UKSaabs

3000 miles to Stockholm, Trollhättan and back with a few days near Elsinore/Helsingor and Copenhagen in the 9-5 Aero estate auto with Hirsch 300hp upgrade. We went by road all the way because one of the four of us "won't do boats".

Border security is tighter than before Covid/Brexit. No queues at the Channel Tunnel going out, but although we arrived early, we were waved straight through with minimal checks. On return, UK security was slower and we had no time for duty free.

We were also stopped going into Denmark and into Sweden, with full passport checks and questions as to reason for visit. And a long queue with a check by the French at the Belgian border on the way back.

33.3mpg overall, despite some of my drivers enjoying themselves on the autobahn. The new Goodyear 4 Season all-weather tyres seem to be fine. We hit the max amount of fuel on value four times, rather than stopping when the tank was full!! Money limits were around the £90 it was in the UK when we left. But I filled up on arrival at home and hit the £120 limit at Costco without filling the tank.

Fuel prices similar to the UK. A touch higher in France. Except The Netherlands where it was 10% higher.

Unlike previous continental holidays, we did the whole thing without using cash. Six different countries. Three different currencies. It was all done with card transactions. We had a small amount of cash with us, intending to get more if needed, but we didn't. In fact we did use a few coins, just to use them up, going through the turnstiles at the motorway loos.

Some basic overnight hotels, some much better. If you are around Calais, I can recommend https://www.hostelleriesaintlouis.com and on the way to Bremen https://hotelzurpost-garrel.de both have nice rooms and excellent food.

The Saab Museum event was really well attended with rumours that around 2000 cars attended. The spares hall was a success. I could have bought an 18 inch alloy for £20, but it had a tyre on, which we couldn't get removed, and It wouldn't fit with all the luggage The autojumble at the race track was interesting. Again prices seemed cheaper than the UK eBay stuff, and better condition too. The rain made the racing, and the drive back to Trollhättan "interesting".

Next trip in August to the International in Luxembourg.

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Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end...

It was good to see you all, Will. Great trip from my point of view - seeing all the Saabs at Trollhattan was awesome, particularly the parade of 92s on Saturday evening. My 900S Aero cabrio performed well, although I haven't worked out the mpg yet, with only one glitch. The new aftermarket coil I fitted, just before I went, failed on the autobahn between Bremerhaven and Amsterdam, forcing an overnight stop in Leer. It was fixed the next day - new NGK coil - Bosch dizzie cap and Bosch rotor arm replaced as well. All for just under 200 Euros including labour. RAC European Breakdown helped a lot and will refund costs except the parts. German police and the garage in Hesel were extremely helpful. Lesson learned - make sure that you have (a) breakdown cover and (b) full access on your mobile phone - mine became blocked and it took quite a lot of effort to get it working "properly" again - thanks to having a spare payg phone with me and to my friends near Bremerhaven who liaised with the French office of the RAC.

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David.

I saw you made it home and I'm glad that your breakdown was nothing too serious. We found the German police very helpful when my turbo went in 2018.

The recovery driver took us out of his way, to a garage he said "knew Saabs". And indeed we found one on a ramp. The only difficulty was that we broke down on the Saturday afternoon of a bank holiday weekend, so the car wasn't looked at until the following Tuesday. It was a look through the window and a key through the door job!! I had it repaired by them at what I thought was quite a high price, although the garage told me all the right things and they did a good job. When I got home and talked to others who had needed a new turbo in the UK, I found that the German garage was really quite cheap!

There was one interesting event we saw on the autobahn on the way up. A large motorhome was being towed along the hard shoulder by a Mazda MX5!! Rather him than me...

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Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end...