Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 12:34:20 GMT From: "Chris" <smiecnopsami.com> Subject: Re: Hello. I'm joining the club. I'm buying a '99 9-5 today.
Congratulations on seeing the light :) I actually just got my 1999 9-5 SE V6 last Wednseday. It has 44k miles, and I paid $18,000 for it. It is black, and in truly outstanding condition. I would say that the only thing to watch out for are the maintenance costs... I just called my local Saab dealer to see how much is the 30k service, and he quoted me $585, for changing engine oil, trans oil, flushing the radiator, and changing air/pollen/charcoal filters... But I like the car so much I don't care... We are now a swedish car family! My wife bought a 2000 Volvo S70 GLT last year, now I have a Saab... It's kind of funny, because prior to that she had a Chrysler 300M and I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Her lease came due, and we saw the Volvo at the Chrysler's dealership when we were turning the 300M in. She immediately fell in love with it, she got it the same day. My Jeep was a retail purchase (bad decision) and after MANY problems with it I decided to sell it before the warranty runs out. I took it to CarMax at the beginning of April and they actually gave me a fair price, so I left it there. Originally I wanted to get another SUV, but I just couldn't find anything interesting. Then last week I went to my local used car dealership and there it was - the 9-5. I never even considered one before, but the minute I saw it I knew it had to be mine. And since the Saabs aren't exactly the hottest sellers out there, I had a lot of fun negotiating the price :) The original sticker was $21,000... "jag" <whereamirnotnopsami.com> wrote in message news:bN8w8.39530$V44.259nopsamnsc53... > Hi, > > I hope to be on the path to the way tomorrow. I'm buying a 9-5. It's a > white 1999 SE model with most all the trimmings, including the ventilated > seats (should very nice in in Texas). It has 35k miles, but the car is in > really excellent condition. It has been babied. For 20 large, and hopefully > a new set of rubber & auto dimming mirror, is this a good thing? > > So, before I digress into our we saw the light, any last minute advice, > cautions, warnings? > > ---warning - long digression on how we came to Saab --- > It was a long road to this decision (sorry abut the pun). We are replacing > our main SUV, a 1991 Rodeo XS, which has been very faithful. But after 12 > years (130k), I cannot blame my wife for wanting a few luxuries, like power > windows and locks ; ). We ran the entire gamut of "affordable" SUVs, from > Honda to Saturn to Ford (liars) to Jeep and we had settled on the Jeep > Liberties. Sweet car, though short on luggage space. So I did my homework, > a part of which was perusing the classified for the latest and greatest > deal. I threw a bunch of used car classics at my wife. None stuck. Till I > remembered test driving the S60 Volvo for my mom (along with the A6, Lexus > IS300 & RX300, and others), and how I really liked that car. And my wife > remembered my raves. But at $30k+, It was outside my practical price range. > > But a used S80 - that is a bargain. From $40k to $25, maybe $22. So we > test drove a bunch of these. Very luxurious. Very nice. But as I searched > for the "right" car, I started reading more and more about the Saabs. > Everything looked great on paper. So off to the only dealer in town. We > started with the convertible of course. So nice. But our hopes for a > larger family on the horizon ruled it out for my wife. She said it was too > hard to reach into the back. I of course point out that you just open the > top... anyway. Then the true heartache started. > > A 9-3 or a 9-5. What a wonderful dilemma. I made up my mind easily. I > liked the little joys in the 9-5. Dual a/c zones? Brilliant. I am much > more warm bodied than my wife. Having my "special" place in the car makes > me feel like a god, well at least a minor deity in a nice region of the > universe. Vented seats? Texas was built on A/C. The more, the merrier. > So says my bum. Now if the price difference for a little used car was much > larger, I would not indulge in this trivia wonders. But finding a 9-3SE at > a significant diff is hard to do. It's not like there is a lot of choice > out there, esp. with my wife's restrictions - which were - > > She LOVES the 9-3. In white. An SE (power seats - what crack head devised > the cruel controls to manipute the manual seats - NOT EASY. Esp. if one > shares the car). She finds it very sporty. I must agree on this. It > reminds me of the 1980's 928 porsche 3dr my dad owned (another subject - as > I would like to recliam this car). She was TORN. (sorry for the screaming - > and these digressions, but it's late). Anyway. Sporty vs. size. In the > end, as we were driving a nice '00 9-3 SE ($19K if any one is looking, 27k > miles - couple of dings, but very nice in Arlington. TX) back to the dealer, > she told me to call for the white car. Same reason we did not choose the > topless model. Size does matter. > > I'll left quite a bit out for the sake of brevity - like her color > preferences changing from "no way in white" to dark blue to black to white. > But this will be her daily driver. I'll have it when we go out in style, > and when she isn't looking. Although I don't mind my car - 1991 Toyota > Cresida I bought off my mom. Just 200 miles shy of 100k. Ugly, but filled > with joy. It drives as well, if not better than most all the cars I test > drove. Saabers can relate. > --- end of wandering --- > > > >
