Good deal on a Saab 9-3... should I go for it?

[Event]

There is a 4 door Saab 9-3 2.0T for $10,995 available near me. It even has a manual transmission! 44K miles (powertrain warranty until the end of the year or 50K miles).

The car was a blast to drive. Responsive, maneuverable, and oh so quick. Very little turbo lag and the turbo whirr was infectious. My dad has major reservations with Saab's, however, but ultimately it is my choice. I've read that the 2003 9-3's were atrocious, but havent heard of any major problems with the 2006. But most Saab reviews have either been great, or terrible with lots of stupid problems. I think my dad has an unwarranted hate for Turbochargers. He says its just one more thing that can fail.

So what do you think of Saabs? Should I go for this deal? I might be able to get it for less than $200 per month over 60...

Internet Special pricing of $11,450, but the salesman told me $10,995 when I was there.

 

[fong47]

The Saab is fun to drive and like you said, very little turbo lag. But, here is one thing that you should remember, there are 93 computer sensors in it and when it starts to break down, not only it's expensive, it's hard to fix. Just my 2 cents...

 

[JCE]

BUY IT! Low miles, turbo, comfy, looks fantastic and most importantly if taken care if reliable.

 

[Event]

BUY IT! Low miles, turbo, comfy, looks fantastic and most importantly if taken care if reliable.

It did look quite clean. I will have to take an even closer look and take it to my mechanic to see if it looks beaten on. Most reviews complain of electrical problems mostly. I've not heard of any turbo failures.

 

[Casio]

Remember that 9-3 owners are completely awesome too.

 

[homeforsummer]

They're good cars, my dad has one, but as I mentioned to Casio in his Saab thread, get the front springs inspected - they have a tendency of snapping and that's not something you want. Google "saab 9-3 spring snap" and you'll be amazed at the amount of links that come up. We've had it happen on two 9-3s now, with three different springs.

Other faults we've had with our 9-3s - ECU burning out (right outside a Saab dealership!), and the air-con compressor failing causing lots of black smoke and the car breaking down.

Good cars, plagued by completely random faults and expensive repairs. The engines are great though, and the turbo does make the car feel very quick, more so than a car you have to rev loads to get it moving.

 

[Leonidae]

plagued by completely random faults and expensive repairs.

and that is because they're Opels underneath..

 

[Event]

Can these faults and expensive repairs be avoided by TLC? If the previous owner babied it and I baby it, will it still have these problems?

If not, I think I might go for the 2006 Mazda 3s Grand Touring. It has 55K miles and it's the same price. Plus it has the bose sound system! (no aux input somehow )
http://www.vehix.com/inventory/Vehi...foID%3D5F000000024637&sellerid=5F000000024637

 

[Picc84]

Can these faults and expensive repairs be avoided by TLC? If the previous owner babied it and I baby it, will it still have these problems?

If not, I think I might go for the 2006 Mazda 3s Grand Touring. It has 55K miles and it's the same price. Plus it has the bose sound system! (no aux input somehow )
http://www.vehix.com/inventory/Vehi...foID%3D5F000000024637&sellerid=5F000000024637

As much as I love the Mazda's. I think that if you avoid all your potholes, don't push the internals and keep her oil checked and the usual, you'll be fine. But Personally I'd always be worried about those springs as many other people have cracked them, so that would bother me to no end...\

The Mazda is cute ahahaha

 

[homeforsummer]

Can these faults and expensive repairs be avoided by TLC? If the previous owner babied it and I baby it, will it still have these problems?

I'm not sure, to be honest. Both of our Saabs are serviced religiously and neither are driven hard, yet the faults still happened. The spring issue is a design fault (dirt clogs up in the top recess where the spring sits, it corrodes and gets blocked, the spring stops turning in it's seat when it compresses and the twisting force goes through the spring itself, stressing it and eventually snapping it) and the other problems we've had probably don't happen too often, but we've been unlucky. We've had many French and Italian cars in the past that have never gone wrong - it's the luck of the draw, especially with modern cars which are sometimes too complex for their own good.

Personally I'd go for that Mazda, I quite like the look of the 3 sedans.

 

[Event]

I'm not sure, to be honest. Both of our Saabs are serviced religiously and neither are driven hard, yet the faults still happened. The spring issue is a design fault (dirt clogs up in the top recess where the spring sits, it corrodes and gets blocked, the spring stops turning in it's seat when it compresses and the twisting force goes through the spring itself, stressing it and eventually snapping it) and the other problems we've had probably don't happen too often, but we've been unlucky. We've had many French and Italian cars in the past that have never gone wrong - it's the luck of the draw, especially with modern cars which are sometimes too complex for their own good.

Personally I'd go for that Mazda, I quite like the look of the 3 sedans.

Prudence tells me this would be the smartest. Unless I can get a good extended warranty on the Saab. The Mazda still is a screaming deal.

 

[JCE]

Don't drive the car like you stole it.
Do routine maintience at or before schedule.
Baby the interior.

Do those three things and your Saab should last a while.

 

[Keef]

The words "Good deal" and "Saab" in the same sentence? Fuggetaboudit.

I've heard the turbochargers on these things are pretty crappy. I personally know a person who drives dreadfully average and has had the car serviced at the dealership its whole life. Two turbos were replaced under warranty and the third came after the warranty expired.

Of course that may be an exaggerated problem because the car is just faulty, but it happens.

 

[homeforsummer]

I suppose it depends how they're used. We've not had any turbo problems so far (knock on wood) but turbochargers in general are usually something to look out for.

As for "good deal", I'd say that they are. For the performance and kit you get, they're very cheap, especially in the UK at the moment where they're knocking huge amounts of money off nearly-new cars. Our local dealer had something like £7k off on a delivery mileage Aero X.

 

[nobuffalo]

It sounds to me like you'd be taking a risk on reliability. Personally if I spend around 10k on a car, i'd want to get around 75-100k put on it before any big issues. And by big issues I mean any repairs more than a couple hundred dollars. Hell i'm expecting that out of my 600 dollar camry. Also I would rather get a car that I know what the problems are gonna be, where as with the saab it seems people say it's pretty much just random. I don't really have a whole lot of income, so my views on cars are probably opposite of most.

Just my 2 cents which is only worth about 1.

 

[Event]

It sounds to me like you'd be taking a risk on reliability. Personally if I spend around 10k on a car, i'd want to get around 75-100k put on it before any big issues. And by big issues I mean any repairs more than a couple hundred dollars. Hell i'm expecting that out of my 600 dollar camry. Also I would rather get a car that I know what the problems are gonna be, where as with the saab it seems people say it's pretty much just random. I don't really have a whole lot of income, so my views on cars are probably opposite of most.

Just my 2 cents which is only worth about 1.

This is the reason I've decided on the Mazda 3. It's the same price and chances are it will be much more reliable. There will be time in the future for a nice car when I can afford repairs if needed. I need something I can count on now. Man, the turbo was fun!

 

[YSSMAN]

Get the Mazda 3 while you can, Mazda destroyed a good thing with the re-design this year. I had been considering nabbing one previously, but money problems and the spotting of my Celica wiped it away completely.

You said it was a 2.3S, right? I never got a chance to drive the sport model, but the 2.0L had a fair bit of gusto, so I wouldn't be all that disappointed. There are a lot of good options in the $10K range, but you may want to check and see what the dealers are offering on brand-new M3s. Chances are that there are still some 2009 models left, and with the horrific 2010 model on the way, they may want to clear out their stock and may be able to give you a sweet deal on one.

 

[Casio]

The thing with the Saab is that i needs regular maintenance by someone who knows what they're doing. The turbo's fail when people dont take care of their cars, I was stressed when I got my 9-3 to have an oil change every 5000km, or else the turbo can get in serious problems.

My 9-3 isnt the most reliable car on the road, but after driving it you get hooked! And 'regular' cars just dont feel the same. If it comes with a warranty i'd go for it, and just drive the crap out of it, so that anything that it about to break will and you dont have to pay for it.

And if you get it we can have a GTP 9-3 owners club!

 

[nobuffalo]

If it comes with a warranty i'd go for it, and just drive the crap out of it, so that anything that it about to break will and you dont have to pay for it.

And then you'll be kicking yourself when it's out of the warranty and the real crap starts hitting the fan and you wonder if I didn't drive the hell out of it would these things start breaking down...of course unless you sell it before that.

I'd say buy an 86 so we can have a GTP 86 owners club! Expect problems though...

 

[Famine]

45,000 miles in, at best, 3 and a quarter years (and at worst 2 and a quarter) with just the one owner? That's at least 13,800 miles a year - which sounds rather like regional sales rep mileage. And they get cars new(ish) and part with them when they're 3 years old... Have you seen the kind of abuse rep cars get?

And it's a tweaked Vectra C chassis...


There's a gigantic chasm between a good deal on a good car and a cheap load of crap. I'd suggest this Saab may be in the latter camp.

 

[Event]

I got the Mazda. My mechanic advised me to not get the Saab.

 

[JCE]

Silver is definately a great color on that car. Congrats!

 

[homeforsummer]

Looks good 👍

 

[Leonidae]

good deal, congrats!

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Bit of a meh color (silver is very neutral but very bland at the same time, perfect for the public but not my style) but congrats on the new car and I hope it makes you happy.

Always nice to see more Mazdas at GTP.

 

[Event]

someone bought the Saab. I know because I got off the highway at least 15 miles from the dealer and I saw it! It had a prestige motors license plate frame and brand new plates. Some middle aged dude bought it. How random!

 

[Philly]

You should probably change the thread title, seeing that you didn't go for this good deal on the 9-3. Congrats on the car though! I've always really liked them from day one. It was the first car I wanted to get when I started seriously thinking of a first car. And now I'm thinking about it again...

Bit of a meh color

I agree. Silver will never look clean and shiny, but on the plus side, it will never look very dirty either. But I guess there isn't all too much wrong with it. It is more or less the "official" color of all the German manufacturers.

 

[Prosthetic]

But now your not awesome!