I've been getting tired of driving old cars; my newest car is twenty years old. There is a used Saab/Volvo place next door and they have a 2000 9-3 Turbo with a five speed for 3995. 115k on the odo.
Just wondering if there is anything to look out for. Ran good on a test drive, turbo is very fun!! Super clean. Better fit and finish inside than american cars. Is it hard to up boost?
thanks, JJ
Be sure to get it checked out for oil sludge.
Transmissions are weak. if you go with a manual youd be better off.
There's a nice 2005 up here by me that has a 5spd and it's still under warranty. More than the car you're looking at at $12,499 but a nice, clean car.
Have you driven it? I thought the suspension was a tad soft but motor seemed willing rev. I couldn't get past the seat but that's just me I think, my wife loved it. The brake pedal seemed too close to the gas for me also, my foot kept getting hung up, maybe my shoes are too big. Seemed to be a nice and tight car. If I hadn't decided on a 540i/6 I would be buying the Saab.
I have a 99 9-3 with @ 180K on it and I have put a fuel pump and an AC comp in it. All 2000 and newer SAABs are T7 cars and harder to ( more expensive) to turn up the boost on. There are some things you can do to minimize lag cheaply but that is about it. Check out saabnet.com for more info.
Also see if they can tell you if the Direct Ignition cassette has been replaced. It is important to keep up on the spark plugs in these cars. If the DI dies you are stranded until you can get a new one ( I carry one in the back of mine).
They are a safe quick car and gets good gas millage, they are a great buy right now.
Thanks for the input. 4K is definitely the top of my price range. I like the car a lot. Last night I was doing some research and found that AC comps and DI cassettes were common failures. The scary part is that catastrophic engine failure due to oil starvation seemed as common as a failed DI. Maybe I should have the dealer take off the oil pan and let me look at the oil pickup screen. I used to work at this shop so I think he wouldn't mind. Definitely can't afford to have my engine seize. I think it's a 7k job.
If you can get them to drop the pan then I would do that. I think the sludge problem comes from using semi synthetic oil with the 10K oil changes recommended by SAAB. I run full syn in mine and change the oil every 5k and have not had any issues, the car had 75k on it when we got it.
You don't necessarily have to see in the pan do you? I can usually peak under an oil cap and know all I need to about sludge. I don't even like saabs and I think that's a good price.
That seems like a lot of car for $4K, it is only 8 years old. I think a 8 year old Corolla would cost more and that is 1/2 the car.
Sweedish is always greater than Japanese. Cars, Food and Women.
We had a 2000 base 9-3 (auto) for 3 years (54K to 97K). Driven conservatively, they absolutely eat brake pads and rotors (Front/Rear every 30K). Not so bad if you're DIYing, not good if you're going to a dealer/indy. Shocks/struts also needed to be replaced during it's tenure, bushings in the front control arms usually go and need to be replaced by poly bushings. They're very sensitive to tire mounting/balancing. I also replaced an entire exhaust from the flex pipe back at around 95K. Oh, and check for the turbo going bad (blue smoke out of the exhaust), ours cost us to the tune of $1K just after we purchased the car.
Minor stuff that seems to always go wrong includes power window rollers breaking and the power antenna becoming stuck in the up position. Both relatively quick (and cheap) fixes, but annoying. Saab aluminum wheels are very fragile, I cracked one and couldn't remember hitting any potholes.
In general, parts are not as bad as you'd think, eEuroparts will become your friend. Honestly, though, I'd stay away. Worrying about sludge and impending DIC doom is not fun. We also received gearbox selector codes, which run about $600 to fix. Broken motor/transmission mounts are also common.
Bottom line, we bought the car in 2005 for 6.5K with 54K, which was a good deal at the time (leather, moonroof, auto, heated seats, etc.). Put >$4K into the car (parts and labor), and sold the car in 2008 for $4K (with two sets of wheels/tires) with 97K. I would stay away, they seem to really drain a budget, and although the steep depreciation curve is your friend when buying, if you ever sell you'll feel the crunch. In the end, there were always a lot of things to go wrong, so we parted ways.
If you are serious about a Saab, I would only buy one with extensive service records. 10K oil changes on a semi-synthetic oil for a turbo car just wasn't a good idea. And I'd make sure the 90K service was already done, otherwise you're looking at an automatic $500 right after you buy the car.
DJ
I had a 2001 9-3S (aka base) for a couple of years and loved it. Even with the 185hp engine (as opposed to the 205hp of the SE), it was quick and loads of fun to drive. From the factory, the cars have some shortcomings... My biggest complaints were easily addressed for under $500 from genuinesaab.com aka Taliaferro Saab. The parts included a steering rack brace kit and a big rear sway. I also sprung for the Taliaferro open air intake and a Hyperboost HCx bypass valve. These things combined made for a very amusing DD that regularly got 30+MPG and was quick enough and fast enough to get me in plenty of trouble.
I'd buy one again, but I'd like to try a Viggen next time. They aren't very expensive any more...
My old one, sitting just as I bought it with 9-5 Aero 17x7s on it:
EDIT: I also forgot to mention that when I was finished with it, my aunt bought the car from me. She still drives it everywhere she goes. All that she has had done to it in the past two years is a rebuilt A/C compressor ($250ish on eBay), idler pulley, belt, and a window regulator.
I had a '96 900 for a while (same car basically) and loved it. We had clutch cable troubles (it ate them) but the 9-3 went to a hydraulic clutch, which happens to be a popular conversion for early cars.
You don't have to drop the oil pan to check for sludge. Remove the oil pressure relief plunger from the lower right side of the front cover, right by the crank pulley. If the plunger is stuck in it's bore when you remove the plug, run away. If the plunger comes out, see if it's all scored up. If it is, run away. If it looks nice and shiny, buy the car and don't worry about it.
Oh yeah i forgot about the exhaust and ignition switch - those were really the only things we had to deal with that were unusual for the mileage (compared to a Japanese car). Everything else that we had trouble with was super minor, like the antenna, and a noisy rear wiper motor. They're hard to find in the pick-your-part junkyards around here, though, so you end up becoming friends with the SAAB dealer.
Well. Hmmm. That's alot to think about. Honestly I am a DIYer when comes to alot of things, brakes definitely. The dealer is going to let me use his shop and tools to drop the oil pan and clean the pick-up screen. I plan on putting in an electronic oil pressure gauge in place of the idiot light switch that is there now. That way I can keep an eye on the pressure over time.
The other thing is that this car is more expensive than most to maintain, and that's my biggest concern. On the plus side I live next to a used Saab dealer, and can get Saab parts at cost plus 10%.
It seems like either people like them and have relatively few problems, or people don't like them so much because of the problems they've had.
I think I may take a chance, but keep my Volvo 240 as a back-up (I bet the 240 will outlive the Saab anyway).
BTW: Those wheels look nice on that car!
JJ -
I think the biggest difference between the Saabs that have problems and the Saabs that don't is how they've been maintained over the first few years. If I were to buy one again, I would only buy one with extensive maintenance records (dealer or otherwise), and proof of all the services being done. I would also prefer to buy one just after a major service, as well, as that'll save you a few bucks. In our case, we bought at 54K and sold at 97K, so we hit two major service intervals while we owned the car (60K and 90K)...
Saabnet is a great place for research and finding quality used cars. The saabsite has some good FAQs, as well. My biggest concern with any Saab from that time period would be sludge, so if you can eliminate that via inspection, I think you're most of the way there.
HTH -
DJ
jj wrote: BTW: Those wheels look nice on that car!
Thanks! Having the windows tinted made a huge difference in the way it looked, too. So much glass...
Simple modifications made a huge difference in the appearance of the car... Same with handling. I never did anything to get more power out of the car, but it's supposed to be much the same. With the T7 engine management that started in '00 in the 9-3s, you won't get a lot out of hardware upgrades without the ECU upgrades to support it, but simple things like exhaust and intake can still improve upon what little lag the car has in stock form. Pretty noises are a plus, too.
4k is an incredible deal!!!
i have a 94 saab 900 ..... love the car .... go with the saab you'll love it ... did u end up purchasing it?
I forget whether 2000 or 2002 is the big trouble year, but there was one year of transition between SAAB and GM ownership where the cars were really, really wonky and unreliable. Be sure to check on that.
yes, I left a deposit on it. Got it for 3950 out the door. It's a 2000 model. Now I'm just waiting "10 business days" to get a new credit card with 15 months no interest to pay the balance. I spent 8 hours one day in the shop dropping the oil pan and cleaning it out (have to take off the down pipe and drop the front crossmembers to get at it). not a bit of sludge, just some grit and grime in the bottom of the pan (no metal). I think highway driving might not be so bad regarding sludge because the oil pan will be cooled by constant air flow. I have a nice 30 minute commute through some virginia back roads to work.
Here is a link to the dealer's pics of the car. http://www.volvobylnb.com/forsale,00bluesaab93.html
beautiful car ..... nice aquisition at a crazy nice price!!!!
Very nice, now the fun begins. One of the first things you can do is replace the snorkel in the air box with a section of 3 in PVC. When I did this to our car my wife called me on her way to work and thought something was wrong with the car, you could actually hear the turbo after.
You will be amazed at what you will be able to fit in that car.
Have fun.
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