[Closed] Any Saab 9-3 Drivers?

Only partly relevant, I've had a 56 plate 1.9 diesel saloon for about 3 months and i love it. In vector spec, it even handles ok (despite what people will tell you...)

Whats the engine like fadda? Only reason I was looking at the petrol was because I'd heard the diesel of that era was a bit noisey. Plus I'm not going to be doing more than about 8k a year so a diesel isn't really necessary but theres more of them around than the petrols...

I've got the 1.9 TiD Estate (56 plate). S'alright. Would much rather have had a petrol version (my previous car was a '99 reg 9-3 which was a bit quicker!), but got this one very cheap from my brother.
I would think the 2.0T petrol would be great.
As far as the similarities with mine, its roomy, very comfortable, bikes can be slung in the back without taking the wheel off.
The downside is I'm stuck with the Saab stereo as it's a proprietary dash fitted stuff.
I'm not at all a petrol-head type, so the comfort and the stereo are 2 of my main concerns!

Davey - wife's uncle has the 9-3 saloon which has an almost identical engine to our now sold Astra 1.9CDTi 150.

It's IS a noisy unit especially on start up - proper noisy clatter. However it is a very decent engine. Power band is better than many engines, plenty of torque and it's good on fuel. Not amazing but good. Tax band is also pretty low.
Keep it on song (takes some practise) and the car can be punted along very rapidly.

The twin turbo version is similar but with no "dead spot" below 2.5k and a but more poke.

The estate isn't very big but it's still a useful size.

Bikes would be on the roof so not overly bothered about room in the boot for them. Comfort and safety are the two biggies for me now but I'd also like something with just a little bit of poke for motorway cruising etc.

Probably best go for the petrol then, maybe the diesel has improved since mine, but after the 9-3 Petrol turbo I had before, the diesel feels very slow. It's not, but it feels it! 42.5mpg btw.

Might not be your thing but the 150bhp unit is very easily chippable (or tuning boxed) to over 200bhp/300lbs-ft - it's properly nippy then.

DTUK do a good "plug and play" DIY fit unit for about £200.

Yeah, I've talked about that with my mate, who has a Golf 1.9TDI, which feels a lot quicker and does 50mpg.
I can't bring myself to spend unnecessary money on my car though! Just don't use it enough.

I have a 57 plate 1.9TiD (150hp) sportwagon & it's very nice. Bit of a dead spot below 1500rpm but get it above that & it certainly moves. I get about 42mpg on mixed urban/motorway driving.

Mine is the Vector Sport Anniversary edition - satnav, bluetooth, leather seats - very comfy. Stereo is perfectly adequate - can't see the point in having anything too fancy in a car as road & engine noise will suck some of the sound anyway. Cost me £13k a year ago, as a 2yo car with 32k miles. That's about 50% depreciation over the first 2 years. Don't buy a new one!

Yeh, suppose chipping/remapping it might be an option. Might look into that...

Sorry, DBW, couldn't get on here for a bit! I wouldn't have said anything that those above haven't said. It's not the most refined deisel engine but is OK, and I get 45mpg out of mine (according to the dash computer, anyway). Much better than my previous car (Audi Allroad 2.5 TDi, which was very noisy!)

I understand that as long as you look after the timing belt and the water pump, it's pretty reliable as well.

My 150 bhp is fairly good for cruising around (fairly effortless 80-90, still giving 45 ish mpg), but I'm interested to hear about the remaps available...!

has a 9-3 on a 55 plate for 3 years as a company car, in vector spec, it was great, i really liked it. Good good return on fuel too. Engine was a bit noisy but i never found it to be a massive issue.

Replacd mine a couple of years ago with an R design Volvo V50 that is absolutely brillaint. in many ways i think the volvo is a much better car than the saab. Never had any problems with either to be honest, but the volvo is nicer to drive and has more in it as standard than the saab. Doens;t get as many MPG mind.

Im coming up to changing again next year but i think i will be having another volvo. Maybe an XC60 this time though.

I've got a 56 plate 9-3 in 1.9 TiD (150bhp) Vector Sport disguise.

Very comfy, great for long days with 300+ miles of driving. Mine has just over 82,000 miles on it now.

The water pump on mine died around 62k miles. It's something of a known problem on this engine (eg [url= http://www.saabscene.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31648476 ]SaabScene[/url]). A nasty side effect is that the pump usually takes out the cambelt, which equals big bills if the valves get damaged. Thankfully mine only needed a new pump, a replacement cambelt and assorted small bits. Saab paid 50% of the cost without me even asking - I was only just out of warranty and has a FSSH.

Just sa9id goodby to our 06 2.0 petrol Aero... (210bhp) brilliant car, loved it. the only time we didn't was last winters deep freeze, with normal UK tyres. it needs winter tyres for winter times.

the only downside for that car is the mpg. ours averaged 29mpg, we live in the peaks and up and down many hills each week. on long motorway journeys it averaged 33mpg.

the other down side was the depreciation. if you buy it 3yrs old and hang on to it, then it's fine. otherwise expect to loose more than most other cars due to the uncertainty of trhe marques future.

(oops that's 2 downsides)

cxi - you're right that the water pump is a known weak point - it gets replaced almost as standard when you get the timing belt changed. Bad luck to have that at only 62k though!

I understand that the rockers are made deliberately weak so that they go before the valves in the event of a failure - cheaper to replace them than get the head off to replace the valves, or worse...

are'nt they made by vauxhall? my mate has a 56 reg saab diesel and has had no end of bother with it