Good Bye Saab, and Good Riddance!

[SkiFree]

Classic Saabs are just as ugly.

Could not disagree more.

[VinniE30]

This is a real saab

[gkobez]

Classic Saabs are just as ugly.

[SkiFree]

Give me a classic Saab any day of the week. If you guys would have seen Mr. Castriota's upcoming 9-3 then I doubt there would be much of this blathering. (which is largely left over from the GM days).

[ainadude]

I'll just assume all you haters are referring to the GM-era Saabs, which, with the possible exception of a few years of Viggins, were indeed miserable, corporate-stamped vanilla shit.

Go back a few years, though -- back when the company was comfortably in the black and actually in the driver's seat -- and Saab was designing some very cool automobiles, namely the 99 (pictured) and its successor, the original 900 series. In their day, these were legitimate competition for the 3-series, especially the sports-oriented 99EMS/Turbo and 900 Turbo models.

I owned a fuel-injected 1974 99LE in my early 20s and remember it fondly. Fun to drive -- despite the nose-heavy FWD -- and excellent build quality with some cool features (always loved the floor-mounted ignition switch and it was my first car with a clamshell hood). Very durable and easy to maintain, too. Owning a Saab back then was sort of like having a nice E30 today. You didn't see a lot of them in good condition, but when you did you could count on the other driver glancing your way to give you an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The blue 99 in the picture -- billed as probably the only '84 in the U.S. -- is up for sale right now. If I had the garage space, I'd almost certainly pick it up.

RIP, Saab. A select few of us enjoyed your day in the sun.

[priapism]

Homework I have done sir! :)
I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into a few Volvo's now.
Been in a Volvo family since the beginning.

I just find it sensible to draw connections between the degradation of quality in parts/components since the Ford acquisition. Put a S/V90 (960) against an S80 (Volvo's successive executive level car), for example.

Just saying, I'd trust my 1992 Volvo 240 ANY day over the parents' XC70. I have spent countless hours working on both in various areas, and whenever comparing a certain component of the car, the 240 wins. Yes, while the 240 was Volvo's more "basic" model, comparable to the times V40 (now V50), the difference in build quality is quite evident.

Ask any independent Volvo Mechanic they'll say the same.

Another big note to be taken:
Volvo was irresponsible when choosing said transmission from Aisin to supply for their S60, V70, XC70, and XC90 models. There people in the company who objected, but weren't listened to, due to matter of costs.

And don't even get me started on Volvo's piece-of-shit choice in AWD system (maybe previous system found in the P2 cars). Weak Drive-shafts, Axles, etc..

The A-W transmissions on their own weren't terrible, but Volvo's idiotic "stop-neutral" software could well be what buried the company. Tons of other companies use the same transmission but Volvo is the only one reporting massive failure rates.

For decades the smartest move you could make was to buy a 150k mile old Volvo for like $2k because it would go another 150k miles like clockwork. I helped the girl buy an S60 with 139k on it. Holy shit was that the worst move I've ever made. That car was just flat worn out. Volvo died because they lost sight of their original plan.

[frankenbeemer]

studebakers have always been ugly, fact.
Studebakers have always been driven by hippies, lesbians, and losers, fact.
Studebakers have always been overpriced, underperforming lumps of turd, fact.

[ATTACH]50060[/ATTACH]

[slammin.e28]

that's complete bullshit... my father's a saab mechanic and we order parts for the every single day... parts are just as available as for any car. as far as working on them, if you dont know wtf your doing, yea it maybe hard. but if you do... its quite a simple car to work on.

I work in parts at a Indie shop. I know how to order parts.

Getting told a few weeks ago that I may or may not see the springs I ordered depending on whether SAAB went under then, I lost all confidence. They can't even give me an ETA on parts I order anymore. Don't get me started on the old piles of shit, we quit working on any SAAB from 1996 and back.

Seriously though, why would the DEALER not stock spark plugs? Riddle me this.

Only reason I was getting them from the dealer was Worldpac kept sending me the wrong ones, and Merchants, or whoever the cheap ass took the car to before, put some bullshit that was throwing misfire codes and fried the ignition block.

[ohthejosh]

Springs and BBS RS's can make almost any car desirable. I think. lol.

[Bimmerman325i]

that.....I kinda want that.

[ohthejosh]

obligatory pic of sweet ass volvo parts hauler :D

[Roland H]

^That's me.

Bought for $50 at 215k miles, now at 295k miles, rolled the car once (so I had to replace the windsheild), oil changes = optional, oil pressure = optional, clutch dumps almost every light, drifting, caught on fire, etc... just won't die. I got backed into in a lot by some lady, she gave me $500 (her insurance deductible) and left me with some small dings.

I think I'm into the car about $110 total including brakes, but excluding consumables such as oil, gas, and tires. With tires, it's probably around $300, which has gotten my 80,000 miles.

The newer ones are garbage though, the 850/S70/V70 platforms fall apart predictably and fast around 180k miles (I've had 4). 240s are nearly indestructible, however. I'd buy one brand new if I could.

[Bimmerman325i]

I'm not really a fan of Volvo, but even I have to admit that the older ones are damn near indestructible. Good BMW friend of mine is also a huge volvo addict, and yet his DD is an old 240 that he bought for $50 and has tried his best to kill...yet it keeps running. 150 miles with no oil pressure was the latest feat, and it didn't even care. It's about to hit 300k miles and doesn't seem to be fazed at all.

If you want a dependable safe easy to work on car, you can't beat an old 240.

[ohthejosh]

I want a Volvo wagon as a parts hauler :) A nice modded hauler that is.

[freeride53]

Volvo only got funding from Ford under their ownership, nothing from Ford was put into Volvo's to make them worse than they already were.

Do your homework son

Homework I have done sir! :)
I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into a few Volvo's now.
Been in a Volvo family since the beginning.

I just find it sensible to draw connections between the degradation of quality in parts/components since the Ford acquisition. Put a S/V90 (960) against an S80 (Volvo's successive executive level car), for example.

Just saying, I'd trust my 1992 Volvo 240 ANY day over the parents' XC70. I have spent countless hours working on both in various areas, and whenever comparing a certain component of the car, the 240 wins. Yes, while the 240 was Volvo's more "basic" model, comparable to the times V40 (now V50), the difference in build quality is quite evident.

Ask any independent Volvo Mechanic they'll say the same.

Another big note to be taken:
Volvo was irresponsible when choosing said transmission from Aisin to supply for their S60, V70, XC70, and XC90 models. There people in the company who objected, but weren't listened to, due to matter of costs.

And don't even get me started on Volvo's piece-of-shit choice in AWD system (maybe previous system found in the P2 cars). Weak Drive-shafts, Axles, etc..