opinion on 99 9-3

I am looking at a 1999 9-3 and was wondering what some others felt about this car. Anyone have any personal advice about these cars -- good, bad, or otherwise?

Reply to
mil0
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We have a 2000 9-3 and love the car. Paid about 14K for it with 35K miles. Had the local Saab dealer do a once over and make any adjustments and now we've driven it for close to a year without mishap. Great pick-up, handles well: it's just a nice car to drive.

Reply to
feynman

I purchased a '99 9-3 w/ 60k miles three months ago, and I have been very happy. It is not quite as nimble to drive as the best European's (BMW for example), but still very good. Gas mileage is just amazing, and I can't complain about performance neither. Are you looking at 2.0, 2.0 Turbo or TiD? If you are looking for gas burner, choose one with Turbo. TiD is pretty nice car, too, especially from gas mileage perspective.

This is my first Saab, and I have to noticed that unlike some other cars, Saab has been _designed_, not just built. It is designed to be driven and used, but it is also designed to be serviced. Basic services are just ridiculously easy to do! It seems to have some features, like creeking suspension in cold mornings, but all those can be fixed.

Go for it!

BTW; trunk, that is just amazing!

BR:Z

Reply to
Zon

Been driving a 2001 9-3SE for about two years now. Only grievances include a soft suspension (though that can be "fixed/modified"), torque steer took a few days to appreciate, the A-pillars seem really big/fat (though they are that way in most cars today), the rear seats don't fold flat, and the stock front-door speakers can't handle moderate levels of bass at high volume. Overall build quality is fine compared to other entry-level lux. mobiles (good panel matches [no gaps]). And maintenance has been a breeze (no need for any warranty work [though I am keeping an eye on the SID]). All things considered, I'm happy with the car.

Reply to
J. Harris

14K Pounds, Kroner, Dragmar, Rubels, Lira, Peanuts or $ ?
Reply to
Johannes H Andersen

Yes, we've had ours for 5 years now. It's a bit of a mixed bag:

Plus:

  • excellent engine (we have the 200 hp variant which performs well when asked to)
  • very good seats as well as interior room

Minus:

  • a series of problems: head gasket replacement due to incorrect tightening of head bolts during manufacture (many cars got this; a technical bulletin was issued for this problem but we had to pay for the repair anyway); water pump bearing failed at 95000km, aircon compressor failed at 100000km
  • incompetent dealer network (in Sweden, would you believe) who had us pay for a new turbo, later discovered that our loss of power was instead from a blockage due to a rusted silencer/muffler, then tried to cover up and deny this discovery

  • cheaply-appointed interior, badly-finished plastic

  • dreadful front-end body roll when cornering (there are kits that are said to fix this, though)

But we still have the car, and for some reason we really like it and want to keep it. Go figure . . .

. . . could be that since all (hopefully all) major failure modes have now been catered for (via replacement of water pump, turbo, airconditioning, cylinder head), there isn't anything more that can go wrong with it for another 100000km. Let's hope, touch wood.

/Robert

Reply to
Robert Brown

I have that problem of the creaking supension when below 32 degrees. Which component is doing that and what is the fix?

Thanks.

John

Reply to
Captain Freedom

I'm not very good with correct terms in English, so I posted a picture of front suspension I found from elsewhere in Internet into alt.binaries.pictures.autos under subject 'front suspension...'

I've been told that creeking takes place between the torsion bar and bushing, parts #20 and #23 in my picture. I have also been told that if you lube it there with such a grease that does not do any bad for the rubber in bushing, you get rid of the creeking.

I haven't tried this myself since creeking in my case has been quite minimal.

I hope this made any sense and helped you.

BR:Z

Reply to
Zon

My brother has a 99 9-3SE and also had this problem. He said that it was a rubber cover, so that seems to verify your idea.

-Aaron

Reply to
Aaron Solochek

My 9-3 (2000, light-pressure turbo, automatic) is economical enough, for a car of its size, on the open road but is thirsty around town; the difference between urban and extra-urban conditions seems particularly marked. I seem to remember that one of the more powerful

2 litre engines does in fact give slightly better fuel consumption on the urban cycle.

Still, on balance I like the car and would certainly recommend one to the original poster.

Martin

Reply to
Martin Rich

Interesting. I've always wanted to figure out where that creaking came from.

Anyone have any opinions on what type of lubricant I can safely spray in there? It's consistently well below freezing around here, and my car is noisy every morning until it warms the components a bit. It's too cold out to pull the bushings and grease them so I need to try something in spray form to see if I can pin down the problem while it is cold outside. (I can go back in the Spring and do it right.)

Thanks, Bob

Reply to
Bob

Thank you for the picture. Very helpful. Only problem with my 9.3 would be the SID display. Will call SAAB one of these days to see if they will buy me a new one. They all seem to fail according to newsgroup postings. I know about the repair but not sure if I want to attempt that.

John

Aar>

Reply to
Captain Freedom

That is my experience with a '02 205hp 2.0 turbo, too. *Great* mileage with fuel control on, merely satisfactory (though brilliant compared to my wife's Merc ML, mind you) around town. But that might be because you have to be gandhi to not regularly want to indulge in a bit of a turbo rush, and then you've got to pay...

As to the original psoeter's question... I am extremely happy with my Saab (and it replaced a Jag XJR), but it's all about your personal likes/dislikes. Drive it and compare. It is a very different value proposition from the more vanilla entry luxury choice, which the new 9-3 sedan has now abandoned. Furthermore, used, they are about some of the best deals you can get. If your likes and your financial savviness direct you that way, would think you'll be happy. They're well put together and they'll last. The comments you hear on some issues are the usual nags from perfectionists on the net. :-)

[gentlemen - note the smiley. It's cool to be a perfectionist, anyhow.]

...pablo

Reply to
pablo

He, he, he... it's hard not to just punch that pedal at least once per run, eh ? I try to be good but I do usually find myself entering the highway at highway speed :-)

Reply to
Bob

I've had my '99 9-3 for two years; CDN $16K (off-lease). It's been solid, very enjoyable to drive, and for the most part, reliable. You get used to the creaking suspension; it's another sign of Spring when it goes away.

However (and this is big), there is an issue with the manual transmission where the driver's side output spline becomes loose and the only long-term repair is a rebuild. This happened at 80,000 miles. My independent Saab mechanic said it was common (there was another '99 in the shop with the same problem). Symptoms mimic a bad inner CV joint (except for the cost). I've been trying to find out more about this. I believe this transmission (Saab M25) is used on Saturns and other GM products. If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be appreciated.

Mike McLean snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca

Reply to
Mike McLean

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