Am I crazy to consider ANOTHER Saab 9-3?

So I bought the wife a 9-3 in January (Sporticombi 6MT with 2.0l Turbo) and so far it has treated us pretty good. Now, I am getting tired of my insight for commuting and want something more comfortable to do my 90 miles a day in. I thought I had a good option on a 2003 Maxima with a stick but the dealer wouldn't come off their silly price. The search continued and I found this.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/4554867191.html

My question is, is this a bad idea. I am little afraid of having two of these but it doesn't seem likely to have them both break at once in a glorious Saabian way. Thoughts?

My friend/neighbor and his wife have matching 9-3s of the previous generation. Go for it!

Why does the ad have no pics of the front of the car???

Nice looking car from what you can see. I was chasing a Saab before I bought my Golf.

It seems a little strange to have two of the same cars. Of course we had two Grand Prix's sitting in front of the house a couple years ago. I'd do it but one would have to be black with flames and the other pink with hello kitty stickers on the hood like a Trans Am.

Saabs can get good mileage and are comfortable. I think it's worth a shot, although a base model will likely get better mileage than the Aero...

Have you driven a Prius?

There are no pictures of the front because it looks like E36 M3. I got that after asking for it. I then offered 3800 and I believe I pissed him off. It needs a front bumper and lip which is like 600 before paint.

In reply to dj06482:

I currently have a first gen insight and I am done with hybrids.

As mentioned before, I have 2009 9-3 that I've owned for a year and half. No trouble with it at all. Maintenance and brake pads (thanks to a track day) is all I've had to do. Comfortable ride, reasonably sporty, tows my race car on the dolly with no problem. Oh, and I paid $9K for a car with 69K km on the odo. I'd go for a second if I were you.

If you like it, why not? I only have four Saabs right now.

Well I still haven't heard back from him so I am guessing that he is going to continue to think it is worth exceptionally clean value when it needs a new front bumper and lip (the lip is $$$). Oh well, I will continue the search.

I like the wife's 9-3 even though the interior is built to typical GM standards and I had to perform some CIM repairs the moment we got it. Good power and mpgs. very comfortable.

You aren't crazy. Saabs are nice. And cheap!

Jeff wrote: As mentioned before, I have 2009 9-3 that I've owned for a year and half. No trouble with it at all. Maintenance and brake pads (thanks to a track day) is all I've had to do. Comfortable ride, reasonably sporty, tows my race car on the dolly with no problem. Oh, and I paid $9K for a car with 69K km on the odo. I'd go for a second if I were you.

I thought you were nuts but a Saab 9-3 has a 2k towing capacity.

http://www.cars.com/saab/9-3/2009/specifications

singleslammer wrote: So I bought the wife a 9-3 in January (Sporticombi 6MT with 2.0l Turbo) and so far it has treated us pretty good. Now, I am getting tired of my insight for commuting and want something more comfortable to do my 90 miles a day in. I thought I had a good option on a 2003 Maxima with a stick but the dealer wouldn't come off their silly price. The search continued and I found this. http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/4554867191.html My question is, is this a bad idea. I am little afraid of having two of these but it doesn't seem likely to have them both break at once in a glorious Saabian way. Thoughts?

Either here, or in a separate thread if you prefer, would you share your 9-3 wagon experience to date? They are pretty high on my shopping list as a replacement for our 2006 V70R.

Not crazy. The 2.0l is the one to get and the manual is good too. Just stay away from the V6 and the XWD. If you can search the web for parts and don't mind fixing CIM issues even better.

Sure thing dyintorace -

Got it with a broken blink switch from a dealer in IA. I probably, almost certainly, paid too much but I was excited to have found a Sportcombi with a stick. Anyway, I drove it home with the wife with a busted blinker assemble that would randomly come on for a left turn.

I fixed it myself by taking apart the column and swapping in parts from a new CIM (no idea what it stands for) which is the control box in the steering column. Didn't have to get it programmed but finding someone with a Tec2 is impossible. If there is a Saab shop in your town, become friends.

It has been in the fleet since January and my wife has taken over it for her DD. Overall, she loves it. There are some things that I don't like but none are major, just annoying. Here they are:

Drivers seat has a slight rock in the adjustment mechanism. It doesn't appear to bother my wife as she is a solid 60 lbs and 6 inches smaller than me.

The AUX in on the stereo refuses to recognize my phone. This is true for all smart phones. It has something to do with the head unit and phone both trying to take the lead. This was solved with a cheap blue tooth adapter. This works fine it just looks like crap.

Last niggle is the door panels aren't very solid. There is lots of give in them, IMO, and they can be a bit noisy.

Thats it. Nothing really major. The car has run great otherwise and has been returning upper 20s with mixed driving (65% Highway). Our few long distance trips have returned low to mid 30s thanks to that big overdrive. It is pretty fun to drive, although the non-aero version is probably as fun as your Volvo. A lot of parts are GM parts bin so those are cheap and easy to find. I would totally buy another if I could find another wagon manual and would probably buy a sedan if no wagon could be found. I haven't driven the auto so if that is what you need, I can't help there.

Xceler8x wrote:

Jeff wrote: As mentioned before, I have 2009 9-3 that I've owned for a year and half. No trouble with it at all. Maintenance and brake pads (thanks to a track day) is all I've had to do. Comfortable ride, reasonably sporty, tows my race car on the dolly with no problem. Oh, and I paid $9K for a car with 69K km on the odo. I'd go for a second if I were you.

I thought you were nuts but a Saab 9-3 has a 2k towing capacity. http://www.cars.com/saab/9-3/2009/specifications

According to my owners manual, I'm rated at 3500 LBS. I can tow 3330 lbs at 6-8% grade for unlimited time (auto trans cooling issues). I wouldn't use it for a cross country tow, but for local tracks in ON (5 hrs or less) no problem.

Biggest thing I will be towing is a hand full of dirt bikes so maybe 2200lbs total weight. No big deal. I found another 2003 Maxima Manual. I am hoping to check it out tonight.

So why are you wanting to give up the Insight if you have such a long daily trip? Tired of saving money? I only ask because I have a Gen 1 insight myself and as much as I loved my SAAB it would be hard to give up the gas savings of the Insight.

That being said: I would never discourage someone from buying a SAAB, or 2, or 3...

In reply to t25torx:

I spend too much time in it. I don't enjoy the experience. It hasn't clicked with me. It gets great MPGs but I don't want to spend 9 hours a week in something I don't kind of enjoy. It provides nothing but fuel economy and that isn't good enough for me. Also, going to need a back seat in the near future.

Fair enough. I can understand, I have no emotional attachment to my Insight either, if it was totaled today I wouldn't feel bad at all.

I would probably get another SAAB actually. A 2001 9-3 SE or a SportCombi. I have to have a hatchback or wagon, I can't live with a trunk.

Definitely falls in the "not crazy" bin. My wife's driving a 9-3 Sport-Kombi with the 2.5l turbo and that thing is a HOOT to drive! I steal it almost every chance I get

If it were Correct-Wheel-Drive I'd probably have one too

Thanks for the insight(!). I appreciate the feedback. I think the Sportcombi is a pretty cool looking wagon. I'll see what my wife thinks of them!

Do it!
Full disclosure: I once had 3 9000s of various years and power ratings in my garage at once. I also stole a fuel pump from my good Aero to fix my rusty uber mileage work car and avoid contaminating the good car with salt in Feburary. If you're a DIY person, fleet commonality isn't a bad thing. I'm also currently looking for a second 9-5 as my wife prefers my 9-5 Aero to her Odyssey b/c she can pass more idiots on her way to work. Her words, not mine.

I think its fairly common that Saab owners have more than 1. We currently have 4, one of which is a 2.0T combi tiptronic that is my DD. I bought it stupidly cheap and have put a ton of miles on it having done nothing but change the oil, air filter, and cabin filter. My wife hated the fact that it was a wagon at first, but has come around now that she sees how great a wagon is. On road trips I never see less than 30MPG, even with big stupid snow tires and 4 people with ski gear.

I will probably be looking to upgrade some of the older cars to the "9-3 SS" line in the near future too. Its hard to go wrong with such a nice car for that kind of money.