Hi all !
I hope everyone had a great Christmas/festive season, and compliments of the New Year.
I'd like to give a brief ownership report for my "Silver SAAB", a 2006 SAAB 9-3 SS 2.0T Vector A/T, at least, for the 6 months that I have owned it.
My previous car was a 2008 Suzuki SX4 2.0. It was a great car, but I wasn't happy with it for a few reasons - the biggest being that I spend most of my time driving in stop and go traffic, and I was getting tired of facing said traffic with the manual gearbox. The second most important reason why I traded in the SX4 was because of it's comfort (or lack thereof) - spend too much time in the driver's seat, and you tend to feel like you're being given a hug of death by the seat. Again, not wonderful in traffic. Thirdly, I wanted a car that was larger, more spacious, and with a larger cargo capacity (which, in the SAAB, came in handy over the past few weeks while moving house.) The goal then was, in my mind, to find an awesome wagon.
Initially the decision to trade the SX4 in as a straight swap wasn't one that I was seriously considering, but when I did end up searching seriously for a new vehicle it took me about 12 months to actually find a vehicle that I thought was right for me, and that I would be willing to take a risk with. I looked at Subaru's (high mileage, kind of ratty '06 era Impreza wagons), Volvo's (high mileage S60 T5's, V50 2.4's, XC70's (which by now, all seem to have lived hard lives and are clapped out)), but I had never really considered a SAAB (in all honesty, mostly due to hearsay about the reliability of the vehicles, the expensive parts and general lack of availability of parts). While browsing online one day, I saw a SAAB 9-3 listed for sale. My Silver SAAB-to-be. Perhaps it was the styling, but something drove me (excuse the pun) to go and take the SAAB for a test drive. After the drive, I knew I was hooked. I had to have it.
Here I am, 6 months (and about 10 000km) on. While I feel like I have learned a lot about the brand, as well as the ownership experience of the 9-3, I still feel like I am only beginning to scratch the tip of the iceberg of what I'd like to know about the car, and would like to wrench on the car myself. With that said, what I do know about the car is that:
1. Internet sentiment seems to be that the NG 9-3 was some GM parts bin monster, and is neither great to own, nor to drive
2. My throttle body is potentially on its way out
3. Parts are indeed expensive (at least, as far as I have experienced), but servicing costs are reasonable
4. I didn't have the foresight to have a PPI conducted on the vehicle before I made the trade, so as far as I have gathered, my 9-3 has lived an interesting life. Sold new in the Western Cape, it has made its way up to Gauteng
5. New brake discs and pads are shockingly expensive, and really difficult to find
6. My 9-3 drives like nothing else I've ever driven, and I love every kilometer with it.
Verdict:
I love my 9-3, and I am planning to keep it until the wheels fall off. Some days I am really annoyed by the problems with the car - throttle body, window winding itself down halfway when attempting to close it, random beep from the ACC, the annoying old Nokia Bluetooth system installed in 2006, the fact that my SAAB is visually scruffy, the fuel consumption (11.3L/100km avg in the city), and the fact that my car has 3 different brands of tyres on it - but all of the problems are dulled by the driving experience. I am planning on addressing the problems as gradually as possible, but in the meantime I am going to enjoy as many kilometres behind the wheel as I possibly can - in my comfy, comfy seats.
-N
