Looking for a sub-50k mile 9-3 estate and a bit of research has me thinking this is the best model option.
Any experiences otherwise or alternative suggestions?
Ta. DS
[i]1.9 TiD 150 Turbo Edition 5dr?[/i]
Had a 55 plate one. Wouldn't recommend it. Engine management light kept coming on and the diagnostics were not helpful - "We could try this, it [i]might[/i] solve it."
Apart from that was a pretty decent car. That said, my Mondeo is much better.
Biggist POS I/we've ever owned. Would rather own and drive a car from the 50s.
Bought as an 06 plate a few years ago. Work we ended up paying for included EGR valve, elec mirrors, elec window, water pump, full exhaust ... then a gasket blew around the 60,000 mile mark which resulted in top end engine rebuild ... replaced the cam belt at the same time while everything was in pieces ... then at 65,000 one of the injector seals went ... now these are only £4 each but getting the injector off (at that age/mileage) can require a hydraulic puller which can crush the injector, leaving a £300-£800 bill or even worse, break the head and leave you with possibly no choice but to scrap the damn thing.
Avoid.
Friend of mine had similar with his. He picked up his at 60k, it was immaculate FSH etc. He had it a couple of weeks and the ECU died in spectacular fashion. Cost him a fortune to sort and he got shut of it.
I had two Aero TTiD's - one saloon & one estate. Put 90k+ miles on both without either skipping a beat - the former now belongs to a colleague & is still going strong @120k.
The estate was my favourite biking/family car ever.
IIRC, from '04 to '10 only the Vector Sport & Aero models were put together by Saab with the others knocked up elsewhere in the GM family and from '10 until their demise it was only the Aero. The difference was very noticeable between them.
Got a 57 plate 120 9-3 vector sport estate with 91k on clock
Only owned for a few months, generally very happy. Very comfy, economical, fast enough, just had a problem with the DPF which would put the car into limited performance mode which has cost me a few quid to sort but after a flush out
and a clean etc touch wood is sorted.
I had a '57 Vector Sport which, while it was lovely to sit in, did have a couple of niggles
1) after I'd had it a year or so (not from new, 2 y.o with 30k when I bought it), the engine would tend to run 'lumpy' for a good few seconds while on the motorway after about 45 mins driving. intermittent but annoying. Perhaps it was the DPF as described above
2) this was always going to happen but when it came due, I couldn't afford it as it also needed 4 new tyres at the same time - cambelt change at 72k is about £600 + VAT
3) sat nav details were out of date after only 2 years - on the A1 new section between Wetherby & Dishforth, it showed me as driving in a field...
there's also a known problem on some models with the bulkhead cracking.