currently looking at an 03' Saab 9-3 SE vert turbo....just curious if any of you guys have any experience with them.
anything i should look for specifically? anything in the way of past issues, etc.
any input anyone has is appreciated.
Automatic trans SUCK. I just helped my friend replace his. Seems to be a problem only with autos.
PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
i was looking at a 9-3 but not a vert. they are very nice cars that are extremely underrated in my opinion
Brian
I have a 93 Aero but it's a 2006 with the 2.8....
I did a lot of research before I bought mine and at the time it was the 2.0 Eco in there...didn't come across anything that would stop me from buying one other than once I learned the V6 was coming out I held off for one year before I bought.
I know the 6-speeds had problems and the autos...but the 5-speed ecos...not a problem that I remember running across.
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
glad to hear it....going to be checking it out hopefully today.
we'll see how it goes....she's asking 13k, sound reasonable?
5 spd, 41k miles, vert, turbo 2.0, few spots need paint touch up or dent pops, but id prolly paint the whole car immediately anyways.
FrostySunfire wrote:i was looking at a 9-3 but not a vert. they are very nice cars that are extremely unreliable in my opinion
Edited for accuracy.
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2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
I test drove a 2008 4-door about 2 months ago, I loved it...too bad its a 4 door really meant to be a 2-seater. The back has NO leg room at all. But I absolutely loved the drive of it.
A 03 9-3 se is the old body style. last year of the model. Other than being a uncomfortable (stiff, noisy, shaky) car to drive the main components are faily reliable. The engines don't fail, but they do develop a timing cover leak over time. The transmissions on the old body style are fairly good. The manual transmission shifter feels a little loose to me. Most everything is going to be expensive to fix. alignment problems, check for rear tire wear.
Now, on to the sports sedan (03+ with ecotec engine and 2.8l in 06+)....
The auto transmission SUCK in 03's and some 04's, manual transmissions are great, no problems. 03 vectors have oil consumption problems (past the rings) and a lot of ecotecs had "block porosity" issues. Had to replace a lot of blocks.
The only problem i've dealt with in the 2.8L V6 is the f'ing coolant botlle. It's mounted right above the turbo. Replace that every 10k miles. How many have you been through bluedeuce? lol
And all of that is not including all the electrical problems sports sedans have.... sigh.
But working for VW now makes it seem like Saab's were a peice of cake to work on.
I'm biased as I'm a saab lover and own new gen 900, but since the old gen 9-3 is essentially the same thing I would say go for it, you will be pleased - but if you like to thrash on your car in first and second gear - be prepared to replace the transmission. I have done it twice now.
It's hard to talk about everything good and bad about saabs in one paragraph but the bottom line is that they can be great cars, and like alfas if you love them it doesn't matter if it breaks every day - you will keep fixing it and loving every minute of it. I haven't had any major issues with mine aside from learning not to destroy the transmission, and it has proven very comfortable (even with stiff springs), very fast (much to many people's surprise), and damn good on gas. With 5 people in the car, two of which weigh 180lbs or more, from virginia beach to delaware it managed 32.4mpg.
They aren't really bad cars like a lot of people might act like they know - it's almost always people who've had an experience with a lemon in their lifetime. Any car when you beat it on will be rubbish - and because most saabs make it past 250k easily there are a lot of high mileage beaters hanging around just waiting to die. If you live in new england think of how many classic 900s you see on any given day. Yeah you're going to replace things that wear out, but major components (transmission aside) are bulletproof, the engines are fantastic (so good GM decided to use the design for the ecotec) and the turbos are great as well - I pulled 20psi out of my T25 for 50k miles, then switched to a td04 15t with 120k on it and I max that out at around 28psi and it's still running great. The shifter feel does kind of suck, but you can't have it all, I only paid $4k for the car and really you can always buy a short shifter assembly.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7166/stephcar2lr0.jpg
Wasn't me! Sister wrecked it.
1997 SAAB 900 SE 5 speed, SQR stage 3, full 3" stainless exhaust.
Some people love em, and some hate them an can't wait to sell them.
Forgot to mention the waterpumps on the old ecopower engine. Some people on here complain how terrible it is that they replaced there water pump at 75k miles. I've seem some saabs at 75k miles that have had their water pump changed 3 times. I'm sure working on them for over two years i've seen the worst, so take my opinion lightly.
Yeah my coolant tank has been replaced already under warranty...I'm at 27K now and I think it's already time again to replace it!!
Hate the location of that...stupid!!
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
