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I've been following this board (also the 99, 900, and 9000 boards) for many years as a dyed-in-the-wool SAAB owner/driver and just completed an unexpected conversion from a nice '95 9000 CSE 5 speed to a '99 9-5 auto SW. Over the years, I've driven well over 500,000 miles in variuos SAABs from 99's through 900s, 9000s, and 9-5s.
Coming in over the same road (curvy county 2-lane with some small-city interstate) that I've been driving for 25 years this morning in a light drizzle, I was struck by the refinement of all the little things about the car (especially the 9-5 although all SAABs I think have that certain refinement) that add up to the "experience" that car marketers love to talk about.
What struck me this morning was the excellent feel of the wiper delay switches, especially the SW rear wiper which gives you the option of one wipe with just a touch of the switch, full on, or wash...all without taking your eyes off the road. And that's just one tiny example of the refined thread (IMHO) that seems to run through all of the SAAB systems through all the years.
Don't get me wrong...I've suffered through the weakness of the old 8 valve head that couldn't stand up to the turbo pressure, the hard-to-replace 99 water pump, the jerky ZF auto in the 9000's, the ridiculous loss of equity in store these days for anyone that actually ponies up $35K + for a new one, or leases for $300 - $400/month and gets upside down almost immediately if driving more than 15K miles a year...I've had my share of troubles and maintain AAA Gold just so I can sanely finance an occasional 50 mile tow to the dealer.
What I'm really curous about is the "other", "luxury" refined cars like the BMW 3 and 5 series..Volvos, Infiniti's, Lexus, etc, none of which I've ever had time or inclination to drive. Do they have the same level of refinement and commitment to quality? I'm thinking that there may be some SAAB drivers lurking here who have spent comparable time in the other luxury makes and can actually provide a balanced comparison.
This is all assuming that most major servicing is dealer or indy mechanic provided...so I'm really not interested in DIY stories (although I've been there and done that)...because I really think we need to face that a level of quality and refinement requires the same commitment to regular (and expensive either in $s or time) maintenance.
So what do you say? I'll be watching.
posted by 209.180.55...
, Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:42:29, Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:50:42
, Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:51:59
, Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:02:05
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