I am putting my flame suit on, this should be fun.
All set to replace my wife's '04 9-3 with an '09 9-3. It's pretty much the same car, small improvement's but let's be honest here. Very much the same car from '03. In 2004 it had a $28k sticker with metallic paint, auto, powerseat.
So we have this quote of $19,600 for a BASE black '09 which now has a sticker of $33,000. No moonroof, ugly 16" wheels, non metallic paint($550 extra), no foglights, 210hp/5spd auto,pretty base car. I don't know, I did not get excited.
My local dealer who I love has one '09 left, it's a Nocturne Blue 2.0T XWD. This was more like it, semi loaded and with a $38k sticker. It has about 3k demo miles and there is nowhere to go from the $22,500 he is offering it to me for.
There was one other car my wife considered from my recommendations(Impreza GT, which was last years WRX auto, 2010 Fusion SEL). The Hyundai Sonata Limited. The Limiteds are nice and easy, they are all uber loaded with dual zone climate control, power seat-both heated, moonroof, leather, 17" wheels, dual exhaust on the V-6. Oh yeah, and they don't charge extra for metallic paint. Your only choices seem to be nav and 4 or 6 cylinder.
So we went for a test drive, because what if she liked the Sonata better? It would be easier to have our pick of Sonatas and Hyundai gets stronger every year, resale is better every year...the opposite of Saab.
So first the salesman thought he brought out a V-6. I could tell it was a 4 soon after, but it helped us make a decision. My wife was like ummm no, this is too slow lol.
He fixed his mistake and provided us with a silver on black leather V-6. She was a happy camper right away, nice engine note and I felt her give it some gas and giggle. 250hp V-6 it is. I would like to add that the 250hp V-6 seems to match Saabs 2.0T in gas mileage and both run on regular.
Now the V-6 Limited was about $26k MSRP. They only had nav cars and jokingly had a market adjustment add on of $2k. This made the car $31k with all the options it had. Pricey for a Hyundai. I was offered the car for $22k(8 miles-new), and if they lower it by $1000 this weekend or I find a NON GPS car and they beat the $22k, we will buy it.
Why?
It was very well put together. All the materials, the leather, the touch points, everything was far richer and better assembled than the Saab. I read an edmunds review that said it was Lexus-like inside the way the Camry should have been. The exterior, clean, non offensive, nothing stand out, but not a single bad angle, looks nice with the metallic paint, 17" wheels, and dual exhaust. These are things only to be said about an Aero or XWD 9-3 for close to $40k.
Ahh but what about safety? Don't play that here either, the Sonata had all the airbags, the crash test ratings, and had standard stability control.
The engine, well the 250hp V-6 was handily more powerful than the 2.0T and with 0-60 in the mid 6's it nearly matches a 2.8T Aero...Again, on regular though it only has a 5spd auto.
Then of course there is the warranty. That is nice. It use to be one of the only reasons to buy a Hyundai. Not anymore. Did you know they have quadrupled market share in just 10 years? Just watch out for them in the next 5
So the Sonata had everything the Saab had so I found it hard to imagine how Saab's could command there MSRP. THe Sonata made for a better Saab than the Saab did.
Am I the only one who felt this way? Not today. There was plenty of traffic at the dealer today(number 13th highest volume in the country). I saw an couple in a Volvo S60R come in, test drive, and sit down for negotiations on a new suv. We also saw a couple in '01ish Saab 9-3 vert, they too were talking numbers on a new Hyundai.
What does this whole thing mean?
Part of me wants Saab the corporation to live long and prosper. The other part of me wants this company to be put out of it's misery for making average products at above average prices.
We, the enthusiasts have our C900's,SPGs, Aeros, Viggens,things like that. Saab is not going to give us what we want anymore. We still have our fun quircky used cars from 10-40 years ago. We get to keep that. The new 9-5, it is not going to be what you want, it is going to be 3500-3800lbs, $40k-50k, and not as cool as the 5dr 9000 your father passed down to you that he bought new in 1993.
So where do you go if you want a new car? I am not the person who buys the most popular car(hello, I bought Berettas). I will not own a new Accord, Camry, Corolla, things like that.
I appreciate companys that are a bit off the bullseye, cars that not everyone accepts, but the people in the know appreciate them for quality, design, or value.
So for me, my new Saab will be a Hyundai.
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Let the fanboi shit fest begin. Might I add before that I have bought a new Saab in the past year, been in Saabs for two decades and had at least two in the family at any one time? Nah.
All set to replace my wife's '04 9-3 with an '09 9-3. It's pretty much the same car, small improvement's but let's be honest here. Very much the same car from '03. In 2004 it had a $28k sticker with metallic paint, auto, powerseat.
So we have this quote of $19,600 for a BASE black '09 which now has a sticker of $33,000. No moonroof, ugly 16" wheels, non metallic paint($550 extra), no foglights, 210hp/5spd auto,pretty base car. I don't know, I did not get excited.
My local dealer who I love has one '09 left, it's a Nocturne Blue 2.0T XWD. This was more like it, semi loaded and with a $38k sticker. It has about 3k demo miles and there is nowhere to go from the $22,500 he is offering it to me for.
There was one other car my wife considered from my recommendations(Impreza GT, which was last years WRX auto, 2010 Fusion SEL). The Hyundai Sonata Limited. The Limiteds are nice and easy, they are all uber loaded with dual zone climate control, power seat-both heated, moonroof, leather, 17" wheels, dual exhaust on the V-6. Oh yeah, and they don't charge extra for metallic paint. Your only choices seem to be nav and 4 or 6 cylinder.
So we went for a test drive, because what if she liked the Sonata better? It would be easier to have our pick of Sonatas and Hyundai gets stronger every year, resale is better every year...the opposite of Saab.
So first the salesman thought he brought out a V-6. I could tell it was a 4 soon after, but it helped us make a decision. My wife was like ummm no, this is too slow lol.
He fixed his mistake and provided us with a silver on black leather V-6. She was a happy camper right away, nice engine note and I felt her give it some gas and giggle. 250hp V-6 it is. I would like to add that the 250hp V-6 seems to match Saabs 2.0T in gas mileage and both run on regular.
Now the V-6 Limited was about $26k MSRP. They only had nav cars and jokingly had a market adjustment add on of $2k. This made the car $31k with all the options it had. Pricey for a Hyundai. I was offered the car for $22k(8 miles-new), and if they lower it by $1000 this weekend or I find a NON GPS car and they beat the $22k, we will buy it.
Why?
It was very well put together. All the materials, the leather, the touch points, everything was far richer and better assembled than the Saab. I read an edmunds review that said it was Lexus-like inside the way the Camry should have been. The exterior, clean, non offensive, nothing stand out, but not a single bad angle, looks nice with the metallic paint, 17" wheels, and dual exhaust. These are things only to be said about an Aero or XWD 9-3 for close to $40k.
Ahh but what about safety? Don't play that here either, the Sonata had all the airbags, the crash test ratings, and had standard stability control.
The engine, well the 250hp V-6 was handily more powerful than the 2.0T and with 0-60 in the mid 6's it nearly matches a 2.8T Aero...Again, on regular though it only has a 5spd auto.
Then of course there is the warranty. That is nice. It use to be one of the only reasons to buy a Hyundai. Not anymore. Did you know they have quadrupled market share in just 10 years? Just watch out for them in the next 5
So the Sonata had everything the Saab had so I found it hard to imagine how Saab's could command there MSRP. THe Sonata made for a better Saab than the Saab did.
Am I the only one who felt this way? Not today. There was plenty of traffic at the dealer today(number 13th highest volume in the country). I saw an couple in a Volvo S60R come in, test drive, and sit down for negotiations on a new suv. We also saw a couple in '01ish Saab 9-3 vert, they too were talking numbers on a new Hyundai.
What does this whole thing mean?
Part of me wants Saab the corporation to live long and prosper. The other part of me wants this company to be put out of it's misery for making average products at above average prices.
We, the enthusiasts have our C900's,SPGs, Aeros, Viggens,things like that. Saab is not going to give us what we want anymore. We still have our fun quircky used cars from 10-40 years ago. We get to keep that. The new 9-5, it is not going to be what you want, it is going to be 3500-3800lbs, $40k-50k, and not as cool as the 5dr 9000 your father passed down to you that he bought new in 1993.
So where do you go if you want a new car? I am not the person who buys the most popular car(hello, I bought Berettas). I will not own a new Accord, Camry, Corolla, things like that.
I appreciate companys that are a bit off the bullseye, cars that not everyone accepts, but the people in the know appreciate them for quality, design, or value.
So for me, my new Saab will be a Hyundai.
Let the fanboi shit fest begin. Might I add before that I have bought a new Saab in the past year, been in Saabs for two decades and had at least two in the family at any one time? Nah.
