A Smile Every Mile

Earlier this week we called for reader stories.Well, the first contributions are in and the first exlusive SAAB mug will be on its way soon to The Netherlands…

“For quite some time we were convinced that buying and owning a Saab was far beyond our means. But times have been changing lately. Heavy executive cars are definitely on their way out for private commuters in our country. And when such a car happens to be a high mileage Saab this spells double trouble for the car dealer.

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But as always: every cloud has a silver lining, especially for private commuters. Early January 2013 we were able to buy the most luxurious 9-5 Saab had on offer back in 2000 for a meager 4% of her 2000 list price in the Netherlands.

Commuting by car is a necessity as the physical distance between our home and the office requires a 3 hour round trip. This all started some 10 years ago when we had to part from our lovely Volvo 480 Turbo. After a ‘back to the very basics’ Corolla and 2 Mondeo’s we returned to the typical Swedish style as blood runs thicker than water.

This time no Belgian-built Volvo but a real Saab. The journey, which actually started wrong footed with a 9-3 diesel (shame those fuel pumps are so expensive!) brought us to the 6 cylinder executive edition of the 9-5: the Griffin. We found her on the Internet and during the first test drive we immediately fell in love with her. Yet with rose-colored glasses you run the risk of buying a lemon so we involved a well-known Saab specialist and it was his blessing which convinced us to buy this specific Griffin.

Many friends and colleagues thought I was losing my marbles. Who on earth would buy a 13 year old car of a brand which had gone bankrupt earlier. A car with 3.0 liter engine, which weighs 1.633 kg and drove around the earth no less than 8 times. Such a car has to be gas guzzler and worn out.

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Profile: Sedan, 3.0 V6 Turbo, LPG-G3, 4 speed automatic gearbox, 200 HP, 310 Nm, 200 watt AS3 Harman Kardon sound system, ventilated & heated front seats.
A highway cruiser and mancave in one! Traveling from A to B while sitting in those comfy seats and listening to your favorite music ensures that all stress and frustration disappears instantly. So this Griffin turned out to be the perfect fit for us. A nice bonus is the distinct howl of the engine when you floor the accelerator. This is really addictive, despite the fact that gets you to illegal speeds within the blink of an eye.

We got used to her straightaway and don’t understand how we survived all those years on the road without her, what a treat! Our Griffin challenges us every time to take a detour on our long way home.  Obviously with a smile every mile!

We bought our Griffin early January 2013 with 329,383 km on the clock and current odometer reading is 438,650 km.
On average we spend a 48,000 km on the road each year.
Fuel economy: 10.58 l / 100 km (LPG) period January 2013 – May 2015.
Running costs: € 8.70 / 100 km (maintenance – repair) period January 2013 – May 2015″

Author: Con W. Cathalina, Hellevoetsluis, The Netherlands

So how can you get your own limited edition SAAB mug?
We’d like to get your SAAB stories. How has SAAB become a way of life for you?
In order to qualify, send your stories (between 400 and 700 words in length) in Word or Open Office format. To make things even easier, you can use the English, German, Swedish or Dutch languages (we’ll be publishing in English and/or German). The story should come with at least one corresponding picture (ideal size 1280×850, JPG-format). For each published article, we’ll send you one of these exclusive and limited edition SAAB reader mugsas long as supplies last. Please do not forget to your postal address when submitting. Send your contributions to: saabstory (at) saabblog.net.

 

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Joachim Burgers
Joachim Burgers
8 Jahre zuvor

Great story !!

GP362
GP362
8 Jahre zuvor

These are the SAAB-stories I like 🙂 .