[SpikemanII]

Was tooling around yesterday, and noticed a 2005 SAAB 93 2.0t at Sam's club. Ah, yes! Home of the 400 role pack of toilet paper. I checked it out from the right side, front, then back. When I checked the left side where the sticker was, I damn near fell over. ~ $31,900! WTF? I also noticed that it's only the 170 HP 2.0 liter and not the 210. Now, it did come with nice rims, leather, and XM, but that seems really, really high priced for a 170 HP car. It made me appreciate my 205+ RL that I got for 18k with everything including a great warrenty. Just an observation.....

 

[Icon]

The Saab 9-3 is a fine vehicle in its own right

That's an excellent point, Spikeman. I considered purchasing a 9-3; strong points in its favour are the interior refinement (even the base gets great leather), overall fit and finish, sophisticated electronics, attractive styling, and most importantly safety. The 9-3 is the first passenger vehicle to achieve the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) Double Best Pick (this was in their base vehicle).

Have you seen the thick A-Pillars? I've read that they're designed to stop 1500 lbs of frickin' moose from barrelling through your windshield. I'm not sure how often this happens in Sweden; I'm sure it's not pretty, either way. So if it comes to collisions with other vehicles, large stationary objects, or gargantuan mammals, I'd rather that me and my loved ones were in a Saab. As for shopping carts, and golfballs, I'd take the Saturn polymer panels in a heartbeat.

All in all, I am happy with my Ion, but if I had more money, the Saab 9-3 Aero (Thanks for the transmission!) or 3.6L CTS might be in my driveway instead. Thanks for the post; I do appreciate my RLI just a bit more...

 

[Sp00ner]

The guy I share my office with at work has the 9-3, something-or-other. I think it's the middle model. Not totally sure, he laughs every time he gets in my car and looks at the shifter. I've never seen it, he takes the train to get here, but I was looking at it online with him. It was REALLY nice inside. He got a great deal on it, he put almost 75% down on the car. Nothing like walking into a dealer, ready to cut a $20,000 check.

 

[Smurf]

I wanted the 9-3 convertible but it was $42,000......such a beautiful car though

 

[SpikemanII]

I wanted the 9-3 convertible but it was $42,000......such a beautiful car though

Agreed. They are a hell of a car, just seemed kind of high priced. If I had 42K, I think I would rather have a 'vette!

 

[Justin]

IMO, Saab's are the worse priced cars on the market. I think it's pretty redonkuless that a 9-3 drop top would go for over $40K. The cars are pretty cool, but not $30K+ cool.