What do we think of....

[Baz]

....These:

 

 

These seem quite cheap and plentiful at the moment....This particular example is for sale here in Norfolk at £799 with 148,000 miles, Full Service History, and full M.O.T....I worked in a Car Dealership that sold these new, but I never really took much notice back then (I worked within the Nissan Franchise at the time)....I borrowed a couple of Saabs during my time there: A 9000CSE and a 900S 3-Door, and seem to recall that both were quite nice to drive....I think it was the customers who drove the Saabs that put me off them, more than anything else: They generally seemed quite arrogant and unpleasant for some reason!

 

Anyway....At this point in time, they look like cheap summer fun for all the family....Any experiences?

[Volksy]

I had a couple of these new, they're not bad, if you can get over the horrific scuttle shake. At times it does feel like the front is a different car from the back!

[Junkman]

Volsky, don't read this.

 

From the beginning of time, one of the most outstanding virtues of a Saab buyer was the willingness to spend huge money on a car with the smallest engine

imaginable. In return he got sporting fighter-plane heritage and spare-parts-pricing to match.

 

Saab automobiles have traditionally appealed to cerebral, thoughtful professionals with six-figure tax-returns, Hans Wegner coffee tables, and no inclination whatsoever to take car-buying advice from consumer review magazines, with their dizzying, tediously compiled pages of red and black dots coldly compelling the masses into Camrys and Accords for the last thirty years.

 

Bravo, then, to those brave pilots, plastic surgeons, art directors and debutantes who forked out substantial funding for the exclusive privilege of parking one of these Trollhattan aardvarks in the garage of their Molnar Villa when they were new; depreciation be damned.

 

Fast forward twenty years, several bankruptcies, GM-ification, more subsequent bankruptcies, bailouts, and final, merciful extinction, and these same Saabs are a bit difficult to unload onto a public cowed into a steady, revolving-credit-scheme series of soulless safety-porridge-tins, warm-blanket warranties, and self-parking stupidity.

When the phone finally rings, and a cardigan-clad calculator-jockey appears on his doorstep, the seller can be sure of one thing:

 

This unlikely character is almost certainly a member of this forum.

[Volksy]

 

They were the only company car I was allowed at the time...

[freebird]

Ive always fancied one, just not that one. Ive heard a couple of horror stories about that dealer..............

[Shep Shepherd]

Nice cars, but aren't their hoods horrendously expensive to replace?

[Spiny Norman]

The hoods are quite dear, but no worse than on any other large 4 seater 'luxury' droptop. (As opposed to a Golf/Astra type thing). The other thing you need to be on the look out for is the bulkhead cracking, look on the Saab forums for info on this.

 

Actually a visit to UKSaabs is probably a good idea if you're considering one. You need to have your wits about you buying one of these, like any car that retailed for £25k back in the day they can generate pretty huge repair bills, but a decent one shouldn't hurt too much.

[splatthefat]

Dealer friend of mine (Ricky the Retard) has a 1999 T Saab 9-3 SE in silver, 68,000 with known history with black leather and in very nice order. He's had it for 6 months and dropped the price from 2 bags to just over 1, still no takers.

 

CJ

[CortinaDave]

Now that i've got over al the initial crap I had with the garage over mine, I quite like it. It is much more rattly than most cars especially over cobbles and they're not as nice to drive in general as say a mondeo, but still, a lot of car for the not much cash they're worth now.

[Guest]

I wouldn't want to pay a G for a Mk3 Cavalier with no roof.

[Madman Of The People]

My brother used to have the three door hatch (Saab insisted on calling it a coupe) version and it served him well for many years until some pillock crashed into the back of it.

[gadgetgricey]

If you can stretch to it go for a 9-3 Convertible as considerable improvements were made on that model. Even though they look the same .

One of the main changes was the roof as it went from electric to hydraulic, and was less prone to failure. And also less expensive to fix if it went wrong.

The electric roof is fine when its working, but was prone to twisting which caused the gears on each motor to loose cogs.

 

One in the picture looks like a 2.0 N/A, and it even has wheel trims for god sake.

 

Dont think the 2.0T (185bhp) will be that much more expensive, and will be a considerably better car. (though the road holding will be as comical)

Try to get one with heated seats and air con, as it does make a difference.

Dont know if they do them on convertibles, but avoid the SENSONIC at all costs. Most are converted back to manuals due to the costs.

 

Parts are cheap and plentiful and there is a strong following on UK Saabs. Quite a bit of tuning can be done on the Turbo's but due to the scuttle shake, personally I would not bother on performance, but strut braces and stuff can be useful.

 

Unfortunatly I'm one of the Saddo's and have owned a 900 V6 Convertible for a few years now on a classic policy. Its out in all weathers, and had nothing major go wrong with it other than the hand brake almost needs adjusting yearly to get it through its MOT.

 

Nows the time to buy one, but then you are on a Saab slippery slope. My V6 was the first Saab I owned (and still own) but have had about 15 in four years. Currently using a 9-5 Aero as a daily driver that is awesome, but thinking about swapping to a diesel soon as finding it difficult to justify 22mpg as a daily driver.

 

Go and have a test drive and see what you think.

 

Cheers

 

- Dave -

[CortinaDave]

I'm looking at the six point subframe braces they're punting for the convertibles... worth doing do you think? 100 plus quid but if it calms the scuttle shake down it might well be worth it..

[pompei]

I've just acquired a 9-5 Aero as a daily too! Very well equipped, fast as a slippery turd but nowhere near as comfy as the dead 9-5 diesel it replaced.

 

Sorry that is no help to a prospective rag top buyer. All I can say is that I've come across a couple of people who have had then and they liked them.

[Baz]

I think I've gone off the idea of these already....I don't think I'm really a Saab man!

 

It's four days since my Mazda went, and already I've got a hankering for something else Japanese....Maybe something Celica or Prelude shaped, with a manual gearbox, for a little trackday fun?

[Junkman]

I think I've gone off the idea of these already....I don't think I'm really a Saab man!

 

It's four days since my Mazda went, and already I've got a hankering for something else Japanese....Maybe something Celica or Prelude shaped, with a manual gearbox, for a little trackday fun?

 

If it's track day Jap junk you're after, get yourself a 200 SX.