Folksam Report 2017. How safe is a Saab?

The insurance company Folksam publishes the ranking of the safest vehicles every year. A tradition since the year 1983 and particularly exciting for Saab drivers. Because their cars are getting older. Are you still sure?

Above average in the Folksam Report 2017. Saab 9 5. Image: Saab Automobile AB

The Folksam Report is based on real accident data. 292 vehicle types were evaluated for the study. 170.000 accidents from the years 1994 to 2016 provided data, the evaluation is exciting.

Because the Saab vehicle population is aging, and the recent new releases of Saab were no longer included in the report. The reason is obvious. Saab 9-5 NG and 9-4x are too rare and thus hardly represented in the accident scene. Representative data that could be evaluated does not exist.

All Saab 9-3 generations, Saab 9-5 I, Saab 9000 and both Saab 900 variants were rated.

Folksam Report 2017, the result:
  • Saab 9-5 I, 98 - 09. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
  • Saab 9-3 II, 03 - 12. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
  • Saab 9-3, 98 - 02. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
  • Saab 900 II, 94 - 98. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
  • Saab 9000, 85 - 98. Average security
  • Saab 900, 79 - 87. Below average. 20% worse than the average

Amazed? Almost all models from Saab can still be considered as above average safe. The 9000 cuts, as a car from the year 1985, also surprisingly brave. And that the classic 900 is no longer up to date, should surprise anybody and grieve no one. Because his result is respectable.

The relationship? There are differences in security.

Especially when we take a look at vehicles beyond the Saab world. The Saab 900 II is based in part on the bottom section of the Vectra A. There must be greater differences in this family relationship. Because the Vectra cuts at Folksam catastrophic. Its safety is 40% below the cut, and thus below the level of the older Saab 901.

And even the Vectra B wins no fame for the traditional Opel brand. He donated his bottom group to the 9-5 I. It was thoroughly revised in Sweden. And so the Saab 9-5 is still 20% above average and is a very safe car. The Vectra B is only average safe.

What do you learn from it? On the one hand, that a Saab is not an Opel and that the Swedes thoroughly understood their craft. That gives a good feeling. On the other hand, that even an above-average product does not guarantee the survival of a brand.

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saab_owl
saab_owl
6 years earlier

I feel completely safe in the 9-5I, in all weathers, active and passive. I also have the impression that the 9-5I was more thoughtful to its competitors at launch than the 9-5II. I can still remember the first crash test videos of the 9-5II, they did not convince me as much as the 9-5I did. As I said, my subjective feeling. No doubt Saab has compared 9-5I-Vectra u. 9-5II-Insignia, 1997 delivered the more impressive results.

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
6 years earlier

It would be interesting to know the parameters and criteria of the report ...

Is only the impact on the vehicle and its occupants assessed, or also the frequency with which vehicles of a certain type are involved in accidents at all? That could also be an indication of more or less security. For example, through better or worse lighting, brakes, etc. ...

In this case, not only technical factors played a role, but also the part of brand or vehicle type influenced driver behavior.

Anyway, if up to 32 (!) Years old SAABs still average and all SAAB models of up to 26 (!) Years still outperform, that means a lot! ! !
.

Dieter Rohde
6 years earlier

I have now been able to acquire a Saab magazine from 1991 magazine 3 after a long search. There you see a Saab 9000 after an accident. A BMW rammed with 140-160 hourly kilometer, the Saab at the height of the front axle. Normally, the BMW II would have drilled the driver's door and caught on the B pillar.
The photos show impressively as the construction with the flank protection made of bronce steel in Tula
was saved, the life of the driver. The soft sheet metal parts were pressed around the flank protection. The driver
He got a bump on his head and got glass spliter from the side window.
The Indneure which examined the vehicles true opinion that the driver from any known vehicle would have considered. The BMW had to be geschween from his vehicle.
Today I'm driving an 93 Aero, an 2000 95 3,0v6t and an 2001 convertible out of conviction.

For some of today's vehicles see a rather frugal flank protection in the doors not so relevant to the
5 star test are.

GP362
GP362
6 years earlier
Reply to  Dieter Rohde

That's exactly the point. Today, everything is only designed for laboratory values. Consumption and exhaust emissions have nothing to do with reality. So lied could there be doubts about the crash test stars.
At the time, SAAB evaluated real accidents. For example, the 902 got the more stable construction around the windshield, so that it could compete against Elche without appearing as a convertible afterwards - it was also new at the time.

Mountain goat
Mountain goat
6 years earlier
Reply to  GP362

... and that was the reason to buy my 1998st SAAB in 1. The economical engines as well, of course ...
1998, I could not speak to a customer of Audi, BMW or similar manufacturers, the real (!) Consumption (in 1 / 3 mix) of 8 8,5 Ltr. On 100 Km could top.

GP362
GP362
6 years earlier
Reply to  Mountain goat

I note that with my 902 2.0 Turbo 185PS. Did the other day for the first time 700Km round turned and was really positively surprised, just 8 liter!
That would not have made my 9000 under the same conditions.

mountain saab
mountain saab
6 years earlier

the relatives of the 9000 are probably no longer in the list, so Lancia Thema, Alfa164 and Fiat Chroma?

EF-moose
EF-moose
6 years earlier

Actually, the results are hardly surprising, except for the 9000er - I'm not quite sure anymore, but I think I remember that the same one won an award in Sweden at the beginning of the 90s
“Safest production vehicle in its class”!?
Can't really believe that the 900II is supposed to be safer than the 9000, I still have photos from the crash test at the beginning of production - well, it wasn't just positive….

No matter, the main thing that happens to people nothing worse and the Saab number is not reduced even by accidents.
But good to know what you're sitting in when it happens

EF-moose
EF-moose
6 years earlier
Reply to  Tom

Even better !!!

Bajuware
Bajuware
6 years earlier

As you can see again the great longevity of SAAB! It's always nice to be on the road with a SAAB!

Klaus Dyroff
Klaus Dyroff
6 years earlier

We feel safe in our 900 from 1991. In addition, we drive passively with Saabinchen. For a model that is almost 30 years old, the 900 is a safe vehicle.