Why sales portals should sometimes be avoided

An early Wednesday morning. I'm looking forward to the new post on the blog that was announced by email. "la bella rossa“Is his name. And I think the car described is simply beautiful. I like saab. And I like red - on cars. No imminent danger. It's gone. Besides, I don't need a car.

Red & Hot - a Saab Cabriolet
Red & Hot - a Saab Cabriolet

With my second coffee, I do something that has sometimes led me to unreasonable deeds, and why I call 4 Saabs my own. I browse the portals. I just want to take a look ... We all know that autoscout and mobile rarely have a big surprise ready.

But I live in Spain. And in Spain people like homemade things. Despite a lot of advertising, Ebay never made it through the status "also ran". There are “milanuncios” and “wallapop” for used items. And “coches.net” for cars. "Coches" means cars. And at least five times as many cars of each model are advertised on this platform as on autoscout. At least…..

I enter Saab 9-3 automatic and scroll through the ads "price descending". There are a few "nice" things, but nothing that could have serious consequences. I thought at first.

And all of a sudden it is there: the hormonal surge that robs us of all reason.

I click through the 16 photos countless times and just make it worse.

I don't know what processes are going on in our bodies when it happens. I only know the result: devoid of any reason there is only one thought: WANT TO HAVE.

Yes, this convertible is a temptation
Yes, this convertible is a temptation

Red, light leather, sensational rims, very well maintained, year of construction 2005, 140k run, with 1 year guarantee and is called 9-3 Cabrio Aero Automatic. And like Tom's gentleman, he just happens to be around the corner from me. At a price that would be considered a typo in Germany or Holland: 6.900 euros.

I have to do something. Even if I should change my mind later, I can't let go. It is corona time. And we are - once again - not allowed to leave our place of residence. I'm getting some information from the dealer. Seems to be serious.

So I give him a call.

There is the possibility to go there with a certificate from him and a self-assessment. We arrange to meet on Friday morning. And the dealer promises to reserve the car for me until then. He's sure for now.

Lots of buttons in the cockpit - Series 1 of the 9-3 Series II
Lots of buttons in the cockpit - Series 1 of the 9-3 Series II

I spend the night in a sleepless trance. It is clear that one of my Saabs will have to go if I buy the 9-3. But which one? Everyone is special. I have a story with everyone. Surely you know these thoughts. I buy and sell cars half asleep all night. And come to no decision.

In the morning I talk to Juan von Berma on the phone. He is very pleased with the ad. Just like Tom, with whom I share the link, and have a long, messy conversation.

During the call, the name comes up… .. Red & Hot. So it should be called, the new Saab experience, which maybe becomes a project.

There is no solution yet. But a few clear thoughts.

And above all the appointment. Why not start with the most important ...?

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JM
JM
3 years earlier

https://www.autouncle.de/ is always a good starting point =) have fun surfing!

Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
3 years earlier

Los ojos rojos ...

Nice car, great rims and nice taillights.
The grimaces that some cars cut in front of me at night upset me.

Thanks to LEDs, all kinds of faces drive before you. I always think then, ass face.
A beautiful rear simply has no eyes!

The Lizi
The Lizi
3 years earlier

To all of you who are now junkies at coches.net or who are browsing the spanish version of autoscout….

Things are not seen so closely there. The information is not always 100% correct. People like to make a mistake by a few thousand kilometers. Or didn't look very closely into the papers when it came to the engine. Or just overlooked in the switch / automatic section when creating the ad, clicking the right one ... A magical 9-3 automatic wagon was bobbing for months at scout under switchgear until I got the idea to take the interior photos - if available - to look at. And made a friend very happy who had been looking for a car like this for a long time….
As for the documentation of the service history, expectations shouldn't be too high. The equipment details can also deviate a little from the usual - yes, there are saws without heated seats. No matter how good the cars look in the photos - in Spain people like to park “by sound” and the word “falling rocks” does not exist as far as I know. If you were to call the police if you hit a parking lot, you would be the one who would receive a penalty for misusing the same.

However, anyone who has carefully read the gentleman's story knows that it is not a major problem. The solution is good painters at reasonable prices. Cars from Spain have a few other advantages. For one, you really have to work hard to find a car with serious rust problems. And due to the customs of the ITV (Spanish TÜV), it can almost be ruled out that the actual mileage is incorrect.
They are also more common with bright interiors and in very nice color combinations. What obviously fits into one or the other prey scheme….

I wish you lots of fun browsing. And if someone should see something that causes the hormonal state described in my post, I am happy to help with the healing.

Greetings to the community

This time Dr. Lizi

Ebasli
Ebasli
3 years earlier

One big request, maybe to Tom: Could we possibly get a Europe-wide list of all relevant national car portals? That would be helpful. For example, I only knew two from Sweden and CH. I would never have come to the Spanish side. So we could all pass the time even more “sensibly”. 😉

Ebasli
Ebasli
3 years earlier

Finally a convertible in a beautiful wine red! 🙂 Strike immediately, I would advise! 🙂 🙂 🙂 And sell another beauty for it? 🙁 Pah - you just have to have such a beautiful one as a luxury and you will definitely still be able to find a tiny little space ... 😉 Joking aside, I understand the classic dilemma.

By the way, is that chili red (I mean)? Or cayenne red? Unfortunately, this red was only available at the very beginning of the 9-3 II and after the facelift it wasn't at all. I think this rich wine red is much warmer and more noble than the laser red, which unfortunately was the only red shade still available in the end. The laser red suits the combi and the sedan very well to my taste, but that's not my case with the convertible (too Ferrari-like, somehow).

My dream combination would also be the wine red with a black hood and light leather (I'm really looking forward to more photos of the interior !!) or a cream-white convertible with a black hood and wine-red leather seats (like the first 900 convertible). For me, that can only be topped by a wonderful shade of blue with a blue hood (I once had a diesel as a new car, built in 2007, which later turned out to be a mistake thanks to VW).

EF-moose
EF-moose
3 years earlier

“Lady” in RED - timelessly beautiful CV 🙂

GP362
GP362
3 years earlier

Super nice convertible!
At the moment there are also some great SAABs on offer on German portals, there are two-three great 9000s, a very interesting 900 II, ... exactly my loot scheme. Fortunately, I'm well looked after 😉
All of them now have their price. The level is slowly coming out of the basement.

Gosh
Gosh
3 years earlier

Did that have to be 😉? I can't come down from the side at all. I didn't think that they have so many diesel convertibles in Spain!

Ken-Daniel S.
Ken-Daniel S.
3 years earlier

Very interesting, thanks also for the tip from the Spanish side, I never thought that there are so many interesting vehicles and that the convertible share is not exactly low. I would have thought that Spain is too hot for convertibles.

aero50
Editor
3 years earlier

Thank you Lizi, great report. What appeals to me more Your comment or the Saab? The hot, red one a little more 😉

I totally find myself in your lines. Despite eight cars in the stable, I look every day to Saab and Lancia, on mobile and autoscout24, de and ch. And there are almost always very tempting cars advertised. We can only dream of the prices as they are displayed in Spain. In the CH, the Saab are sometimes a little cheaper than in D, but certainly most CH vehicles have significantly less kms on the clock and often also very well maintained.

I keep wondering when will these temptations end? At the moment, of course, almost inevitable, because looking at a car quickly is not possible now. But we all hope that this tiresome time will end soon and then we can start again, the hunt for the ultimate Saab!