[Nickshu]

I owned 6 of them so I think I can comment here. I owned '86 9000T, '87 9000S, '91 9000CDT, '93 900T, '95 900SET, '07 9-3 SportCombi 25th anniv edition. Also my extended family has owned a '99 900SET Convertible, '02 900SET. Dad and Mom still have an '06 9-3 convertible

They were/are great cars. Mine always ran great, drove well, were very reliable as far as starting and driving, getting from point A to point B. Much like VW though many little things were constantly broken. This was not much of a problem for me because I could fix these things myself, and sort of enjoyed doing so. If you were paying a mechanic to fix little things yes these cars could nickel and dime you big time.

The turbos were a hoot to drive. Honestly I think my '86 9000T was one of the fastest cars I have ever owned, much faster than what the specs said. Turbo failures on Saabs is a myth. I never had one fail, drove all my Saab Turbos for over 150K miles, and two of them over 200K miles.

The classic 900's are tanks. The 9000's were a joint venture with Lancia and are a bit more tinny with crummy suspension IMO. Torque steer is horrible on all Saab's I owned. Turbo lag is really bad on the C900 and 9000s. It got better in later years with GM influence, but the driving feel also got more bland, IMO.

The cars all ran the Saab 2.0 or 2.3L engines until they were phased out in 2003 for the 2nd gen 9-3 line (referred to as the 9-3SS), which then went to a Saab modified GM Ecotec turbo engine or a Saab modified GM turbo V6. Some of the early NG900's (also sometimes called the GM900) and later 9000's had an Opel V6 that are rare as they sold very few of them. IMO the Ecotec engine sucked. The original Saab 4cyl turbo 2.0/2.3s were a great engine, very smooth and quiet, esp the 2.3L with counter-rotating balance shafts.

If I could have any Saab I would get a 1993 900 Turbo Commemorative edition 5-speed. Or if I could not find one of those I would get a 1991 900 Turbo SPG (Special Performance Group). If I wanted to go newer I would find a 2007 or 2008 9-3X (AWD), those are very rare though. Also the 9-3 Viggen (1999-02) are sweet too.

IMO the two reasons Saab failed as a company was 1.) Their failure to put out an AWD platform, if they had done so in the mid to late 1990's when Audi A4's were selling like hotcakes they would have killed it in the market. 2.) GM's lack of dedication to Saab and promoting the brand in Europe and the USA. They purposefully did not market the car or invest in the brand b/c they feared it would take away from Opel/Buick/Saturn. Since GM never really has had an AWD car platform if they would have developed that w/ Saab as their AWD line offering they would have been hugely successful, IMO.

When the brand was shut down GM did some things to make 100% sure Saab was dead and would stay dead. They kept control of the parts and dealer pipeline, as well as all patents and intellectual property after selling the brand to make sure the new owner of the company would find reviving the brand financially impossible. RIP Saab!