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Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 20:18:29 GMT
From: "Keith Grider" <bettynopsamam.columbus.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Why is it so difficult to sell Saabs C900s?


Don, Your experiences mirror mine as well. When looked at as a depreciable asset, Saabs are a poor choice for a new car purchase. My dad wanted a new one, and is leasing a new 9-5. That way, at the end of the lease, he can negotiate a reasonable purchase price if he wants to keep the car. If it has proven to be less desirable, he can walk away from it. This is still a 5,000/yr. cost of ownership (-gas/oil/tires, etc)! I would guess that a 2-6 yr. old car on average depreciates 2,000/yr. If you look at a classic Saab 900 turbo hatch. They were about 30,600 new in 1993. Current price is about 9600.00 or so. That is an 8 year old car and the depreciation over the 8 years is 2625.00/yr. This is not bad but when you add the AVERAGE cost of repairs of this car over this time, I am sure it would be much greater than, say, an Acura or Lexus. Based on car prices I have seen, these brands have depreciated less than a Saab. But the Saab is not an Acura or Lexus, It has driving excitement that the others do not and to those that value that quality, it is WORTH it. As an added note, the Saab 900NG does not fare well as a depreciating asset compared to the Volvo 850. It amazes me what prices these cars are advertised at in the papers! They seem to have held value like BMW's or Mercedes, and they are not that great of cars (IMO). They sure do not have 'Driving Excitement' at least not to me. As an added note, take a look at the other marks on the web to see if there is such a helpful group as this one. There is not. Go to the web and look for the procedure to replace a clutch in a Volvo 850. It doesn't exist (probably because there are only a few 5 sp. 850's here in the states!). Look for information on any How-to's. There is not that much information on anything except VW. That sealed it for me. As long as there are fanatics for the brand, that says quite a lot about it for me. Also, the C900 is an EASY car to work on. there is a lot of room in the engine bay (except on the front of the engine for removal of the crank pulley!) and most stuff is easy to get to and is easily found on the web for replacement. That they last 200,000 mi. or more when cared for and are still fun to drive with that sort of mileage is enough for me. All I worry about is still being able to find clean 3 dr. bodies to replace mine when it rusts apart that I can put my still good components into! Keith Grider "DSJKALLEN" <dsjkallennopsamcom> wrote in message news:20000919153852.05169.00000037nopsamq1.aol.com... > First of all, Saabs depreciate very rapidly, as compared to the competition. I > know this personally, and painfully, as I have owned Saabs since 1972 -- as > well as Volvos, etc. > > In addition to the high depreciation rate, we all know the cost of parts, and > repairs. As compared to most, if not all, of the competition, transmission > repair (either manual or auto) is extremely costly due to the engine/transaxle > design in the classic 900. > > For example, I have a mint '85 900 5-speed 4-door sedan that I just spent > $1,400 on last week for the 120K service, new upper ball joints, new steering > rack, new crank pulley, and new crank seal. A bunch of money, but worth it > since the car has much life left in it. Plus, my daughter's '87 900S automatic > hatchback needs a new Air Mass Meter, as well as new Inner Drivers -- another > $1,000 to $1,500. And, who knows when the Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic will > roll craps -- a $2,500 to $3,000 repair. > > The bottom line is this: Saabs are very good cars if maintained properly over > their life -- otherwise they can be a very expensive proposition. Sometimes > they can still be very expensive even if you maintain them correctly. I will > continue to drive them until I can no longer afford to do so. > > These reasons tend to impact the marketability problem of older Saabs. > > Don Allen > Urbana, IL

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