"No more Saabs will be bought!"

This statement comes not from me, but from my better half. If it were up to me, there would be at least 3 more models on our farm. But from the beginning:

My first Saab, a blue 900i 2.1-16V, I bought at the tender age of 27. How it came about is quickly told. I needed a car, it looked good, it was somehow different and most important, it fit the budget.

Having enjoyed the benefits of excellent heating and automatic seat heating for one winter, however, I felt it would be a little faster next spring.

The only dealer who voluntarily volunteered a Saab 900 back then was a free Saab workshop in my hometown. Here again was the new object of desire, an 9000 Turbo16, 1. Series in gray metallic with velor finish and air conditioning. Only a short negotiation was negotiated, to be precise, it was just a simple exchange.

I was happy, the Saab went like a sack of mosquitos, even leaving the 528i of my boss at the time behind me when accelerating out after the local exit sign. When my boss asked me what had been done to the car, I only replied: "No, normal 2-liter turbo from Saab ..."

As so often in life, everything beautiful goes by and the time with our 9000 Turbo was finite. Various other brands followed, all more or less mass-produced, but mostly quite highly motorized. At least something… 😉

The first re-approach to Swedish automobiles came a few years later with a Volvo V70 2.4T with 193PS and gas system. Inexpensive to drive and harmoniously motorized. Unfortunately it was not very durable and so it was exchanged for a V70R with 239PS shortly thereafter. There it was again, that secure feeling of always having more than enough power available. There was only one minor flaw, it wasn't a Saab ...

Winter 2013, on the tablet, I rummaged through the offers of an online auction house and I noticed an offer: A Saab 9 3 AERO sports sedan in laser red, a few miles and even fewer bids on it, I had to bid on it!

What can I say, the woman was not thrilled, we still had the V70R in the yard. We agreed on a manageable maximum bid, which we would offer.

My fear that our bid was too low did not materialize and 3 - 2 - 1 we were the proud Saab owners again. We brought Him to us a week later and started taking part in trips and other meetings. We were “the ones with the red Saab”, met a lot of nice people, some of them even became friends.

One of these friends exchanged his 9-3 Sportcombi for a 9-5NG over time. I saw the car and was immediately hooked, so I want one! I began to search the usual sources and found a local dealer. An 2011 9-5NG 2.0TTID Vector in laser red and with the rare panorama roof.

It should not go unmentioned that we still had the red 9-3, therefore the reaction of my partner to my new desires was incomprehensible. I showed her photos, argued, took her for a test drive, and begged her until she gave up completely unnerved and we agreed (again) on a maximum amount that we would invest.

It took another week until the dealer agreed with our offer and our yard now hosted 2 red Saabs.

As new 9 5 pilots, we participated in May 2018 Pilots Wanted at the car dealership Lafrentz in Kiel. There we looked on behalf of a friend the 9 3 Turbo X one of the employees of Lafrentz. Out of jubilee I said to my partner, he would be for her, after all, she always wanted to have a station wagon. We placed her behind the car, started the engine and watched her reaction.

Contrary to expectations, he actually liked her and this time was the discussion about the meaningfulness of a THIRD! Saab only halfheartedly led. Unfortunately, this vehicle did not immediately become our property, because the friend, on whose behalf we looked at the car, bought it later in the course of the weekend.

I couldn't get this car out of my head, I was slightly annoyed that we hadn't said yes immediately. I looked around again, after all I had something like a clearance to buy a Turbo X (I'm lucky Glück) Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that I liked as much as the one from Kiel.

Shortly afterwards my friend called me and was considering giving the Turbo X back for personal reasons and he found out that I might be interested. We negotiated how to do it with friends and we agreed. A short time later, the third Saab was on the farm ...

In autumn 2018, we had the 9-3 AERO for five and a half years now, the idea matured to replace it with an economical Saab Sportcombi Diesel for everyday use. So it was offered at what we thought was a reasonable price. After various sometimes outrageous offers, we finally sold it to a young man from Poland in the spring of 2019 with only a small discount. Now we only had two Saabs again ..

The purchase price should be enough to buy the diesel station wagon, we didn't want to invest more. So the search started. My dream, at least 2008 TTID AERO with manual transmission, full leather and seat heating. Young, but ridden or older, but well maintained specimens were available in our budget. I did not like both and besides, he also had to like the woman, because after all he should be for her ...

By chance I found a 2010 deer stag TTID AERO TX edition in nocturn blue at an advertising portal. Called on the spot, arranged a viewing and, after brief consultation with the government, immediately submitted an offer. The seller's asking price was actually different, but I had apparently good arguments, in short, there are now three Saabs with us ...

Unfortunately, it will most likely be the last Saab to find us in the foreseeable future. Apparently, in the heat of the negotiation, I gave my partner in writing that we would no longer buy any more Saabs. Damn screenshots… 😉

Thanks to Arne for the Saab story on Sunday. The submission deadline for our campaign was the 15. August 2019. The action was over and not there? Not bad! We have new ideas and will introduce them soon.