Greeno

Hi all,

When and if i get rid of the soocby i am hopefully going to be looking to get one of these as a replacement...

For what you can get for your money i don't think you can go wrong. I have my eyes on one of the 9-3 2.0 T SE's, which you can pick up on circa 1998-2000 plates for about 4k...

My question is does anyone know of anything to look out for on these cars, should high milers be avioded due to turbo's maybe needing to be replaced...??

Any info and experiences much appreciated...

Regards,

Jon.

BrettC

I'm sure J4CKO or fatscoobyfella will be along shortly.

fatscoobyfella

LOL.Cheers Brett......you bugger!!!!

Its well known i champion the cause for the Saab 9-3..Mine was a 2001 2.0t with plenty of miles on,but everthing was perfect,used no oil or water..Covered around 20k in 15 months or thereabouts in mine,had 2 tyres on,that was the only thing above servicing that was needed.
Good on fuel too,sometimes achieving 40 mpg + on a run..
I really liked mine,and would deffo have another.An Aero next time for me please...

Get the best spec you can for your money..Leather,aircon,17" factory alloys,sport kit and a nice colour are all desirable..

Jesus..ive talked myself into wanting another!!!!

Anyone wanna buy a mint M3 ????

RRH

I got my 9-3 aero convertible on contract hire last September.

It broke down on the second day, with only 170 miles on the clock, and spent the week with the dealer. They tried to give me a Vectra but I politely refused and used the Impreza instead. Spoke to Saab about it and to say they were unhelpful is an understatement.

IMHO its a hateful pile of crap, although my opinion may change when the sun comes out, I can have the roof down, and overlook the shortcomings of the chassis. Never having had a convertible before, I chose it as I was getting stupid quotes for 330 convertibles, wife wouldn't let me have an S2000 (we have 3 children), and I didn't feel I could justify the cost of an M3 convertible.

Stupid decision, crap customer service, rubbish chassis, but cheap @ £309 a month including VAT.

Crazy Chick

[quote=fatscoobyfella]
I really liked mine,and would deffo have another.An Aero next time for me please...

You want to be careful where the 9-3 Aeros are concerned. Had one of those on an 03 plate - first registered owner. It had the full hit - sat nav, leather interior, multi cd player etc - but in the 8 months we had it it spent half that time in the garage with oil pressure problems, we had to have the cd player repaired twice then replaced the third time it went wrong, the rear parking sensor kept sticking on and the remote c/l kept locking us out of the car. It was just one problem after another.

In all fairness though it was an absolutely awesome car and if it wasn't for all those probs we'd probably still have it.

Crazy Chick

As RRH says above about dealers - our local ones were fantastic but our problems were too numerous so we went to higher to Saab head office - what a bunch of kn*bs.

fatscoobyfella

Fair comment,

Every car has its flaws,especially when there a new model and there working through the glitches..Cars are miles more complicated than they have ever been,the electrical stuff on cars now is unbelievable when you think what its has to put up with..

Dont like the sound of the oil pressure prob tho...

Both my Saabs have done me proud..costing very little to run and repair if anythin was needed..

Only my jap stuff has every kicked my in the crotch big time(300zx,3000 GT)..
Both my scoobs have been good for me too,but the modding money spiral is a bug!!


RRH..what was the prob with yours then?
Has it been fine since you had it back?
What other stuff has made you think its a hateful bag of crap?
Only askin as my old man was thinkin of the cab..!!

Crazy Chick

Trial and error - if you like it give it a go.

It was just the thought of how much it would cost us in repairs once the warranty had run out. Scary.

fatscoobyfella

Most car manufacturers work on that basis now...Throw the car out and see what happens!!!

Its poor,but thats the way of the world im afraid..

What do you think would have gone wrong with it in the long run then?

Crazy Chick

God knows. But we were told the servicing costs were expensive and as nearly everything on the car was tied into the electrics we weren't prepared to wait and see what else was going to go wrong with it. But there you go - that's life.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have a boggo 2001 9-3, love it, for 4 grand it was a steal.

carpetman

I used to be a technician for SAAB and all i can say is that they are great cars if you want a quick one go for the aero modals, but really what ever takes your fancy.

RRH

fsf- the engine temp (gauge) was going off the scale- although it didn't feel excessively hot. As it was only a day old I called Saab assist and they told me not to drive it, it would be taken by transporter to the local saab garage.

they ended up repacing the instrument binnacle. originally they told me I'd have it back same day, then next day, then, after 5 days, saab gb told me it would be another week as the parts were on back order.

five minutes later the dealer told me I could collect it, although it must have been left under a tree as it was absolutely filthy.

pish poor performance for a one week old car, I'm sure you'll agree.

Its been fine since I've had it back, but only does, at best, about 21 to the gallon on the daily commute (400bhp STi4 2.5 does 20!!!), rattles like crazy, traction control has nearly got me killed several times due to its untimely interventions, you can't do more than 30 with rear seat passengers with the roof down, if you do 70 with the roof down the child seat blows out of the back, blah blah blah. Overall, the 9-3 sport saloon I had for a weekend last year was pretty good, the convertible is a total waste of money and a pile of crap.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

RRH, well you did buy a cabrio !

RRH

I know, I'm a ********

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Just as long as you know !

Crazy Chick

BrettC

Say what you think, J4CKO!

Greeno

Thanks for the replys all, going to look at a few 2.0t's on the weekend, so hopefully one will take my fancy...

Hopefully i will find one without that nasty cream interior...

G.

RRH

That'll be the inreior I have then.... it is comfy though

Greeno

lol sorry mate, just not a fan of the cream look...

I bought a V plate 9-3 Aero afterwords...

G.

RRH

Don't worry about it, at the contract hire price I negotiated I didn't have much choice...

RRH

ps chipped it with the 'black box' from elkparts and it goes pretty well now- not as quick as the STi4 2.5, but then again the saab doesn't snap my spine every time I drive it (coilovers and track rate springs, sheeite on the road )

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Not as quick as an STI, not really a surprise but from what you are saying its not as daft a comparison as we might imagine ?

How much was the box of tricks, is it the plug in once job, ppc ?

Gastro

Just remember ...... any Saab with 150bhp can keep up with a Boxster S....... its a secret - so don't tel anyone Shhhhhhhhhh

skinters

On the orig car for the topic, 2.0T 185bhp Stage 1 (chip and filter) you can get this:

http://www.elkparts.com/product_info...roducts_id/933

225bhp and nearly 50% more torque. This is the older ECU exchange style (cheaper). Newer models seem to be PPC only. Either way, its a 10min job.


Or don't beat about the bush and get this:
http://www.maptun.com/webshop/produc...kt=209&graf=hp

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

'225bhp and nearly 50% more torque.'

So in just ten minutes I could be up and around worrying Boxsters properly.

Gastro

Yawn........

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...=485862&page=2

Castrol

We've a 9 month old 2.0 LPT 9-5 Estate with Hirsch kit - 210bhp/320Nm and full Saab warranty. Smashing car so far and a good partner for the STi.