Is it worth it?

[ouimetnick]

Hi Saab community! This is my first post here, and I'm looking for your advice on this situation. So here we go...I want my own Saab, and ideally it would be an original 9-5 or a great shape old generation 9-3 (no GM ecotec stuff) I would want a sedan, covertible, or I suppose a hatchback. I'm not a fan of station wagons. We finally sold my POS 2001 Mazda Tribute (rebadged Ford Escape) so I will need something to drive. The tribute was crummy in lots of ways. Poor acceleration, gas hog (13-14mpg) just an all around piece of garbage.


My dad is possibly going to sell me his 2003 Saab 9-3 SE Covertible. What's a reasonable for this 12 year old vehicle? 90,000 miles, engine tick, ran on regular oil until 1000 miles ago? Body is in great shape, no rust, blah blah. He wants roughly $6500 for it, but I feel that I would be getting ripped off at that price. I can find the same car in a 2002 or so model year with same mileage, same condition, for $5000-$5800.


His claims are well "You don't know if they had proper maintance done" "You don't know the service history and what's been replaced"


Yeah, well proper service history would include a synthetic motor oil meeting ACEA A3 standards.


What do you folks feel it is worth? He wants to get a VW Jetta, but if he wants to try and screw me over first, it's not happening.


Thanks for the advice, and mods, please move this if it isnt in the correct location.

[bwanathefirst]

over here in the u k they go for around £1500-£2000 in good nick with service history etc

[nordwulf]

but if he wants to try and screw me over first, it's not happening.

If you're concerned your dad is trying to screw you over, you may want to look somewhere else for a buying a car.

$6,500 seems a bit high but not unreasonable for a convertible with good service history and in good condition.

[Dave T]

It all depends on your relationship with your father. If he wants a deal like a commercial transaction, you can get values, such as trade in value, private sale, dealer sale. Sometimes, parents want to cut their child some slack and have a low price. Others don't. On one hand, you know the history but if he sells it to someone else, he has to take the effort, risk robbery, and nobody will completely trust his claimed history of the car.

If you want to do it strictly on a commercial basis, maybe get a value on Edmunds (see their website) and buy it as a private party. If he gives you a break, then buy it at the trade in value price.

If there is bad blood, consider a slow healing process. That is not to suggest that there is bad blood among your relatives.

[tunnanxwd]

Wow, the Kelly Blue Book value assigned to that car in good, not excellent condition but a solid good rating would be $4,100 dollars for a private sale. Run a few of these figures by your dad and keep in mind that NADA tends to run very high when compared to KBB or Edmunds.

Also, it's tough selling a Saab and many dealers won't take them in trade as companies like CarMax and other used franchisers won't.