Re: What's it like owning one of the "new" 9-3s (GM)? - Saab 9-3SS Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine) | 12/12 Make Amazon Pay Saabnet!

[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

93 Bulletin Board
2003-2011 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only


[Main 93 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: What's it like owning one of the "new" 9-3s (GM)?
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Sun, 5 Aug 2018 17:05:03 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: What's it like owning one of the "new" 9-3s (GM)?, bender [Profile/Gallery] , Sun, 5 Aug 2018 17:05:02
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

In my limited experience there are severe pros and cons. The biggest con is that there electrical bits do not seem particularly robust. Simple stuff like door lock and window motors fail routinely... maybe not "excessively" but more Audi than Saab, if you know what I mean. More complicated stuff like control modules also seem to fail routinely - I've been lucky, but search "ECM replacement" and see how many people replaced failed Trionic 7 ECMs (0?) vs. how many have replaced ME9 or T8 ECMs. Or driver's door modules. Or CIMs. It's a bit intimidating. I think you'd be bonkers to go into owning one of these cars if you don't know where your Tech 2 work will come from.

On a mechanical level both engines are pretty solid, all four transmissions are more or less as good as any, and the cars are well built. They are nice to drive and pretty darned easy to work on (minus the electrical concerns). Safe, quiet, and quick. I'm quite fond of my Aero Sportcombi.

I think I would be somewhat concerned about parts availability. Fuel pumps for V6s just went backordered for who knows what reason, as an example. Some stuff is widely available, bit little random bits can sometimes prove troublesome. I've had intermittent issues - it always works out, but I have panicked once or twice. ;) A friend of mine got into a real pinch when the back glass on his wagon got smashed a year or two back - it took two months to find a replacement *used* glass, new was not available. It's not going to be "water pump" that creates a problem, it'll be "tiny plastic pipe" that does... non maintenance items.

Personally I think I would aim for the '08-'10 cars. I would definitely avoid the first ones with the SAI and the less common ECMs, I would try to avoid the ones with the fiber optic dashes, and I would try to avoid the very last years as I *think* some things changed a bit, the cars were sold in excruciating low volume, and I wouldn't want to be stuck needing something for a 2011 that is unique to 2011. I don't know offhand what that is, but I know I've read threads.

My takeaway was that '08 was kind of a sweet spot, so that's what I got... I'm sure others with broader experiences will have more/better info.


posted by 69.62.25...


Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).


Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)





StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)

This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot



Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!