1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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After a relatively short shopping period, I am now a proud owner of Saab 9-3 SS. For what it's worth, here's briefly my experience purchasing this car. I was looking for a premium non-boring compact sedan, suitable for both the everyday family use, and for fun driving experience. I wanted to pay somewhere around $30K for the car, and did want an automatic transmission.
Saab was not even on consideration list, while Audi A4 was my personal front runner. I test drove BMW 325xi AWD (drives nice, but didn't care for the interior plus way overpriced with even simple things offered as options (rear fold-down seats optional? give me a break), Lexus IS300 (was not fun to drive, at least for me; interior, although granted maybe only that particular one, felt like a racing car wanna be copycat), Audi A4 (not bad, liked the new CVT transmission, didn't care much for the red dash lights, and for the ergonomics of the controls).
I stopped at the Saab dealership almost by accident, and was pretty much immediately taken by the new 9-3. Driving is fun, the car is very responsive on the road, and plenty fast. Feature-by-feature I found it to be very close to Audi A4 1.8T, with Audi having (arguably) better transmission, somewhat better service (free maintenance includes wear and tear items, and lasts 4 years/50K miles vs/ Saab's 3 years/36K miles), and somewhat better price (A4 1.8T I looked at with a similar set of features had MSRP of $29,435 (no Xenon headlights, no OnStar, 15" tires) vs. Saab's $32,285 (with automatic, Launch, Touring, heated seats). I guess in reality the MSRP ends up being about the same once you add the missing options. Well, on the other hand, I did like much better the way 9-3 handled itself on the road, its better safety features, and better engine. Well, to make a long story short, I decided to go for a Saab (I guess they can claim at least one Audi convert).
I ended up getting a very good price for the car - perhaps buying it on December 24th had something to do with it. I paid $29,583 for the car (2.0t Linear, with automatic/Launch/Touring/heated seats/metallic paint), and taking the 0% financing option instead of a $1000 cash back. My only reservations were related to upcoming availability of Arc and Vector, with Arc having more comfort features I am interested in, much better stereo (Linear's speakers and amplifier quite frankly don't cut it), and a better engine. On the other hand it would cost me much more, and would not be available for another few months, so I think I probably made a good choice.
In any case, I hope my experience will be useful for someone. I am enjoying my new car now, and hope to continue doing so for a long time ;^)
-M-
posted by 66.92.160...
, Sat, 28 Dec 2002 15:11:49
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