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I went through the Saab selling experience about a year ago and it took me about 6 months of on-and-off effort by myself to sell a top condition 1995 900SE (V-6/auto). Unfortunately a number of people who called and came to see the car had absolutely not clue re what Saabs are all about - i.e. some of the memorable reasons for declining interest upon seeing the car in person were "its too small" (didn't you know size the car was when you called about it?) and "I don't like the color" (after I had described the color in great detail on the phone before she arrived to look at the car).
So, first of all, don't expect that the buyer knows all that much about Saabs in general.
Some things that I would suggest:
1) make sure the car is absolutely top notch re appearance, with the paint cleaned up and waxed, and with a high level of detailing evident (appearance is what really turns buyers on (and off);
2)depending upon the price you are asking, see if you can advertise the car at a local college (i.e. bulletin board, newspaper, etc.); Saabs do appeal to kids in college;
3) try posting the car on some internet bulletin boards (my current car
is a great 1994 Aero that I found on an internet car sales site; the car was in New Hampshire, I live in New Jersey and I would have otherwise never known that it existed except for the posting; I wanted an Aero badly enough that I was more than willing to drive 5 hours to go see (and subsequently buy) the car;
4) be patient; when my patience was about to run out, I took my 1995 900 SE to a Saab dealer and got an offer of $6,800 for it. I decided to wait a bit more, and within 2 weeks had an offer from a private buyer for $9,600.
5) make up a typed list of the maintenance history, all repairs, all recently installed parts (battery, tires, etc.), oil change frequency, etc.; when a potential buyer comes to look at the car, hand them a copy of this list; if they are remotely interested in the car, your list should help to assure them that you are selling a well maintained car; also, put all of your maintenance and repair bills in a manila folder and show them that you have the actual repair receipts to back up the data on your list of repairs and maintenance;
6) Re the issue of comparing the car to a BMW and Mercedes, go to Edmunds.com and look up the wholesale and retail values of the Mercedes C class and BMW 3 series for the same year as your Saab. These prices will almost certainly be much higher than that of your Saab. When a "looker" comments on Saab versus the BMW/Mercedes you can comment on what a much better value the Saab is and tell them (or show them the print out from Edmunds)the prices of the BMW and Mercedes. To rebut any comments on Saab quality levels versus BMW or Mercedes, I would question the "looker" as to why neither BMW or Mercedes has had the courage to put their cars through the Talledega Challenge (running their cars flat out at top speed for 24 consecutive hours in front of the press) that Saab has done twice (with the 9000 and the NG 900). If the German cars are that good, why no public torture tests.
Have patience, do the above actions and best of luck.
posted by 158.252.4...
, Thu, 10 Jan 2002 23:53:50
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