He still exists, the (Saab) offspring!

Good day first of all. The family has offspring from the Lüneburg Heath. Even if I'm not very fresh at the age of 44: I'm new to the family of SAAB friends and support the Lüneburg Heath area from Lüneburg. How I got to the SAAB, I would like to share that in a two-part guest post.

The first part is supposed to lead the way to the acquisition of the first SAAB a little more than a month ago. In the second part I would like to try a comparison between my SAAB 9-3 SportCombi from 2009 and the Citroën C5 Tourer that I drove for five years; with steel suspension and with hydractive chassis.

Professionally, I am at home in the railway sector. Almost 25 years ago I learned about passenger and freight transport as well as planning at Deutsche Bahn and later worked for various railway companies; Since 2015 I have been working independently with a colleague in the practical environment of operational planning, vehicle technology and sales in the railway world.

For sale in Vienna - accessed after a brief reflection period

Austria import - Saab 9-3 sports suit

A 1.8t BioPower

As a novice driver, I imagined an older car that had scratches or a bump that wasn't a drama. Škoda Favorit or an older Volvo would have been something. "A SAAB 900 would suit you," said a colleague. That's right, there was something else. SAAB. You saw it now and then, it was also chic. But financially not within reach. And too good for a novice driver, I thought. And so it turned out to be two old, but reliable Toyota.

The years came and went, apprenticeships, studies ... and I didn't miss a car. It wasn't until 2012 that I literally got back on board. An old Škoda Octavia to get back into the car was followed by two Citroën C5 Tourers. They have a nice chassis. Our neighbors drove a BX for many years. Start the engine, wait until it has pumped up and off you go.

By chance, I found an advertisement from a dealer in 2020 for a very well-equipped Citroën BX with around 65.000 kilometers. The BX as a middle-class car? But: it was long gone. The dealer said he still had two older cars: a SAAB 900 Sedan from 1984 and a 99 from 1969. SAAB? Yes, there was something else.

I now began to deal intensively with the SAAB models. The Saabblog helped a lot with this! A SAAB as a "second car" for beautiful occasions? After all: a clear, uncluttered design. Restraint or new German: understatement. And that certain stubbornness of the brand, which fits quite well. I'm slowly getting a sense of what my colleague was talking about 25 years earlier.

In Kiel they let me see 9-5s. The goal was actually a 9-5 SportCombi, model chrome glasses. So the counterpart to my C5. But there was also a 9-3 SportCombi XWD. I had always left the 9-3 II on the left, the rear of the SportCombi looked too much like a Ford Focus for me. But when you see it in person, it looks different. And the 9-3 is also sufficient in terms of space. The XWD wouldn't have been right for me; with the exception of the semi-aniline leather seats.

Bi-xenon headlights - naturally steering

Nice combination of fabric and leather

Cockpit with audio system 150

In an advertising portal in Austria I had seen a 9-3 SportCombi Vector 1.8t BioPower with less than 22.000 kilometers of mileage, which seemed to fit. The usual should-I-should-I-not-game followed. A friend from Vienna was my extended arm, he looked at the car and took a lot of photos.

Result: yes, looks good. Then I drove to Sportive Cars in Wiener Neustadt myself. The 9-3 made a really good impression ... After a short period of time, I grabbed it and then picked it up at the beginning of June 2021.

And what other features does the 9-3 have? A car dealership in Innsbruck had given it a demonstration car with them and, shortly after delivery in February 2009, a performance upgrade from Hirsch. In addition, the vision package was included, so steering bi-xenon headlights, rain sensor, all mirrors automatically dimming, fog lights. The rear windows are tinted dark, and the “Infotainment 150” was also installed. Equipment that I would have chosen. Bluetooth for phone calls and the cruise control should have been included.

But you can change that afterwards.