Saab 9-3 Hatch - Station car / Winter Shed - Leics -£595

[kprm77]

Ideal station car or winter shed (even though it's nowhere near winter)! 

 

You might have a brand new vRS or a 280 Superb which you don't want to risk taking to the train station car park. This is ideal as it's reliable and won't draw attention to itself. At the same time it's comfy, fairly nippy and safe being a Saab. I bought it to take miles off the Merc I had at the time, and also to drive in the winter as a RWD in snow didn't seem like a good idea to me. I've now got a newer Saab and this needs to go to make way for something more interesting.

 

My 9-3 is up for sale having owned it almost exactly 2 years ago. Current mileage 153207.

 

It is very reliable having spent a great deal of money on it in my ownership. MOT'd to May 2018 (no advisories) and serviced May 2017.
It is an Automatic with Full leather (beige? Not sure on the official colour) embossed with "turbo".

 

No warning lights.
Climate Control - working (after great cost of new pipes and air con compressor)
Cruise Control - working
Electric Windows - all working
Electric Heated mirrors - working, though drivers one needs persuasion now and again
Central Locking - working
Electric Aerial - working (after I replaced it)
Radio and CD - working though the steering wheel controls can be temperamental
 

Pirellis all round - no cheap ditchfinders like you will find on many cars, many times the price of this. 6mm at least on all tyres.
Maptun Stage 1 Performance Upgrade, Saab 9-3 B205E 00-02 (9-3STG1-C) - This has not been fitted so the car is completely standard as it stands. This upgrades the power from 150bhp/240NM to 225bhp/340NM. (Cost £363).
I bought this with a view to upgrading the suspension though haven't got round to it. I am an idiot for this as it was not cheap and I've not used it.
There is a service history, all the recent work by me is backed up by documentation.
I've tallied up what I've spent on the car (not including tyres) over two years and it comes to £2923.66.
If you include the spare set of winter wheels and tyres I bought, then this pushes the figure close to £3.5k. See below for details:

 

Date    Miles    Garage    Descripton    Cost
21/08/2002    5884    North City Saab    1st service    
08/05/2003    18159    North City Saab    18000 miles service    
23/07/2004    31491    Saab Continental Cars    service    
04/08/2005    40378    Taylors, Great Dunmow, Essex    service    
01/08/2006    49978    Chelmsford Saab    service    
23/07/2007    57590    Taylors, Great Dunmow, Essex    service    
12/04/2008    66801    Taylors, Great Dunmow, Essex    service    
14/02/2009    78394    Taylors, Great Dunmow, Essex    service    
02/07/2015    -    Saab Display Repairs    Repair SID display    £50.00
03/07/2015    140098    Malcolm Miles Saab Specialist    Major Service / new disks and pads front and rear    £608.58
09/07/2015    140392    Malcolm Miles Saab Specialist    Fit new A/C compressor    £448.80
20/07/2015    140462    Malcolm Miles Saab Specialist    Fit Air Conditioning pipes    £201.60
15/12/2015    142585    Main St Garage, Huncote    Suspension Ball Joint and Tracking    £196.88
18/05/2016    144258    Main St Garage, Huncote    Service & MOT    £278.27
12/10/2016    148182    Hinckley Garage Services    Diagnostics and new battery    £149.99
15/11/2016        Ashby Garage    Diagnostics (Throttle body sensor fault)    £54.00
17/11/2016        Neo Brothers    New Genuine Saab Throttle Body    £288.00
21/11/2016        Hinckley Garage Services    Remove and fit Throttle Body    £54.00
25/11/2016        Neo Brothers    Maptun Stage 1 Upgrade module (not fitted)    £363.60
27/02/2017        Hinckley Garage Services    Siezed rear brake due to beine left standing    £36.00
22/04/2017        Saab Display Repairs    Repair SID display    £0.00
12/05/2017    151802    Hinckley Garage Services    MOT and Service    £193.94

 

The vast, vast majority of time I've owned the car, it has lived in the garage as my main car was too big.
This car has just come back from a round trip of 900 miles to the West Coast of Scotland. No problems at the car were reported by my son who borrowed the car for the trip - just returned it with biblical amounts of dead midges etc on the front!

 

Bad Points.
Being 15 years old, the car isn't perfect. Rust has appeared on the rear arches though not significant as yet.
There's also a mark on the drivers door. Looks like someone had a bikes handlebars scrape down the door or something. This hasn't broken the paint and isn't rusting, though catches the eye and is really annoying. Not a job I've gotten round to though, as this has been with the car since I bought it. I'd guess it's 3 or 4 inches. You can see this in the first photo.
It has Saab mats, though the front passenger one is very manky. I might give it a go with a load of shampoo before sale.
There is a rattly noise when you go over bumps which comes from underneath (can't hear it with the windows up). Believe this is something on the exhaust which may need replacing (though nothing mentioned on the MOT).
The fan has a habit of coming on when it's not needed - it does come on when the car is hot so doesn't cause a problem. Has done this the whole time I've had the car.
I'll try to get more pictures, especially the interior, though it needs a good clean and I'm recovering from tonsillitis so it's not going to be any day.
I know these cars are only what someone's prepared to pay. I've spent a great deal of money on this car.
Wheels are the ones pictured which have Pirellis all round.

Winter wheels and tyres [Continental WinterContact-TS-850 195/60 R15 88T] with 8mm of tread available with the car (see below for price).

 

 

This pic was taken in the last week - I've not updated the date since having the SID repaired recently (for missing pixels):

£795 including the winter wheels / tyres [Continental WinterContact-TS-850 195/60 R15 88T] all with 8mm tread.

 

£595 not including winter wheels (though does still include the Maptuner).

Edited 16 July, 2017 by kprm77

[kprm77]

Here's a video of the car starting to show there are no warning lights. Taken in my garage when the car hadn't started for 3 or 4 days, hence being dark. Apologies for the poor quality. You can tell it was filmed in the last few days as opposed to March as per my SID due to the news report on the radio!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQv9BA1jONs

 

Here's another poor video - quick walkaround of the car this afternoon:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtq9DSqV8nw
 

[Edit - This is a petrol car]

Edited 16 July, 2017 by kprm77
Fuel type

[kprm77]

Withdrawing from sale.

 

I know I've only just put it on here but it's been for sale elsewhere for several weeks (Saab forums / Pistonheads etc). Just not worth selling at this price.

[davidwhite]

Tbh I can't say I blame you that's a lot of car for the money I wasn't looking and I have had a lesser version than yours apart from the fact it loved petrol stations it was a cracking car,

[kprm77]

7 minutes ago, davidwhite said:

Tbh I can't say I blame you that's a lot of car for the money I wasn't looking and I have had a lesser version than yours apart from the fact it loved petrol stations it was a cracking car,

 

Always an issue selling cars - the average car for sale (especially at this price) is not great at all, and brings everyone's expectations down (with the price they're willing to pay to match).

 

Car cost me £670.
Spent £2923.66 as detailed above.
Plus 1 new Pirelli at £110 I've not mentioned
Plus winter wheels / tyres at £440

Total £4143.66
At £795 including the winter wheels, this represents 19% of what's been spent on it in 2 years!

I don't need the car but my man maths is saying no!

 

Going to take it to a local place tomorrow (http://www.hinckleybodywrx.co.uk/) to get a quote on restoring / repairing the bodywork. Might get shot of my other car instead...

[davidwhite]

Blooming heck that's a lot of beer tokens 

I'd quite likely keep and run it myself if I'd put just 25% of my hard earned into it let alone what you've laid out

imho they were a very well built and very underrated car with the likes of yours wanting for nothing, I'd tread carefully re body work resto, unless it's a must and you have a garage for storage, mind being in as deep as you are money wise you may as well go the whole hog if it enhances your enjoyment

( the merc is likely to be more sought after than the Saab in the eyes of the general buying public )

 

[kprm77]

It's fairly minor work hopefully (rust on rear arches). Car is kept in my garage anyway.

 

The Merc went last September - must update my Sig! Had an Audi A3 since then (gone) and currently a Saab 9-5 Aero 2008. Was going to go for a few month old 280 Superb but wimped out and bought the Aero instead. The Aero is nice, but it's not as quick as I'd like despite having 260BHP.