2006 Saab 93 a good buy?

BigAl81

Hey guys,

I've been looking for a new car for a while and I've come across this Sabb 93 from a dealer on DoneDeal...
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-93-1-8-litre-petrol/7490640

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my 2001 Opel Astra as it's at end of life. Just looking for something a bit different to your average BMW or Audi etc. Anything would be an upgrade to what I have now so not looking for top of the line, but cruise control and leather seats would be nice! Budget of less than 4,000 euro.

I do very little mileage, probably less that 7000 miles a year so no need for diesel or even that good MPG and I'm ok with the tax of 636 euro on this.

What do people think of that car or garage? My plan would be buy cheap and hope to get a few years out of her, do the yearly service etc and driver her till she eventually gives up down the line.

This particular car has been online for about a month so should be able to haggle down the price a bit and even if I only sold my old car for scrap, I might get away with three grand down for this Sabb which seems ok to me?

Also, is this time of the year good to buy or should I wait till January next year and an 06 car would be a year older and hence cheaper right?

Thanks for any opinions and advice ;o)

Cheers,
Alan.

Ps: The other option I'm looking at is the Honda Accord.

Jesus.

Great car to drive. Great looking car too. Not very reliable though.

An Accord would be more trustworthy.

toastedpickles

the dashboards squeak like mad on these, plus the buttons in the centre consoles coatings peels off, they're an alright car like, like everything it depends on how it was looked after by previous owners also them 1.8's are actually an underpowered 2.0 so if you have a spare bit of muneh lying around, you should remap it best of luck with whatever you pick

lazybones32

Had one some years ago and was very pleased with it. Had no troubles with it but it was well looked after by prev. owner.

If you don't do a lot of mileage and the car will be used for short trips, I'd advise getting a smaller engine or diesel: the short trips will crucify you on fuel. Engines take a while to warm up and for any 'extras' to kick in.

toyotaavensis

DO NOT GET A DIESEL FOR SHORT TRIPS.

The SAAB looks nice but I would try and get a vector sport model as it has some extra toys and usually the 2.0 engine which is lively.

toastedpickles

toyotaavensis wrote: »

DO NOT GET A DIESEL FOR SHORT TRIPS.

The SAAB looks nice but I would try and get a vector sport model as it has some extra toys and usually the 2.0 engine which is lively.

Yep, you'l be paying more for parts in a years time than you did for the car vector is a good spec, however if you can get an aero then you're talking

Where are you based? I know of a guy selling an arc model which is below the vector, i can look into it for you if you like?

Can i persuade you towards a 9-5 maybe?

bazz26

The 2.0 litre is much more lively than the 1.8i. Strangely enough Saab decided to stick a 1.8t on the 2.0 litre version.

commited

toastedpickles wrote: »

them 1.8's are actually an underpowered 2.0 so if you have a spare bit of muneh lying around, you should remap it best of luck with whatever you pick

It's actually a 1.8i N/A GM engine and is underpowered for the car Minimum engine for this is the 1.8t which is a 150bhp 2.0 turbo, but the pick of the range is the 2.0t imho - 175bhp and same running costs.

I'd recommend looking at this (and chipping about 1k off the price):
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-93-2-0t-vector-full-extensive-s/7519165

BigAl81

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replies ;o)

I'm liking the look of that 2.0t one alright. It's a 2005 so it's a year older, but great service history and higher spec so probably worth dropping down a year to pick all that up. I'll try pop over at lunch time and check it out.

It's on DoneDeal for 3999 but the dealers website for 4999. Any tips on haggling? I guess be prepared to walk away, I'll give the old "no one is buying big petrol engines these days", and "sure it's nearly 10 years old" lines, offer 3k and walk away leaving my number with him if he changes his mind. I think he's had it since the end of August so probably keen to get rid of it!

Thanks again for the tips ;o)

Cheers,
Al.

Ps: Any yes, definitely no diesel for short low milage trips alright!!

commited

€4999 is way over priced, so he's dreaming there. Realistically it's worth around 3k, he probably gave someone 2-2.5k as a trade in. I paid considerably less for mine (thought it's 03 with 120k) and to pay more than 2.5k for one, it'd have to be immaculate and drive like a new car. They are decent enough to drive though and economical as long as you don't use full throttle!

toyotaavensis

OP the ad says
STRAIGHT CASH PRICE 3,999.... OPTION OF SERVICE/WARRANTY/TRADE-IN ETC.... 4,999.

The car is worth about 3000. If he says he wants extra to service the car before you buy it or to give you a warranty just move on there are a lot more saab 9-3s for sale than 9-3 buyers.
Also as it is a dealer if he wants 1000 extra for a warranty then I would be wondering why he wants this much to stand over his product and wouldnt be shy about mentioning this to him in negotiations.

Also the fact that it has no tax could get you below 3000 for it.

Also make sure you get proof of the service history

Ash.J.Williams

BigAl81 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I've been looking for a new car for a while and I've come across this Sabb 93 from a dealer on DoneDeal...
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-93-1-8-litre-petrol/7490640

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my 2001 Opel Astra as it's at end of life. Just looking for something a bit different to your average BMW or Audi etc. Anything would be an upgrade to what I have now so not looking for top of the line, but cruise control and leather seats would be nice! Budget of less than 4,000 euro.

I do very little mileage, probably less that 7000 miles a year so no need for diesel or even that good MPG and I'm ok with the tax of 636 euro on this.

What do people think of that car or garage? My plan would be buy cheap and hope to get a few years out of her, do the yearly service etc and driver her till she eventually gives up down the line.

This particular car has been online for about a month so should be able to haggle down the price a bit and even if I only sold my old car for scrap, I might get away with three grand down for this Sabb which seems ok to me?

Also, is this time of the year good to buy or should I wait till January next year and an 06 car would be a year older and hence cheaper right?

Thanks for any opinions and advice ;o)

Cheers,
Alan.

Ps: The other option I'm looking at is the Honda Accord.

unless you are a mechanic i would say NO WAY. Very hard to find people willing to work on a saab.

commited

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

unless you are a mechanic i would say NO WAY. Very hard to find people willing to work on a saab.

That's not really true of the 9-3, it's basically a tweaked Vectra underneath.

BigAl81

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all the great advice above!

So I'm just back from the garage. It's a nice car and I took it for a spin and I liked it so all good on that front.

So at the end of the test drive I pulled out a print out of 3 Sabb 93's going for close to 3k (http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2005-saab-93-vector-sport/7986885).

The car I was in has no tax and is due a service so I told him that's another grand cost to me. Neither of us were sure if the car has a belt or chain, but no mention of it in the service book so I told him at 120kms on the clock that would probably cost me another 500 to get done.

So given all that I asked what he could do on the price, I said I had 3k in my pocket ready to go to take it without service or warranty, given the car is 10 years old as well... and he basically wouldn't budge. He said at most he'd knock 100 euro off it. I showed him the print outs of other 2005 Saab 93s that were Vector Sports models for near 3k and he still wouldn't budge!

I reminded him in 6 weeks this car will be another year older and he has already had it for 2 months, still nothing.

So I said thanks anyway and left my number for him to call me if anything changes. I even said I'd come back in Jan 2015 and he said it will still be the same price then ha ha!

The search continues so!

toyotaavensis

That printout is of a diesel which is worth more especially if the seller can prove the flywheel was changed.

BigAl81

toyotaavensis wrote: »

That printout is of a diesel which is worth more especially if the seller can prove the flywheel was changed.

Thanks for the tip, yeah there are good value diesels there alright, but I do a 10 mile each way commute to work and nearly half of that is through the city so I'm going to stick to petrol I reckon.

Suprised the guys wouldn't budge at all on the price in the garage, it had a roof sign saying 5,499 euro on it too haha! His point, which is fair enough, is that there would be more cost in maintaining the diesel.

Well, he has my number so if he gets back to me with a deal I'll take it, otherwise it's onwards and upwards.

Thanks,
Al.

commited

Gotta love Irish dealers, they'd rather see it rot then clear it for another profit to take it's place. Hard luck, but the great thing is that there are plenty of other cars out there!

9-3 turbos are chain driven and generally reliable.

To be honest, I think you should consider something like this:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-520i-m-sport-nctd-to-2016/7951549

The e39 is one of the best cars ever made, I only swapped my 2001 e39 530i for my 2003 9-3 because I moved country and needed something cheap and cheerful for a while. It may be 2 years older than what you're looking at but it's a far superior vehicle to the 9-3 (and to be honest most cars below 5k). That one looks like most of the stuff that comes up around this age/mileage has been fixed too. It's enthusiast owned, I believe the owner is on backroads.ie.

Once I'm back on my feet financially, I'll be buying another e39.

I know them relatively well having done a fair bit of work to both e39s and 9-3s so if you need a hand looking at any of them or fixing any issues, give me a shout.

BigAl81

Hey,

Thanks for the tip on the BMW / e39. A few people in work and a few of my friends have BMW's so was just looking for something a bit different. My current car is 2001 so I was looking to go up the years a bit as well as rust and odd things start to go once you get over 10 or 15 years old.

I'll keep it in mind tho.

Thanks,
Alan.

Ps: The dealer hasn't cracked yet, no phone calls to report!

RayCon

If it checks out (mileage is little low) this could be a nice runner ...

2006 Honda Accord 2.0
NCT May 16

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/nice-honda-accord-i-vtec/7486712

or this ..

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-2-0-sr-4dr/8060970

BigAl81

Hum,

Thanks for the links to the Accords, I'll have a think about them.

Just did one more pass around the websites for Saabs and found this 2008 1.8t for 4,950, but with 120,000 miles on the clock. I like the idea of a 2008 but not sure about the high mileage....
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/saab-93-1-8-t-linear-biopower/8077464

Cheers,
Alan.

BigAl81

Humm,

Might have a look at this one at the weekend. 2007 Saab 93 1.8 petrol for 3999 ono! It's got 100,000 miles on the clock though. Would you consider that a lot of miles if the various services have been done along the way.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2007-saab-93-1-8t-linear-sport/8094219?sv=1

Cheers,
Al.

toyotaavensis

I WOULD want proof of the service history for that car as if it doesnt have it then ...

BigAl81

Hi all,

Thanks for the tips along the way, I just bought that 2008 with high mileage!! It's a 1.8T Linear Sport with leather seats, air con, cruise control etc so quite the upgrade for me;o)

The donedeal link is gone but this seems to still work...
http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1153881&r=s.php%3Fm%3D76%26o%3D661%26r%3D2008%26g%3D0

It's a little bit more well worn than I'd like with the odd scratch and interior scuff marks etc. but I got him from 5 grand down to 4250. I did have to trade in my 2001 Opel Astra for that but it was on it's last legs and I was in Carlow so would have no way of getting it home so it kind of suited me!

Love car to drive and very comfortable with lots of extras, now lets hope the engine doesn't fall out of it for a while with all those high miles!!!

Cheers,
Alan.

Ps: I did a cartell check before I bought it and it was serviced before I bought it too, I should have got a mechanic to check it out too, but it was 5pm on a Sunday and I wanted to drive the "new" car home!!

toastedpickles

Welcome to the club!

BigAl81

Here she is in all hey glory :-)

Thanks again for the tips guys, especial to go for the turbo over the regular one... a steal at €4200 + a 15 year old astra trade in :-)

Cheers,
Al.

Ps: on a mobile so hope the pic attached ok!

dastardly00

Lovely looking car!

commited

Looks like a lot more car than 4k!

Comhrá

Congrats! Lovely motor. A lot of car for €4200 + a 15 year old Astra. Enjoy!