Should I buy it? 2006 SAAB 9-3 2.0T with 98K miles

[mckenzmm]

I've never owned a SAAB before. I have read reviews of the car on Edmunds, Cars, watched about 20 YouTube videos and now I found this forum. Hoping to get some feedback on a potential purchase.

I am in the market for a used fun car to drive that is also reliable for $5,000 or less and found through word of mouth a 2006 9-3 2.0T with 98k miles. The car was owned by a wealthy family and they kept up on the regular maintenance. Just a little rust on the body - the under body seemed great with just a little surface rust, body and interior are not perfect but overall both in good shape. Test drive went very well - wow what a fun car to drive! Seemed like no leaks in the engine bay or in the area it was parked. New tires. It has only been driven about 600 miles in the last year by the daughter when she came home for breaks from college.

I offered them $2,500 and they accepted but I haven't picked up the car or finalized the deal. Should I go through with it? I live in a medium size city and there seems to be a decent network of repair shops that work on SAAB.

Thanks for your advice.

[Dave T]

Yes.

1. you agreed on a price and it would be nice to be seen as a reliable buyer.
2. this is your chance of a lifetime to own a Saab. I have driven Saabs most of my driving life and miss that one can no longer buy a new Saab.

Enjoy the car. Since it's 13 years old, you might only have a reliable car for 25,000 more miles but then you might have a reliable car for 50,000 more miles and a fairly reliable car with some repairs for another 50,000 miles.

I had a 2005 9-3 (Linear). It's like the 2006 9-3 2.0t not 2.0T. It was the best car I've ever had even compared to a more expensive car that I now have. The only thing better in my current car is Bluetooth, but you can get Bluetooth that sticks in your ear and is not connected with the car.

[Digger]

Got my first Saab about 3 years ago and it is a 9-3 2.0t. The 2.0t is also the GM Echotech engine and every part number for engine and chassis that you can cross reference to Chevy is a third or less that price of the exact same part with a Saab part number.

The more you can self maintain the less the car costs to run and 28mpg is the overall city highway average I get using the 15% ethanol regular plus, which is higher octane than regular and also costs less than regular. The minimum 1 octane difference of regular plus gets the car down the road 11 months of the year and except for really hot few weeks of summer where I do need to use some premium, I didn't notice any change in performance between regular plus and premium and only need to add the half tank of premium in the August heat.

Strandburg in Osceola Wisconsin has a good supply of used Saab body parts for those little things that can happen and between the great amount of information that can be found on Saab forums, along with internet parts shopping, this can be one of the most affordable cars you may ever own. It certainly is the best car that GM never actually built.

I bought a used Tahoe to pull the new boat, the little Saab didn't have any trouble pulling the old boat and it doesn't have any trouble pulling the new boat except for getting it out of the water when the launch ramp is wet. Towing capacity is fine, front wheel drive traction from a dead stop on a wet incline is the issue and the extra weight of the new boat is max Saab towing weight.

4 cars for 2 people is to much screwing around and I will truly miss my Saab when it goes, but the little woman loves the vintage convertible so much that she is working the neighbor to buy my Saab and I have enough faith in the car to sell it to the guy across the street. Now that I'm retired the 15mpg truck isn't as big a bite as it would be if I was driving to work every day and giving up the Saab wagon is only a temporary solution. Eventually I will find her a good used Saab convertible and be able to get rid of 2 more cars.

Buying any car, new or used is always a crap shoot, you roll the dice every time you turn the key and when you're really lucky you get a great car, my Saab 9-3 has been such a great car I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a well maintained 9-3 to anyone.

[mckenzmm]

Thank you, Dave and Digger. I appreciate it!

[mckenzmm]

Purchased the car on Sunday. Just got it back from a Saab repair shop. They did an oil change and 21 point inspection. Said the car was in very good shape. Only found very minor oil seepage. Suggested I watch that closely in the colder months. I paid $90 for the oil change and inspection. They also fixed a metal on metal noise coming from the rear driver side break for no charge. They used Mobil 1 0W-40, next oil change in 7,000 miles.

After I purchased the car, I looked at the last oil change receipt and realized the car had only been driven 3,000 miles in the last 2.5 years. They only mentioned it was 600 miles in the last year. That sort of scared me!

[nordwulf]

It sounds like you got a great deal on that 9-3. It looks like the worst part are the seats but their leather in later models was not the greatest quality. My forst Saab was a 2006 9-3 2.0T Arc just like yours and really enjoyed it. Hope it will give you many trouble-free miles.

[Digger]

Yes the drivers seat bottom does have a very worn look for a 100K car and I would guess by the way the foam pad is crushed that the main driver was a bit on the heavy side.

Easy and very cheap fix is get a passenger side seat bottom from a salvage yard car with matching leather. Right and left seat bottom skins and cushions are the same except for where the hole was poked for the trim panel snap. No big demand for non power passenger seats, so you should be able to get a good U-pull seat bottom for less than $20. Move what you need to the drivers side, poke a new hole where you need and flexible fabric glue a sturdy cloth patch to the inside of the skin to close the hole on the right side. It won't be perfect, but it will be hard to see and if you want perfect use a repair kit to color and grain the outer skin.

[Dave T]

Consider keeping the car in near perfect shape. I realize that it's not always possible or that some people don't want to. I kept all my Saabs in near perfect shape except for a 1999 9-3 (1998 build) that I bought in 2013. That car was quite worn and could not be brought to near mint condition.

A stop gap measure for the seat, if you don't like the way it looks, is to put a fabric bottom cushion cover over it either temporarily or as a long term measure. The seat does have a side airbag so putting a full sheepskin cover is problematic.

Consider changing the oil yourself. It's a relatively easy job and possible to do without lifting the car because the drain plug is off to one side slightly. See detailed instructions with photos here http://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=193 Many people have long enough arms to reach it. If you want a 32 mm (socket) for a socket wrench, I bought one for my 2005 9-3 but no longer need it. Just ask me.

Changing oil save some money but what I like about it is that it gives you time to inspect the car while the oil is draining. With my first Saab, I had the bad habit of taking the car apart during this time and sometimes had a difficult time putting the car back together. However, with subsequent Saabs, I didn't take the car apart out of curiosity.

What do you think of this?

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