Saab 9-3

Probably one of the very popular vehicles of the enthusiast ,Very reliable, Comfortable,extremely responsive, generally only Elderly Persons will purchase these vehicles which are well looked after and always serviced never thrash, take one for a test drive you will be pleasantly surprised 10 out of 10 Cheers

Saab Convertible 9.3 1999 – Six months ago I bought myself 1999.9.3 Saab convertible with 138000 klms. I could not believe how clever Saab were. This car has side, drivers and passenger air bags, with ABS braking system. When the ignition is turned on the dash lights up and all mechanical function and electrics are checked. The vehicle is so advanced for it's age. There is one little problem, Saab's are not longer made so you need to be able to repair the vehicle yourself or know a good mechanic who knows about Saab's. Spare parts are not hard to fine and not that expensive. You can still buy new part. I find the USA has a lot of new parts. Just be aware of the exchange rate. The are a few tricks to no about the Saab, one is you must own a Tech 2 (around $400.00) so you can trouble shoot problems. Be aware being enthusiastic about owning one of these beautiful machine will go along way for your enjoyment in driving and maintaining it. Once you own one of these vehicles you will never look back. They are cheap to buy and not that expensive to maintain. Good luck on your adventure when you buy your Saab. Estate wagons, two door, convertible and five door. Models 9000, 9.3, 95. Saab's were made up until 2011. Have good look around before buying.

A good car, but not without it's flaws – I purchased my MY2004 9-3 Aero SportSedan in 2015 as a one owner vehicle with 120,000km's. The car however wasn't in the cleanest condition but was serviced as per the book. Since owning the vehicle I've spent around $200 replacing parts, the first issue was an engine light and reduced performance caused by a faulty coolant temperature sensor and a thermostat equating to $200 in parts and labour.

As I drive a fair few kilometres I'm nearly at 150,000km's and have done two services, the 120,000km's which is a big service where the drive belt and tensioner were replaced. Then one at 145,000km's which cost $200, both were performed by a local independent as dealer servicing is way over priced. Additionally costs can be reduced by avoiding purchasing parts from dealers and ordering them from Saab Specialists such as Saab Wreck, All Saab Parts or even via eBay.

In terms of the cars attributes it is one of the smoothest cars I've driven and feels effortless but still engaging where its needs to be. I have the Aero model which is top-spec with a larger turbo, bigger breaks and almost all the options. Talking about power this car is great for overtaking you'll be accidentally hitting 130km/h going around a semi in no time, off the line it isn't the fastest but it's more then enough to satisfy the daily driver.

A trade off for this power however is the fuel economy, as a lead foot I get around 9.0L/100km's and if I'm driving economically can realistically get 8.0L/100km's. While these figures aren't the worst the 58L fuel tank will have you stopping every 550km's to fill up with 95 RON. The car is really designed for a freeway where you'd easily get 800km's from a tank.

In terms of the interior it's still modern but button crazy dashboard does date it a tad. The seats are really the highlight of the cabin, in the Aero I have parchment with white leather inserts and they are really comfortable seats. Supportive and they won't tire you on a long journey, plus the heated seats work brilliantly with three settings they can be warm or really hot. Another bonus of the Aero is the 12 speaker sound system which sounds great, with the option of 6 CD or an AUX (option). My car came with a rare TEL 2 option or integrated telephone which works well but not for too much longer as its 2G only, but included as part of this is voice control which works surprisingly well.

Passenger space in the back is reasonable but with the optional sunroof it can take away a bit from head room for passengers who are 6ft tall. Three can fit across the back but it would be a squish, there are also two ISOFIX child seat anchors in the back as well. Luggage space is decent for a car of this size to top it off.

Build quality overall is decent but some of the plastics peal as with a lot of european cars of this age and some rattles can be found but its really vehicle dependant and leather replacement parts from Hirsch can fix a lot of these issues mainly the interior grab handles.

Overall the car is a good value buy, far cheaper and easier to maintain then fellow rivals such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3 series. Which I both looked at but the Audi A4 B6/B7 was too much of a risk due to the high failure rate of the CVT Auto and the BMW 3 series particularly the 318i E46 having a bad reputation for high maintenance and the 6 cylinder models being too expensive. The 9-3 is an alternative choice and has aged very well, looking at a higher spec model (Vector or Aero) you probably wouldn't think its a 13 year old design. I honestly could recommend this car to anyone who wanted a safe modern vehicle for under $10,000.