As always GM has another hit on their hands. The 9/3 should continue to dominate the class being far more reliable than it’s German imitators. The convertible being the most sought after.

^^^ dude are you joking man??? Saab sales are pretty low. And Sabb does not even really compete against the German brands its a notch lower you dumb ass.

cool, gmnumberone is back, this time, to stay in line with the articles headline “avec disguise”…

i doubt anyone would EVER fall for his marketing 101 methods…

(im even sorry for the poor guy having an (unpaid) internship someplace in the caverns below gm headquarters and having to invent those lies over and over…)

The “black turbo” sounds interesting…kinda like a rich mans STI.

Maybe you guys need to buy one before knocking it. GM is super hot right now, taking names and kicking ass. Saab resurgence has been under way for a few years now. Expect a Cadillac and Buick like renaissance, the Germans are slowly being forced out of this country. Nobody wants th headaches that go along with ownership. At least with Saab, you get GM reliablility and quality with a bit of Euro style.

All you GM bashers need to find another site to play on. This is supposed to be a GM fansite and anti-GM BS doens’t belong here. This one is a bit too grown up for you.

Looks nice. Saabs have always sold good. This new line up looks very interesting, and the “black turbo” sounds very promising. Although the 93 has never dominated the compact exec market, it remains a nicely quirky proposition for those who want to stray away from the German norm. However, I still prefer the achingly beautiful Alfa Romeo 159.

1487_GM_SALES…..Go suck on a tailpipe. Your ignorance is blissfully disgusting, and actually believing Saab’s are superior to anything besides a Geo shows your level of intelligence.

I didnt know this was suppose to be a GM fansite….is LLN sponsored by GM? Retarded.

Black turbo sounds cool…anyway, this car is popular with gays so I don’t like it lol. Welcome back gmrules, your stupid as ever

GM quality and reliability lolol. too bad a few models are just rebadged Subarus.if GM is so good, why not use their engines?? (not that Subarus are bad or anything. i

They should have copied the Aero X concept nose line for line. The Saab 9-5’s facelift looks better than this boring rehash of Saab nose found in such embarassing models such as the 9-2 and 9-7.

gm-sales-boosting though the roof… yeah, sure… thats why they are laying off like mad and put big ass rebates on their products… superiority to who ever believes such dorkage…

The Saab designers need to get a little more creative. That front end isn’t bad, but the back of it is kinda ****ty. Seems like GM really does go half ass on this brand, that’s a shame…. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong.

1487 GM Sales,
Most people on this site have some interest/knowledge so don’t go spewing lies. The liberal media tactic of “if you say it enough, it will be true” isn’t going to work on this site. In fact, I think if you read enough comments you will find this is more of a GM bash site than fan site and I am pretty neutral on their products as I tend to call each model as i see em.

All the interior and exterior updates won’t mean jack if Saab’s percieved quality and reliability stay in the toilet. They are very good cars when they’re running, but for $30K there are too many better competitors. The day Acura releases a Turbo TSX, kiss th 9^3 goodbye.

Looks nice. I like the wagon except, I wonder why any car company puts roof racks on anything. Waste of money and clutters up styling. I never see them being used for anything.

I think everyone here agrees that Saab cars trump the Germans in reliability. Oh and as a poster mentioned above, that “Free” stuff isn’t free, it’s built into the price moron. Who do you think would buy the crap if it wasn’t offered huh?

At least buying a Saab, you are supporting General Motors instead of selling them down the river like a traitor. Wake up, it is your duty as an American to buy and support GM, not Germany.

This car will be a success, Saab is GM’s next success story and most people agree GM is on a roll. Watch the next decae and see how many German brands still exist in the world. Most people will have learned, moved on and stepped up to Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs and yes, Saabs. Mark my words.

And that Bull**** would be what Mr. Mercedes? Little ornary are we? Your Benz in the shop again? Buy a Cadillac and fix your problems.

I guess those lousy German brands will follow in Oldsmobile’s footsteps…

I would never buy a car from a company that NEVER made one dime’s profit. They are doing what they are ’supposed to be good at’. Not ‘great’…just good enough to blend materials into an acceptable product that marketing people can make $$ with. Anyone can have a bad couple of product seasons ..but not their ENTIRE existence. ..which brings up Saturn too…

hey guys gm#1forever is definately not 1487_gm_sales, gm #1 never argued his point he just said weird off the wall stuff.
1487_gm_sales, gm still has a long way to go, cadillac might have got first attention but they still are not playing ball with the germans, its more like they are there to watch and be a monday morining quaterback.
mechanically caddy is excellent rite now, but seriously the berman cars are put together better with better design and materials, thats where gm lacks, and lln users seem to know that.
i know that for sure i have a cts and a 525i in my driveway.

‘The liberal media tactic of “if you say it enough, it will be true” isn’t going to work on this site.’

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Like saying three or four times that German carmakers will be sent packing from the homeland’s shores and then mentioning how amazing GM products are amazing - three or four times to boot. Hahahahahaha!!!!

Yes, you traitors BUY AMERICAN or be sent to the gallows!!!

Hilarious Monday morning fare. All thanks to 1487_GM_Sales…legendary

oops german not berman……still need 3 more cups of coffee before my fingers can type.

that is one clumsy facelift. The new bumpers huge, they make both ends look bulbous and give the car a very American huge overhangs look. The rear is awful, look how the hatch is cut out of the bodywork as if one of those ridiculous wide body kits has been fitted. The clear tail lights give the impression of the rear end being hollow, like some Korean rubbish, surely a SAAB should look solid.
The swoopy front end would be nice if it wasn’t achieved by grafting a load of plastic onto the front end of the previous model, as it is it looks awful.
How can you take GM_Sales at face value when he leads with such an obvious falsehood, “the 9/3 should continue to dominate the class”? When are Americans going to understand irony?

^ Again, the Germans may lead Saab in sales but that is because of the over-hyped maintainence program. Without it do you really believe anyone in their right mind would spend the money on one? I don’t. Especially when a Saab provides better quality, better pricing, just as good a performance and more interior space. Saab is a dominating force, it’s just not hyped like your typical (Insert german POS here).

Used to like SAABs…Some odd 20 years ago. Since then, nothing good has happened.

R.I.P

they have good commercials and thats about it.

That car’s butt looks like a Subaru Legacy’s.

lol do people know that all the Euro cars outsource a lot of their parts??? for example.
BMW Tranny is from GM
Their X3 is made right here in Canada by Magna. (I’m pretty sure about that. Customers who work for them tell me this)
but on topic here. looks alright. If its what to come then I think every car company is in the right direction. No informed person can deny that.

New facelift, same outdated, outclassed, and outperformed piece of **** underneath

1487_GM_SALES: Shut [] up.

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Ian, I’m pretty sure the X3 is made in Graz, Austria by Magna Steyr, not in Canada. The only Bimmers made in North America are the X5 and Z4. Magna Steyr is simply a subsidiary of a Canadian company. And BMWs will always trounce Saabs. End of story. Period. Full stop.

When I drive home today I will count the Saabs on the road using my fingers.

I can still drive with 9 fingers.

Looks nice but I wish they would make it rear drive.

It’s a definite improvement, but Saab still has to sort out a lot of issues before they become relevant again. Speaking of just the 9-3, the rear end still needs design work, and despite the fact that the interior is slightly uprated and unique, the 9-3 is matched or outperformed by its cheaper and overall more attractive Epsilon sisters G6 GTP and Aura XR. The Saab 9-3 just isn’t worth the extra money they charge for it compared to a top-trim G6 or Aura.

Now I’m no fan of GM but I love Saab and infact own an old 900. I would say YES general motors is crap ( you don’t put PLASTIC head gaskets in you cars, it has to be the most idiotic idea ever) and I wish Saab was in a financial situation that didn’t call for them to be bought by those dumbasses but that’s the way things are and I guess a GM Saab is mildly better than no Saab.

At least the car looks good. Lets hope it’s not too GM.

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What “tape hoodline” is he talking about? If he means the gap line that wraps over the parking lights and around the side of the car, it is exactly the same as the one on the convertible and wagon spy shots.. and on the convertible you can see through the gap to the sheetmetal below. I do see the other lines atop the hood where a “conventional” hoodline would open.. are they actually tape, or just the old hood with additional pieces grafted on/welded to either side to make the new mockup hood?

I’m sorry. Every time I read the stuff that 1487_GM_SALES posts, I have to do a double take. The Germans are leading Saab in sales only because of an over hyped maintenance program? I doubt that very much. The Germans cars are just better cars, period.

“Again, the Germans may lead Saab in sales but that is because of the over-hyped maintainence program. Without it do you really believe anyone in their right mind would spend the money on one? I don’t. Especially when a Saab provides better quality, better pricing, just as good a performance and more interior space. Saab is a dominating force, it’s just not hyped like your typical (Insert german POS here)”

Here is the thing. As a enthusiast of all things automotive I have been brought up appreciating that Germans build extremely well engineered cars, the Italians build beautiful cars, that invariably have electrical/mechanical faults, and that Americans build cars that are priced to the lowest point, built to the nearest foot, and are generally of a quality that is lower of equivalent European offering. As an owner of a Mini One, built by BMW, I can safely say that in my experience of both American (GM) and German (BMW albeit MINI), brands, the German brand has prevailed. I have never had a bad experience with my MINI, the dealers have (so far) been excellent. My Vauxhall (GM) Astra which preceded, was also a great car, however, it suffered allot of mechanical faults, and had no personality (which I feel, for a car that I must live with everyday, counts) at all. The same could be surmised of Saabs products under GM. Saab was always perceived as a brand that offered great build quality, reliability, and safety. Since th GM takeover this perception has been tainted by the use of GM chassis, engines and safety systems. Saab quality - dubious, Saab pricing - also dubious and when you consider the equivalent BMW/Lexus/Mercedes could be had for around the same price this argument becomes weaker. The BMW maintenance program in this country, is impeccable, it actually adds allot of value to the car at trade in time. Packages of this nature are not available (to my knowledge of GM products (in the UK)) on GM vehicles. Trade in values of Saabs vs BMW/Merc/Lexus are also weaker for the initial outlay, e.g. a BMW will hold more of its value than a Saab, therefor a BMW or Mercedes or indeed a Lexus may be cheaper in the long run than a Saab to own and run.

I had to say it again. This facelift is too conservative. It will not save Saab’s sagging sales in the US. Better look for the next generation 9-5 with more styling cues from the nice Saab concept cars.

the latest pics look way better, its really not to bad looking now, the first pics were just nasty.

It’s not my duty to support GM. Supporting GM is not a patriotic thing to do, if that’s what you’re implying. The fact is that business is business. Poorly run business does poorly. And that’s the bottom line. People don’t buy GM because their products are inferior (now GM is running after the market with better products but it took them a serious wakeup call). Tthe market responds to such things. The fact is, Toyota, BMW… all have plants here and employ THOUSANDS of Americans with much better wages and work benefits. GM on the other hand, lays off THOUSANDS of Americans while this month’s issue of “European Watches” magazine features Bob Lutz showcasing his collection of watches. One them costs over $100k. Patriotic enough?

Wickedated, exceedingly well put! GM’s shortcomings are owed to its executive management through the years, yet they still get their pockets lined with all kinds of perks, money, and position they don’t deserve. In many ways, they are the epitome of what is wrong with America. Certainly what is wrong with GM.

I really did like the exterior front end of the 9-3 before this facelift, I found it sculpted and handsome, but now it’s gone.

The problem with this redesign is 90% of potential customers won’t even notice.

487_GM_SALES, as a Saab owner I can vouch that they are in fact….

… rubbish. OK it may be the most comfortable car I’ve owned, but it’s also the most noisy, unreliable, and badly put together car I’ve owned. I’ve owned a fair number of so-called ‘prestige’ cars over the years and this one has without doubt given me more trouble than any Audi, VW (except for a 1973 air-cooled camper van), or even Seat I’ve had (do they sell Seat’s in the US?)

It’s therefore the last Saab I’ll ever own.

9/3 Dominate the class and more reliable than the Germans? Don’t get me started. They’re now right down there with Renault for unreliability. If you spout rubbish like that then you’ll get people like me posting back with the truth, you Muppet…

…forgot. When I was young I hankered after a 900 Turbo. The dogs danglies they were. I can’t see any pre-license teenagers lusting after any of their current offerings, can you?
Through massive underfunding GM has really ruined a once proud brand.

It’s really quite sad.

Does this thing look particularly different than the current 9-3? No. It’s probably built just as bad, also.

People will notice the change, this new more agressive front is only a small change, but the future of saab looks good. You cant change everything over night, but just like saturn, if they bring out some new updated cars, things will go fine for saab.

spud: No, they don’t sell Seat’s here in the U.S., just for reference. Never heard the insult “Muppet” or the term “dogs danglies” before, learn something new every day. What country are you from, anyways?

Black Turbo… 300hp, AWD, sweden…. sounds like a crappy S60R to me! LLN i think you forgot to mention the over-invasive stability control, loose suspension, and toupee holder in the center console.

First off, all opinions and arguments aside I don’t think half of you people know enough about Saabs to comment. I do agree, however, that this is an awful car in so many ways. I don’t know how old you guys are, but I’m plenty old enough to remember cars like the original 900 and 9000. I owned a 9000S and 900 coupe turbo. These cars were not necessarily the highest quality, but at the time I bought them over the comparable Audi models because Saabs had something that no other car had/has: distinct personality. Some of you may refer to this as Saabs ‘quirkiness’. Either way, you can be damned sure that this GM bastardization of Saab has led to many people, including myself, who have stopped buying Saabs. Ford and Volvo works better simply because Ford has done two things: 1, they have used Volvo for its extensive safety expertise (just like GM did with Saab) and 2. they develop Ford platforms starting at Volvo (the p1 platform, for example. When has GM created a new platform starting with Saab, giving Saab a chance and some of that damn money wasted on union workers (another problem GM could solve by looking to Toyota) and Buick.

black turbo will destroy bmw 335

drivingisfun,

At the time that they were really popular, Saab had another thing that many other car manufacturers didn’t have: hatchbacks in their model lineup. I seem to remember that being one of the reasons a lot of people bought Saabs. The practicality of a hatch was a huge plus. Not everyone bought one because of that… obviously, but it was a strong selling point for some.

Saab=unreliable, I still dig the fastback / hatchback, but that was killed a few years ago. Down with Saab.

Just a thought….
Maybe GM_sales is someone trying to give GM a bad name….
I’ve been reasonably excited about newer GM products, the G8, Acadia, Sierra, Aura, and Astra….mostly the G8….but he is pissing me off almost enough to boycott the stuff…then i realized….it’s all on purpose…what better way to give GM a bad name than for someone to be a pushy, pathetic (and [] retarded) person on the boards where enthusiasts are….just ignore him…

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Oh my god its ugly.

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ArkAngyl, that’s exactly what I’ve been saying about GM_sales for MONTHS, and no one else around here can wrap their 2 brain cells around it enough to believe me. Be prepared to be accused of actually BEING GM_sales under a different name just for bringing that possibility up, because the idiots on this site will say anything to avoid having to admit that they have been being played for a long time!

An ex co-worker of mine who now is a service tech at BMW said to me that BMW does the free maintenence to offset the anger over the fact that they are having alot of the newer Beemers coming in for problems, and this is a good PR idea to keep people buying BMW’s. He told me though the BMW’s aren’t as bad as the Benz’s. There is a Benz dealer across the street, and talking to their mechanics, the Benz’s are a nightmare and the materials used are getting cheaper every year. I did hear somewhere that Mercedes ranks lowest in reliability… Someone have any more info on it?

Audi’s are cool though I want me an A4 =)

I know somebody who made the terrible mistake of buying a 9-3 over a TSX. Kept it for only two years…a BUNCH of little **** went wrong. Which might have been fine had the car not had about ten display screens inside that would constantly remind her that something was wrong with her relatively expensive car. Anyway, it was a good looking car with a cool interior, but I’m afraid that’s all it was. What a disappointment.

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SAAB- SAD Automotive Attempt at a BMW
Yes obviously GM-Sales is high on SAAB because GM bought them- SAAB does like them. But the bottom line is its an Unsafe car. SAAB is built paper thin much like the volkswagons of Yore. If a SAAB ever got hit in an accident you would either be seriously hurt or killed. The idiots that buy them think they are top end sports cars. I eat SAAB’s for breakfast in my Ford Taurus, and despite having an extra gear to shift that the SAAB has it still loses from light to light.

Those ultra conservative styling updates are not going to make anyone run to a showroom. That’s too bad really - Saab is losing the unique appeal it once had. They really need to design a head turner and make the public notice them — the masses aren’t even going give these Saab’s a second glance.

To the Editor of the comments. I know I might be some of the few not the only one, but I like some of the profanity used. I have never used it, but it makes the site interesting. I think some of the complaints about the profanity may be from those that use profanity about any topic without any real critic about a topic or just against another commentor. This might be the child in me but I giggle alot reading some the posts.

^^^^^^ it was so friggin halarious, but now is just another site…. i do agree some people did go way overboard, a couple times they were funny, but the endless comments from certain names that start with home and end with 324 just went way overboard, especially the comments made to buenos, that was the end of any fun with lln. and i am guilty too.