would not this car do the same?
#7 of 16 Re: A mere $43,000 for wagon? [charlesb] by saablcp Feb 29, 2008 (1:38 pm)
Replying to: charlesb (Feb 29, 2008 10:53 am) I guess you have never encountered or researched pricing out an Audi S-4 Avant.A mere $50,000 plus for a wagon!
#8 of 16 Saab at it again by mcmanus Mar 02, 2008 (3:39 am)
Ever since I can remember (mid 70's), Saab has put most of their marketing into the higher end models. I owned a lowly 1979 2-door 99 (last of the lead gas burners sold in the U.S.) It cost half of highly touted turbo whatever even though 90% of the content was the same. Saab's pitch was quirkiness with a reason behind it. So much the better that they compared well on the track and the bottom line to BMW. That’s why I bought a Saab. Finding a good dealer/mechanic was always the customer’s key challenge to long term satisfaction. Like so many foreign companies, Saab was never able to build a good nation wide dealer network. Lowered suspensions and spoilers in the Artic are ridiculous. How does drifting on Artic ice relate to real world buyers? This car is another example of Saab uber-macho. On the other hand little Saab has always offered tons of wheel options, why can't the big boys? Evidently value will never figure into the Saab marketing strategy. But the Saab ice sculpture is cool. Too bad GM hasn’t learned more from Saab. GM could have developed all their passenger cars based on Saab 2.0L, 2.0L turbo, 3.0L, and 3.0L turbo engines. But alas the corporate tradition of in-fighting is too great to allow streamlining and efficiency. Saab owners bemoan the GM acquisition (we know the financial realities that forced Saab to sell) and how the current 9-3 is a generic Opal derivative. Now they pitch a tiny taste of Europe to GM straights, offer GMAC financing, and GM employee discounts. Is that enough for the name plate to survive? I doubt it. I expect Saab to get rolled into Opel and be sold as Saturn in the U.S.
#9 of 16 Re: A mere $43,000 for wagon? [charlesb] by dammitjim1 Mar 24, 2008 (8:03 am)
Replying to: charlesb (Feb 29, 2008 10:53 am) TurboX sedan comes in at about 40,372 on CarsDirect, fully loaded and 6-spd. From the few dealer contacts I've had, they're not expected in until some time in April. I am wondering at this stage what the GMAC lease support is likely to be like on this car. I am close to the "pull-ahead" on my current Chevy Tahoe lease and am scoping out a new GM vehicle to get into. The Lambda triplets have ridiculously high lease rates, so I am passing on them. This was the only other car in the GM product line that came close to interesting me. Crapshoot long-term investment on this car or not, I figure you can't get hurt too badly on a lease that includes no-charge scheduled maintenance. Anybody want to speculate what the lease support on this car will be like from GMAC?
#10 of 16 Re: Article Comments - 2008 Saab Turbo X First Drive [KarenS] by spidaman Apr 16, 2008 (6:05 pm)
Replying to: KarenS (Feb 29, 2008 6:37 am) It's mid-April. Any Turbo X's delivered? Replies to this message: saablcp (Apr 17, 2008 7:02 am) spidaman (Jun 17, 2008 2:34 pm)
#11 of 16 Re: Article Comments - 2008 Saab Turbo X First Drive [spidaman] by saablcp Apr 17, 2008 (7:02 am)
Replying to: spidaman (Apr 16, 2008 6:05 pm) I think mid-May in U.S. is likely....first cars actually rolled off production line less than 2 weeks ago!
#12 of 16 Lease Only by kandiru Jun 01, 2008 (6:46 am)
Not necessarily. My Turbo X Sedan Manual Navi is $46k and i lease it 1st payment down and $640/mo 36mo/12k. Also, you do not buy a 6 speed AWD performance luxo sedan for fuel economy, and none of the cars in this segment, ie Audi S4/RS4, Volvo S60R hold their value well except for the BMW 335xi. To exemplify RS4 run 52k with less than 20k miles on year old. That is a 33k hit. I think leasing is the way to go in fast depreciating cars. In the US any car that is not mainstream will depreciate fast, like my earlier Volvo S60R, another 300hp Haldex AWD brute on a 6 speed manual. People who care about depreciation should buy a Toyota then a BMW or a Lex and look like every other nouveau riche on the block The herd instinct saves many a hesitant soul. I say lease, be aggressive in your searches and TELL the dealers you are shopping around, that gets them very creative. Give them as little leading info as possible. Never allow a dealer to drag you into the dealership under the pretext "This is not done like this, first drive the car, then we'll sit down". Always negotiate in a recordable form, email or fax. Remember the Romans "Verba volant, scripta manent". Stop them when they pull out calculators and crunch numbers for hours. I tell them i am the dumb customer and they are the dealer, all i want is how much total for downpayment, how much monthly pay. It really pays off to lowball them on your lease expectations. Not once i get a call back "Well i spoke to the sales manager and he gave me this deal". ALWAYS, ALWAYS make the dealers fax or email their offers to you, or you will find some "nyasty" surprise under the pretext "Oh sorry there is one more thing". Email headers especially can be traced to dealership servers. Replies to this message: parnelli66 (Jun 05, 2008 1:11 pm) saablcp (Jun 06, 2008 7:48 am)
#13 of 16 Re: Lease Only [kandiru] by parnelli66 Jun 05, 2008 (1:11 pm)
Replying to: kandiru (Jun 01, 2008 6:46 am) Lease a fast depreciating car? Ridiculous. All a lease does is pay for the depreciation during the lease term. Fast depreciating car = high lease payments. The real reason people lease cars is because they can't afford to buy them, either by financing or (especially) by buying them outright -- which is really what you should be doing with a luxury car. It's like renting a mansion......faux nouveau..... Replies to this message: saablcp (Jun 06, 2008 7:48 am)
#14 of 16 lease by kandiru Jun 05, 2008 (2:27 pm)
You missed the whole point
#15 of 16 Re: Lease Only [parnelli66] by saablcp Jun 06, 2008 (7:48 am)
Replying to: parnelli66 (Jun 05, 2008 1:11 pm) I'm not going to even attempt to address your total lack of understanding of how and why people lease cars....I wouldn't have a clue where to begin with someone who still associates leasing with the idea of people simply living beyond their means.Ponder this point, parnelli66.....virtually all of my clients who work in the investment fields or with money products of any kind lease their vehicles.These are people who in most cases could write a check for the car! They make their living by advising people on the proper investment of their hard earned money and 98% of them are LEASING their cars. And F.Y.I.,I've been selling and leasing Saabs for 14 years.