Ckcrigger

Was thinking the other day, each automaker has a "character" or "identity" associated with it. Here are some that come to mind for me: (keep in mind that others will have different associations)

BMW: yuppie, image-conscious
Porsche: professional, successful
Infiniti: performance-minded, value-conscious luxury
Mini: cute, nostalgic, alternative
Subaru: performance with value, not image conscious

But what the heck defines Saab? And who buys them?
They're not the fastest cars.
They're not the best handling cars.
They're not the most popular cars.
They're not the cheapest cars.

Any thoughts? And what other automaker associations come to mind? Keep the insulting ones to yourselves, please.

MrForgetable

happy medium between all of those? quirky?

rai

They used to be associated with safety. They sold FWD cars when this was different (for up-scale cars). They have been known (like Volvo) for being very durable like. People like to get a quarter of a million miles plus on them etc..

I liked them before GM took over. Whenever I look for a cheap used car like $2000 or so, I see a lot of Saabs with 180K miles that still run good.

Who buys them now? Not many people I guess. People that don't test drive TLs or G35s or BMWs. Or people that like incentives.

BBY2KS2K

Junior officer's in the Navy seem to like them. Just like senior enlisted seem to like Harley Davidson's. Just an observation from someone who's been in the Navy almost 8 years now.

Sr2oD3

I actually like the new 92x (the saab WRX), it looks better than the WRX wagon and for the same money too.

Junk_Turbo420A

The Viggen was a nice all-around package. Buddy of mine has a 02' 5-door and it pulls hard on the highway. Turbo + FWD = at the start. Not sure what it says about his character.

cacophony82

young yuppy. you see tons of them in new england, i thought about buying one about a year ago because i can get a arrow for about 4grrr below invoice because i get xplan thru my employer. Not a bad little car but they are over priced imo compared to a g35, or a 3 series, even and is300 was a much better car. but for around 25 grand for a decked out one it would be an option


persona: Def a yuppy new england thing. Think subie or saaab, you graduated from boston college, or university of vermont....im from the area thats the only reason why i know. i liked the car but it def felt dated due to the gm parts

dispader

the 9-3 seems kinda cool.

VTEC_Junkie

saab owners tend to be the young "hip" metropolitan professionals who prefer something different than the typical "baby" bmw, mercedes, or audi. yes, saabs are not the fastest or handle the best, but they have very distinct characters of their own that make them very addictive to drive. the most distinct characteristics of saabs include extreme turbo lags, extreme torque steer, and "spongey" shifters. sure, on paper, those attributes may be turn-offs, but in a saab, those attributes are what make saabs so fun to drive. like the commercial says: "most people who test drive a saab end up buying one..." i don't know what the exact statistics for that claim is, but i do feel that if more people would indulge their curiosities and test drive a saab, there would be more of them on the road, because i honest feel saabs are pretty cool cars.

Palmateer

Offering rebadged Subarus as Saabs seems another example of how classic brands acquired by giants like GM and Ford are losing their identity (similar to Jaguar thread eleswhere in this Forum).