Buying a Saab

JoeSexton

Hi there, just looking for some advice on buying a Saab. The one I'm interested in is the 9-3 1.8T (2008) automatic. Looks like a lovely car, has FSH and lowish miles. Any advice would be appreciated, and would parts be hard to come by if/when repairs are needed.

Thanks!

Nuw

Lovely car. Parts are actually reasonably available, a good portion of them being General Motors/Opel, + they're fairly reliable if taken care of properly. Given that the one you're looking at has FSH, it should be good.

Richard_parker

Everyone I spoke to lately says these are great and reliable cars, never heard anything bad about them. I am looking into buying 1.9 twin turbo diesel 93 myself, my understanding is that parts are still available for them. Dont know anything about 1.8t sorry.

JoeSexton

Thanks for the replies lads!

biko

It's 1.8t, the lowercase t signifies low pressure turbo - at least for my 2.0tSaabs.
Another way to tell LPT from HPT is that high pressure turbo has a turbo gauge on the dial cluster.

Link to advert?

christy02

1.8t is 150bhp , 2.0t is 175bhp and the 2.0T is 210bhp. All 1.8l engines.

These figures differ if using ethanol on the biofuel engines but that's not currently available in the country.

AFAIK it is easy enough to remap the 150bhp to 175bhp. A lot of the 1.8t are advertised at 175bhp, but they are not unless using ethanol.

KERSPLAT!

I've a standard 1.8 2006 Saab 93 and I absolutely love it. Beautiful interior and a lovely drive. I had to get the steering rack replaced and there was a receipt with the service history for a rack a few years previously, I'm not sure if this is a known issue or not but other than that I've had no real issues. When I'm looking again I'll be looking at Saabs first. Love them.

KERSPLAT!

Just to add, I've no idea where you're located but there's a mechanic in Meath, just off the n2 after Ashbourne, who specialises in Saabs. He did the rack for me. Sound lad and very reasonable, someone on boards passed his info to me

JoeSexton

Awesome, cheers!

CiDeRmAn

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Just to add, I've no idea where you're located but there's a mechanic in Meath, just off the n2 after Ashbourne, who specialises in Saabs. He did the rack for me. Sound lad and very reasonable, someone on boards passed his info to me

Any chance of the link to that guy?
I need some door locks sorted on my 05 1.8 9-3.

KERSPLAT!

Sure

http://www.mccormackmotors.ie/

Website isn't up to much but like i said, sound lad and very reasonable.

ligertigon

wipers =intermittent malfunction,
and balance shaft tensioners prone to breaking.
make sure you get two keys

kencoo

I have a 2008 1.8t 2 years now. Very good car. Very few issues mechanically although clutch went in mine but thats a known fault. Another common fault is the oil sludge caught in the mesh in the sump. Simple to resolve with a service but some garages dont bother. They are not expensive to run. Reliable. Id buy another. They are usually going for small money these days so I wouldnt be spending over the odds.

shinju

OP, i have a 2007 9-3 1.8t about 1 year now.
It is quite possibly the lowest mileage 1.8t 9-3 on the planet.
It had ~8000 miles when i purchased it last year.
It now has ~18,000 miles. Just motorway miles down the M50.
Half leather (ivory) seats. Heated front seats. Tiptronic auto. One owner when purchased.

It drives like a dream.
My wife was biased against Saab because her friend previously had an older 9-3 and hence she was unimpressed with problems and the " keeping up with the Jones's" aspect.

I bought it, brought it home and took her for a drive. Within 15mins she did a full reversal of opinion and decided that it was her car to keep instead.

Beautiful, smooth drive. Better than my 3 series diesel.
This past winter was a breeze. It coped perfectly with the icy roads and takes no time at all to heat up the cabin on an icy morning.

Try to get leather or half leather heated seats. Lighter colour leather looks more luxurious than black. Auto box is fine, plus you have Tiptronic functionality if required. Sunroof is nice to have.

You can get it remapped by sending the ecu to a Saab guy in the UK for next to nothing at all. I haven't felt the need to do so as yet though.

Only problem I've had is drivers window not closing properly. But easily fixed by removing fuse and resetting. To buy an 18k mile 3 series would cost me 25k+. Yet here we have an almost brand new car for a fifth of the price.

It should take another 8 years to reach 100K miles at the current rate.
With maintenance it should still be ok at that stage (2026) and perfect time to upgrade to a decent electric car.

Is that viable though?
Probably not, because everyone wants, wants, wants...better, newer, roomier, flashier,

Check the UK, better chance of getting a low mileage, well specced version at a decent price over there.