Anyone familiar with Saab's? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone familiar with Saab's?

DJM

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Looking at a 06 9-3 for a 3rd vehicle. My son starts Uni in fall and we could use another vehicle, I can do most of my own maintenance and repairs.

Love the style and interior but I have no familiarity with them. This one has 120 000 km for 6K. Are there any "beware" issues with these?
 
The only "cheap" saabs to repair were the 9-2x and 9-2 turbo (05-06).... as they were just rebadged Subarus
 
6K doesn't get me much in other brands. I see Calibers, Sebrings, Grand Ams etc. I can get high-KM baffed-out Camry's and Accords for that price but what other alternatives are out there?
 
I service one regularly. Has had no major failures. If 2.0l equipped, it's the same Ecotec in in cavaliers and cobalts
 
The Ford Focus is a pretty solid car, you can get a 2009/10 for that kind of money with decent K's.
 
The only "cheap" saabs to repair were the 9-2x and 9-2 turbo (05-06).... as they were just rebadged Subarus

YUP, my Saabaru is just about to turn over 350,000km

For cheap and reliable look for Nissan, or Mazda, you get Japanese reliability with out the ridiculous 0% depreciation that Honda and Toyota seem to have.
 
I had a 1997 900se turbo. Cost lots even just for parts (at least locally, aftermarket out of the US was way cheaper). After dealing with Aktive Motors trying to get the thing to stop dying at stop lights I ended up $4000 in the hole for a car worth maybe $2000 and still had the problem. Sold it for $400 after it sat in a parking lot at work for 6 months trying to sell it for $1500. Considering the great reviews they get they sure screwed me on that one.

Neat car when it worked, though. 2.0 turbo would do 170 kph in 3rd. Hatchback was more like a wagon with probably the biggest trunk I've ever had. Handled well. Chewed through snow people had trouble with in 4x4 SUVs. But once I couldn't get it fixed (and it cost me a bunch before that) I gave up.
 
Ok, thanks for the info. SWMBO just shot the idea down anyways. No way she was getting onboard with spending 8k plus on an unknown, would rather put that as a down payment on a new vehicle.
 
I have a 2006 9-3 2.0T, the only issues I have had are the GM parts (fuel pump, etc), it has not been as reliable as our other two Saabs are/were but not terrible. As noted earlier it is a Ecotech GM engine that has been redesigned (only the block is the same). The car is based on the same platform as the Malibu. Most of the Ecotech sensors etc. are off the shelf GM but you may need to swap a connector on the odd one (coils are not, more on this later). Upside, it drives great, handles great, good gas mileage (usually mid 7l/100km), and goes like stink.

We still have a 2002 9-5 2.3t which has a Saab engine, not a GM engine like above. For a 14 year old car it has been very good to us (we have had it for 11 years). Some minor wear items etc. We replaced a 2000 9-3 2.0t with the current 9-3, I miss the hatch, this car was very reliable but the clutch was going at 300,000 and the rust was getting bad. If it wasn't for the rust I would have replaced the clutch and kept it.

As for parts, lots of parts are shared with the GM family so they are not that bad. Ignition coils are pricey because only the original Saab ones work right. The motor fires the plugs in the off cycle as a way to measure knock (there is no knock sensor on a T7 or T8 Saab--pretty much everything after 2000) so correct coils and plugs are critical--they are the knock sensors, I just pick up some good used coil packs and keep a spare just in case. You need to know how they work or your mechanic does, one example: put in the wrong plugs and you can blow the engine, throws off the knock sensing and too much boost and boom. The local wrench does not know these things and it adds to the bad reputation...

In the end our three cars have been way cheaper to drive and maintain than everyone I know who has or had a BMW, Volvo, Audi, or Benz. All three are/were manuals and Saabs are easy to find in a manual.

The first question I ask when buying one is where was it serviced. If they say one of the local respected Saab guys (GB Auto, Aktive, Beacon, etc.) I keep looking at the car. If they say the local whatever, I run away.
 
Last edited:
Oh I also forgot to mention that the transmission blew up while driving.
 
Oh I also forgot to mention that the transmission blew up while driving.

unL33T, do you remember what colour the ignition coils were. The colour of the ignition cassette right in the middle of the valve cover, yours should have been red (T5)--if it was black that may have been your stalling problem... wrong cassette
 
You can buy a new Micra for 10

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
This.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
 
unL33T, do you remember what colour the ignition coils were. In would be the ignition cassette right in the middle of the valve cover, yours should have been red (T5)--if it was black that may have been your stalling problem...
Replaced the cassette after Aktive Motors used bad hose clamps on the coolant lines causing them to blow up on the way home from their shop and coolant sprayed all over the engine bay and shorted out the cassette (or at least that's what they told me happened).

Another guy I talked to long after I sold it said it was some relief valve for the gas tank.

In the end Aktive Motors was claiming it was my ECU but by then they had already cost me $4k and I still had the problem so I wasn't about throw another $400 at it based on their recommendations.
 
Replace the timing belt if you buy one...unless you can verify when it was done. My BIL learned the hard way about that when it let go and many internal parts tried to occupy the same space at the same time.

...of course this goes for any car, but the difference was that a $5K repair job for any other car (assuming the bottom end survived) was a $10K job for the Saab even after confirming it just needed heads and valves. He ended up junking the car.
 
Dont break the headlamp plastic clip that holds the bulb in. No replacement available, only a whole new headlight.
 
You can buy a new Micra for 10

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Yeah except when you want AC its $14k. Its great that they sell a car for 10k, but you'll never find one on the lot. Almost ever Micra at my local dealer is 17k...
 

Back
Top Bottom