1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Hey,
I got a brand new, just off the boat, 2002 Saab 9-3 SE Convertible in cosmic blue with the automatic. I traded in my 99 Mercury Cougar which was getting a little old at 41k miles.
I looked at a couple of different cars before jumping on the Saab. I decided I wanted a 4-seater convertible for around 30k. I'd driven the V6 Mustang convertible before, and I didn't like that car. The 2000's had a really crappy interior, and they are really common here in Austin, Texas. So, being fairly young, the car I thought would be perfect would be the Eclipse Spyder in either one of the high end trims. Unfortunately, that car had a blah, small interior, and it drove like a boat. No tight turns in that baby.
Then, I decided to up my price range a little, and to take a look at the BMW 325Ci. These are really hard to find in Austin, there's only one dealer, and they only have loaded BMW convertibles. I decided 44k for a car that was nice, but no fun to drive (at least the one with the premium package I tried) was way too much. Also, BMW won't let you get one without the really ugly wood trim and the automatic power drop top. The Saab and the Volvo have much more tasteful wood work.
I went and drove a Saab 9-3 SE with the sport package, and I liked it, so the salesman let me come back and borrow one overnight. That was a nice touch, along with not coming along for the test drives.
The Volvo C70 seemed like a car worth considering, and I found a good deal on a used one from 2000 at the Volvo dealership. I didn't like the low output turbo version, it just wasn't fun to drive, and that particular car suffered from massive shaking on any kind of pavement. I don't want to generalize that car to the entire C70 line, though. That front middle speaker is kinda ugly. Two things I did like about both the BMW and the Volvo were the fully automatic tops (no handle), and the rollover protection back seat pop-ups. I hope the new 2004 Saab 9-3 convertible has both of these features to compete.
The Camry Solara was actually a really nice car - I read a whole bunch of Toyota bashing on a Sebring discussion board somewhat like this one, so I expected the worst, but they are actually quite fun to drive. You have to put the cover on the back, though, and it's a real pain. The back window is tiny, and the color selection is extremely limited. Also, in Texas, you have to pay about a thousand bucks for useless add-ons from Gulf States Toyota. Selection was really limited on these. On the plus side, I heard that the Solara was originally planned to be a Lexus model, and it's got that import feel to it.
The Sebring Limited and LXI versions just don't seem to be on sale at either Austin Chrysler dealer. Even though it's the best selling 4-seat convertible in the country, the dealers are all stocked up on Jeep Liberties and boring look-alike Chrysler sedans. I couldn't even test drive one. I did sit in a 2001 Limited, which I could have bought for 22k, or 8k off the 30k list. I didn't like the interior or the weird quasi-retro guages. And the leather on the seats felt terrible after a year of use.
Anyway, I went back and got the Saab. My decision was really whether or not to get the Sport package, so I drove some with, and some without. The 16" wheels had a better feel than the 17s on the crappy roads I drive on every day, so I saved 2000 bucks.
posted by 66.25.130...
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