Saab advice for someone who knows dick all about cars

jonnyburgo

My mates dad was a big fan of Saabs in the 80s but are they any good?

We really need a new car and are looking at a 9-3 estate,2005 only 45000 on the clock, need a reliable family car, not bothered about going fast etc this is the actual car we are thinking of buying

opinions please linky - http://www.highlinecarsltd.co.uk/used-cars/saab-9-3-2-0-t-aero-sportwagon-5dr-stockport-201503191876966

EricTheWeary

Saabs depreciate unbelievably quickly but that's gone through all that. That car is from when they were owned by GM so spare parts should be okay to find. I think they look nice. Lot of car for the money but I'd have some concerns about reliability (it's from the people who brought you Vauxhall) and if the mileage were genuine (as they were a popular lease/ company car).

boogieman

The petrol ones seem ok according to the Honest John site (always worth a look). Lots of problems on the diesels though. I reckon you should be ok, especially as it looks to have plenty of paperwork with it, usually a sign of a careful previous owner.

Fretwired

Saabs are excellent cars so long as you look at the Swedish designed models and not the red-badged Vauxhalls. My brother in law has a Saab 9-3 from around 2000 and it's been a great car. No major issues and he's on 150,000 miles. He'll bin it when it falls apart.

HAL9000

I used to own a 900 which was the predecessor to the 9-3. Easy to work on, handling was so-so, and not the quality car Saab tried to market it as. Would I buy another? Probably not but bear in mind that mine was an earlier model.

EricTheWeary

Actually I work with someone who has a Saab from that period, bought it from new, looked after it, still a bit of a head turner ( the car, not him). I might bump into him this week ( this time him, not the car) and ask him about it. Although he's not really Mr Smalltalk TBH.

Moe_Zambeek

Don't buy a diesel.
Don't buy an auto Aero if you have concerns about fuel economy. Don't buy the 2.8 aero if you want to be able to steer while accelerating.


Check out the uksaabs.co.uk forum for everything you ever wanted to know about Saabs

rlw

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=used-cars&FuelType=PTL&M=561&Page=2

That is an uncommonly good - to me suspicious - price.  See above for more eamples.  Cat C or D maybe?

Also, for 45K miles, the difference between the two front seats is quite marked.  Unless it was driven by a very large person.   I wouldn't be surprised if thar was actually 145K miles or 95K miles.

But is might be a dead straight and very nice car too.

Sambostar

Silly things break on them and cost a fortune, but the guts go on forever and they are great cars, especially in the snow with the short wheelbase.  I like the estates and leather options.  Turbo's shift and cheap as chips, or were, gone back up again now..

badlydrawnbanjo

I had a 2008 1.8t automatic 9-3 vector. Loved it.

gjonesy

@thisisguitar has had a couple. Lyndos, care to chip in?

mike_l

The few (4 or 5) I've come in contact with through work have all needed rear axle bushes replacing. Which can be a ball-ache.

thisisguitar

I've had a 9-3 for the past year, 2.0t Aero, petrol, 55 plate. Solid car, I quite like it. Wouldn't go for an auto box personally, it'll really slow it down, and up your fuel consumption a fair bit (8-10%). 

The one you've linked to has the uprated audio system too, which is great as the basic one is awful.

Check the front springs, they can be broken. Alternator failure is common, as is a general creakiness in the cabin. 

It'll likely be a lot quicker than you need if speed doesn't bother you, and in that case I'd go for the same car but with a diesel engine… it'll save you a fortune.

BGG

I've owned quite a few Saabs and two weeks ago just traded in my last one, a 2006 93 Vector convertible, owned over four years and totally reliable. Apart from braked pads and discs it has cost me nothing, like my previous two

Still a huge Saab parts network in the UK so you have no worries sourcing parts etc plus Euro Car Parts are excellent too.

http://www.saabdirectonline.com

Saab prices did take a hit when they went bust, wish GM would have just left them alone, great motors, excellent design and in my experience reliable.

Prices are on the up again and dealers know this, so I'd get one soon

holnrew

Have you checked the insurance? Might be huge.

Dalefty

Cars have four wheels, motorbikes have two wheels, cars also have things called steering wheels, doors and generally a roof.

DaLefty

ESBlonde

I had a 9000 for a few years, run up 225,000 on it. The most comfortable relaxing sports drive I can recall.
They were well engineered and working on them was usually a pleasure.
All the caveats about the newer GM based models apply although SAAB engineers famously redesigned lots of parts that didn't meet standards. There was an interesting Top Gear episode a few years ago where they lamented the loss of SAAB.

LoFi

holnrew said:

Have you checked the insurance? Might be huge.

Insurance is (was) ridiculously cheap, even on the performance models, as the sort of people who drive Saabs don't tend to be boy-racers. I actually had a 9000 Aero as my first car (2.3T, 225bhp), and it cost me £1.1k to insure in a high-risk area with no NCB at 24. (For reference, a car with similar performance from another manufacturer (e.g. a fast ford or similar) was well over £2K.

And re them not steering under heavy acceleration - they do. The problem is if you just want to go straight under heavy acceleration...

Beexter

I've had a couple of Saabs - a 9-3 and a 9-5. Very nice cars and you get a lot for your money as the depreciation is horrendous. 2 bits of advice:

1) The fuel consumption is quite high which means road tax is too. They're heavy cars but do shift!

2) Make sure you change the oil regularly. This is good advice on most things mechanical but especially so on Saab's and especially the turbo's.

Fuzzdog

LoFi said: Insurance is (was) ridiculously cheap, even on the performance models,


Very true - I've had several Saabs, love them to bits.  I had a 2002 9-5 Aero HOT, and thought I would go for something a bit more sensible to replace it, so got a little 02 plate 1.6 litre Civic.  My insurance premium went up!  :-O

Expect lots of niggly little things to go wrong, but most of the main stuff is solid as long as it's a Saab engine under the bonnet and not a GM unit.

ESchap

Had a 2005 9-3 2.8 Aero from new for 3 years.  Was very fast indeed  :-O     Never had the understeer issues that others complained about, just drove the car within it's capabilities.  Was fantastic for pounding up and down the two lane A1 north of Newcastle particularly great for getting round the usual 20mph convoy frequently encountered on that road of tractor followed by 4 lorries tailgating each other followed by a couple of towed caravans . 

The car itself was pretty much OK.  My main issues were with the SAAB dealership in Newcastle.  Every time it went in for a service, it came out with isseus that it didn't have when it went in, including leaking the buk of the engine oil over night after a service by them as they hadn't tightened the sump plug properly!   Utter shite they were.