I’m looking to get a car in the next 2-3 months. Always fancied a Saab, old friend swears by them….

Prefer petrol, auto. Already have a big car so this is second car, prob 8k miles annually. Usually will just be me and maybe the dog in the car but will need to transport family/bike at times. Comfort trumps performance. Like I said I always fancied one. No real logic to it but seems a good enough reason. Budget prob up to 8k ish.

Any advice from Saab owners / experts …..?

Looks like simplysaab in Bristol are my local specialists so will give them a ring at some point.

I ran one and loved it, it was a 1.9 TiD on a 55 plate, the only thing I had to replace apart from two tyres was a leveling sensor for the head lights. It was £25 from eblag and just clipped into place. If you buy one, make sure the headlight bulbs are good or new, they’re about £70 each and a bugger to get to.

Alan.

Never owned one … for some weird reason I never put my finger on though I always wanted to.

Mate of mine in Bristol owns an old one … and loves it

I’ve starting browsing 9-3 Aero estates, you’ll get a 2.0T (210bhp) with the auto box, the aero has all the bits – heated leather, xenon headlights, cruise control etc etc.

There is also a 2.8 v6 model but they;re very rare, worth getting if you see one though, they’re 280bhp I think.

2008 onwards is the facelift model, they seem to go for anywhere from £2500-£5k depending on mileage and age.

This one is up for £5k which is a little pricey but it’s only done 80k miles.

Always thought the 9-3s looked & felt a bit Vauxhally.

You wanna get a 9-5 wagon for outright space & comfort.  Personally, I prefer the pre-facelift ones interior & exterior styling although I believe the facelift versions 2005+(?) handle better as they beefed up the suspension.  SAABs were never about handling anyway,  comfort, reliability & owning something a little bit niche is what the brand was always about.

Yeah the 9-3 is based on the vauxhall vectra, the facelift version apparently improved the interior quality though.

I can’t stand the ‘dame edna’ looks of the facelift 9-5 and the rear end of the estate seems ‘tacked on’ and IMO isn’t anywhere near as good looking as the 9-3 estate.

Have you considered the 9-3X? This is my 1.9 TTiD. There’s a useful increase in ground clearance over the estates. I’ve had this 10 plate example for 18 months and it’s been great. Awesome on motorways when the 180 bhp comes in handy.

SAAB 9-5 aero 2003 owner here. The cup holder is the greatest.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/saab-me-up/

Bloke at work has the one Derek starship has . Leather interior,mint condition & 76k miles. He retires in August and is planning a new car. I’ve asked for first refusal.

My wife had a 9-3 V6 it was a nice car but cost priemium car money to maintain.

I would have had one, but my 20k+ a year and lack of lower miles, last year (2009?), diesel meant I gave up and went Volvo…

Still would like one.

have had 9-5s since 2007 – so what i can say is… they are getting frickin hard to get hold of these days. currently running a 2003 aero saloon and a 2008 2.0t saloon. previously have had a 2.0t estate, and 2 aero estates

they are incredible cars. the estates just swallow loads, the aero has excellent power delivery. seats are the best.
They have their querks, and a good Saab specialist is a god send as Saab like to do things their way.

on the pre-dame ednas rust is starting to become an issue around the rear – lost one estate to rust, and our current 2003 has just failed it MOT on a rust hole on the rear wheel arch.  our saab indy never used to see any saabs with rust issues, but as people are keeping the older 9-5s on the road the rust is starting to appear – but as a lot of these cars are own by enthusiasts for the brand they are getting the rust sorted.

I have the daddy of saab estates, a 2004 9-5 3l tid vector. I bought off a dude in a car park for a grand and have spent the same doing it up.

It’s by far the comfiest car I’ve ever been in, reasonably quick in a straight line, and not particularly expensive to maintain as long as you have a good mechanic that you trust local to you. The local ‘specialists’ near me were going to scrap it when it developed a fault with the turbo, but I took it to some old dude that lives next to my dad who fixed it for a couple of hundred quid.

For bike carrying it’s perfect. 2 of us drove down from Scotland to morzine with 6 bikes and 3 peoples kit in the back. Alternatively I can fit 2 trail bikes including wheels in the boot without the seats down and the parcel shelf still fits in place

Thanks for all the replies. Sound like there is a lot of Saab love out there. X looks great but seems to have much higher road tax? I think I’ll be a bit more open to a diesel (I’ll be doing a fair number of shorter trips) and I’ll have a good look around both 9-3 and 9-5 models to see if I can narrow that down first. I’ll update in a few weeks.

Used to have a T16  back in the day which rarely missed a beat and was lovely to drive. Only sold it on 165k when we had the first child as it was a nightmare to get in the back seat with only 2 doors. Fantastic car.

So a few years later we thought a 9-5 estate was the way to go. Got the last of the preface lift 2.3 LPT(2005)  at 3 yrs old and it was by far the worst car we ever had. Dash lit up like a xmas tree every other week with every repair costing stupid money, even using Rowan the famous saab indy guy. Car looked fantastic, drove pretty well though it was no T16 and the seats were the best I’ve ever sat in and that includes a bentley but the last straw was a xenon light unit that was going to cost £700 plus labour….ffs you could rip out both xenons and put in halogens for half that!

Part exed it after 3yrs of ownership for peanuts

Real shame but an indication of the way Saab were going

Love my 9-3 estate. 2L petrol turbo engine, not too bad on fuel if you drive like a granny. if you have a local specialist they can be great value. My stability control sensor went before xmas (after being tempermental for over a year) and it was £180 from a breakers then £50 fitting, including the recoding of the new key. A non specialist wanted £1000+ for a new one… I’m tempted by a 9-5 saloon as a millenium falcon esque sleeper to partner it. Like others have said, bulbs are a pita, but at least they are an easyish fix as there is loads of space under the bonnet. And the front end is heavy so expect potholes to batter the shocks and roll bar.

My Dad’s had a petrol 9-3 Aero Sportswagon since the end of 2015. He really likes it. Before that I owned it – 07 one from new. Never had any issues and it still goes well.