7 years Saabblog.net. And what it does to us.

Anniversaries run according to a well-established scheme. You celebrate, pat yourself warmly on the shoulder and confirm to yourself how great everything went. The inevitable look back must not be missing ... and then you go on.

7 years Saabblog.net

It is not quite as trivial in the case of the Saabblog.net project. 7 years have passed and the blog has experienced a lot - and the readers with it. Perhaps it has done a lot, and maybe it has influenced and changed the automotive life and everyday life of one or the other reader.

I have to admit that it has had a lasting effect on my understanding of mobility. Not as it was expected at the beginning. But, influenced by the not happy development in Sweden, in a different way and a new direction. I admit, I changed the cars quite fast some years ago. 2 or 3 years maximum, then a new model was due. Was there a facelift at Saab, which was rarely the case, then I wanted it. For that, the share deposit was looted and the money was joyfully carried to the Saab partner.

And today? A therapist would say patient healed. With the withdrawal of Saab new cars, which are no longer exist and give, the purchase request is extinguished. Not complete, but in consequence. It's not that I would not like one or the other new car. But when you look at the price tag or the leasing rate, the interest goes out. A Mercedes is not a Saab, a BMW either. An Audi would never come into my house, and a Porsche is at most highly enticing. But no Saab.

The shares remain in the custody account, the money in the account. The cars in the hall remain the same, and the holding time increases and rises. 6 or 7 years are average, and the trend is upwards. You could call this lived sustainability what Saab and the blog do with me. Maybe that's how it is, and at a certain moment you realize that Saab driving is slowing down life.

The topic of new investments is off the table. The challenge of “maintenance and substance maintenance”, if you plan it properly, is budget-friendly. You start to smile when your neighbors pant from one leasing contract to the next. And suddenly you find yourself outside, beyond the consumer circus.

Is it good? Safe for the environment, at least relaxing for me. I have to admit that fortunate, external circumstances add to this. The mega-topic of digitization, which our political parties spontaneously discovered last week, has been turning my professional life upside down for several years. More and more is being done on the web, the classic on-site appointments are reducing at a breathtaking pace. A company car that I was thinking out loud on the blog 2 years ago is no longer on the plan. Instead, it is rented on a temporary basis if required. Via a large car rental company, which has the advantage that you have access from anywhere and can drop off the car anywhere.

The result? You drive with different makes and is still happy when you sit back in a Saab at the end of the day. A soothing analog car, without Lane Keeping Assistant, without collision warning, without admonition to keep the speed and so on. But just a place without influence by the cloud. One of the places that is getting rarer.

I find myself finding the old Saabs more likeable than the newer ones. I prefer a 9000 to a 9-5, a 9-3 I to a 9-3 II. Back to basics? Permanent? Maybe ... What makes you happy is accepted.

What's next The blog project is in its 8th year. This means that Saabblog.net is online much longer than I would have ever expected. It is, and I have to say, not a life project for me. It is a matter of course for me that I will pull the plug at some point. The only question is when. The project, and that is the fascination with it, lives and does what it wants. It controls itself through external influences. By listening to what people tell me about Saab, Trollhättan and the history of the brand. How they live with Saab in the present, and what Saab does with them. That Saab is a part of their life and more than just a car for many is a fact.

Maybe the blog makes the life of some readers a bit more colorful, sustainable, relaxed. Then a lot would have been achieved and I would be happy!

In this sense. Happy birthday, crazy Saab project!

21 Comments
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Anddeu
6 years earlier

Congratulations on the day of honor!
My “car consumption” has also changed over the past few years. In the meantime I could even imagine - with the right infrastructure - not owning a car anymore and using sharing offers. It is sometimes exciting in which directions things can develop that previously seemed unimaginable. But now I'm looking forward to the start of the season ...

Griffin
Griffin
6 years earlier

Hello Blogteam,

Congratulations and a big thank you for the time and effort. But it was worth it! This blog has done a lot for the brand SAAB has given a voice where others have long since fallen silent.

As much as I can understand a certain writing fatigue, this forum should still be a contact point for all “Saabists” in the future - in whatever form.

Heiko
Heiko
6 years earlier

Happy Birthday Saabblog.net
Ich war bis zum Niedergang 2011 von Saab überzeugter BMW Fahrer. Ich verfolgte was mit Saab passierte und stieß auf den Blog. Mein drang ein Auto dieser kleinen sympathischen Marke zu fahren wurde immer größer. Anfang 2013 kaufte ich dann meinen ersten. Tom hat mich da als Quereinsteiger gut beraten. 2013 kam noch eine Chrombrille für meine Frau dazu . Mein Traum war immer ein 9-5 NG, den ich mir dann letztes Jahr erfüllt habe. Also ich kann allen ernstes behaupten ohne den Blog wäre ich nicht zu Saab gekommen. Ich finde es schade das es keine Produktion mehr gibt (wir alle haben es hier verfolgt) aber ich habe nie bereut mich für Saab entschieden zu haben.

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
6 years earlier
Reply to  Heiko

A nice SAAB story and biography. And so closely connected with Tom.
Hopefully the plug stays in the blog for many years to come.

Again, high and long he should live!

textjaegerMax Wieberneit
6 years earlier

Dear Tom, thank you very much for the blog and the very profound article on the anniversary, which has occupied me several times in the past in its reflection on sustainability in discussions with my father and friends. I drove my last Saab 9-3 I convertible for 9 years and then sold it to a Saab fan whose 900 II convertible had already run 490t km and who now wanted to buy a “new” one in the form of my 187t km 9-3er. My replacement: a 2001 9-3 I convertible with 83t km that I intend to drive for the next 10 years. Nice side effect: friends always recognize you in the unusual car for such a long time and say hello ;-). In all contacts with other Saab drivers (mostly because of spare parts, but also with kind regards), I am always positively surprised at how much a quirk can weld you together and that with always very friendly handling.
I'm looking forward to more years in the Saab and hopefully many more years here in the blog.
Max

Terry Hawkins
Terry Hawkins
6 years earlier

Many cheers / Prost to you all….

Eddi
Eddi
6 years earlier

Dear Tom,

Thanks for the great 7 (seven) !!! Years and the great work you and your team have done to maintain our love for the old Swedes!
I also look after my 4 Swedes and I can't imagine driving another car ...
Think about that with the plug - it would be a shame about the Saab Spirit, which lives not least through this blog!
Keep on Saabin '

Charles
Charles
6 years earlier

Dear Tom,
Dear Blogger Team,

I can not believe that 7 years have passed!
You have given me, and certainly the Saab community, so many insights, awakened the joy of driving our cars, and the will in us to keep our Saabs running and keeping alive.

For that you deserve praise, thanks and appreciation!

Please keep going and you should not even think about plugging!

All the best and love from Vienna and to many more exciting and interesting 7 years!

Christian

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
6 years earlier

Dear team, supporters of the blog and readers,

what blogger Tom describes as “a lot” and a reason to be happy (if you had achieved it) the blog and its supporters have easily achieved in ANY CASE. Rather more. At least! ! ! At least that's my perception.

Thank you very much & happy birthday.

PS
Blogger's own observations on the declining interest in new cars and the growing appreciation for older SAABs I certainly do not share here.
The location of such self-observations as a whole, that is, within global technical, economic and social developments, is something to which I am unreservedly attached. Also this probably no exception, but rather zeitgeist. At least here!
In this respect, blog, supporters and readers point far beyond the interest in one or this brand for me. Very, very far. May the larger (and exciting) context help to postpone the pull on the plug (also mentioned today) to St. Never Day ...

In addition to thanks and congratulations, that is at least my urgent wish.

High he should live and long he should live! ! ! Three times high.

GP362
GP362
6 years earlier

Hi Tom,

a nice article on the blog for seven years - congratulations!
That the SAAB story will take this run once, seven years ago, no one would like to think.

I was never a fast car changer and when I bought the last 1998 CSE at the beginning of 9000, it quickly became clear to me that it would stay with us as long as possible. It's now 20 years. The 902 convertible came before 16 years ago.

After the end of the hatchbacks (9-3I), no modern SAAB triggered any real buying stimulus for me. Buying stimulus only arose at the end of SAAB, when I thought I had to equip myself for the future. But it was the OLD ones again. A second 9000 was added for daily use five years ago and the Talladega Coupé as a fun vehicle in December 16. In addition, there is now a large parts shelf in the basement - having is better than needing!

All this would have but without the blog and the car dealership Lafrentz in Kiel certainly not accepted these proportions. The great events and the nice people we met there are always fun and that must be kept alive!

Life with the old SAAB is completely relaxed! Somehow they do not age. They are still more suitable for everyday use than some new cars and you can appear everywhere with a well-kept old SAAB.

Max May
Max May
6 years earlier

Hi Tom,

Congratulations to the blog anniversary!
I've been reading the articles for almost as long now - and I'm happy about every single one: lived SAAB spirit :).

And I can only agree with everything else: The maintenance of existing buildings is gaining more and more weight
I look forward to the upcoming articles - and see you again.

Warm, sweet greetings
Max

Thorsten Pohl
Thorsten Pohl
6 years earlier

Hi Tom,
Now I like to read the blog again and again, from time to time I see parallel to me and my Saab.
Mine is in the underground car park has about 45.000 km on the odometer and is only moved when the weather is nice. Model year 2006. It is a 9-3 convertible that I exchanged 6 years ago for my old Postgelben 9-3 Saab convertible which already had about 200.000km. But miss my old Saabine, the new one is no longer a Saab, but just. Well, I also have the feeling that when I drive my “Saabine” I am simply on the road, it's true it's the best car in the world. For this reason, I only drive you to Saab meetings.

The reason why I drove a Saab is the 1984 drove a Saab in a Mercedes S-class in the trunk, at a red light in Munich, I would not have seen this collision accident myself, I could not have said whether the Saab drove into the Mercedes At the Mercedes, the bumper could be found behind the row of seats. At the Saab the bumper was a bit dented, As my father said the best in Germany is a Mercedes, then nothing will come for a long time and then this brand Saab comes at most a Volvo, these are the most stable cars in the world. So I knew at some point I'll buy a Saab, in Germany that was out of the question, because you drive a German car, now I'm almost 20 years in Switzerland and drive since then Saab. Here with change numbers with a German car. That's the way it is.

So many greetings Thorsten

chen
chen
6 years earlier

Congratulations on the 7 years. And thank you for keeping the blog still around. Unfortunately, I only discovered it last year and I am very sorry that it has not enriched me for a long time. It's great to see that Saab still moves so many people. I really hope that the plug just won't pull ...

Bjorn
Bjorn
6 years earlier

So Saab is always fun. Thanks to the whole team! We are all infected by Saab, and I have already infected people with the Saab virus. Driving sustainability Saab is simply unbeatable and makes you even more in a jolly mood. I repeat myself, but I will drive Saabs until no more mobile cars can be found. I hope so many people are like this.

Eric
Eric
6 years earlier
Reply to  Bjorn

Fully agree!
I am also one who will drive Saab all his life.
Especially those from the 90ers are just awesome!
And as long as it is somehow I chauffeured a 90er years Saab!

architect
architect
6 years earlier

Saab connects.
Empathy, culture, driving life-joy has always promoted the brand and that is what it needs to get!

Zsolt
Zsolt
6 years earlier

Congratulations on your birthday! And pull the thing with the plug? Well, everyone knows he'll die someday. Nevertheless, one tries to live on in the best of health as long as possible. I wish the same for the blog and its “makers” !!!

Saab team
Saab team
6 years earlier

Continue writing as long as it's fun! I have enjoyed almost every article so far, a day without a blog is a day where something is missing. 7 years would be a goal again. Thank you!

hansmichael ortlepp
hansmichael ortlepp
6 years earlier

Hey tom! For the thought of stopping to write your great comments, you should start scourging yourself now! It is unheard of and downright disgusting that at some point you want to pull the plug.
Where else can we get more excited about SAAB without indulging in your informative and great reports? So - hold up guys and keep delighting us with the blog! With kind regards from Bamberg.

Gebhard Ullrich
Gebhard Ullrich
6 years earlier

Hello Tom, congratulations to 7 years of passionate and profound reporting and once again a big thank you to the whole team for that. The block and the great community are the lifeblood of our saabige passion and for me indispensable. I hope the thought of quitting is still far in the future.

Aero 9-3
Aero 9-3
6 years earlier

Congratulations to the entire Blogger team!
The previous articles have been amusing, informative, arousing curiosity and critical. Wonderful! 🙂 THANK YOU for the additional plus in life! For this, too, the blog donations were always an affair of the heart….
My aero is history ... unfortunately. The mind was the decisive factor. But with that I also had a new unknown "problem", as Tom describes it so aptly. Which brand is in the carport ??? 🙁
Well, the solution is found, but I'm not satisfied. It is like it is. I'm coming dry from A to B.
Is not SAAB.
I can understand many things in the current article very well: Consumption reduction :-), relaxed life, sustainable thinking, annoyed by peepers of all kinds etc.
Yes, the blog did something to me, including that I write (!), Because otherwise there is almost nothing on the net ...
The blog has clearly emotionalized for SAAB, which makes me happy. Fun and good mood, the (all) day nice. I enjoy it!
Thanks for these 7 years!