new swede, non volvo...
 

Just bought a rather lovely jet black 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero convertible, with a bit of a twist. It's the rare 2.8 v6 Turbo with 6 speed manual box. It has fsh, only covered 69K miles and seems rather nice. Returning mid twenties mpg round town and in sixth at 50ish mph, 1500rpm, early forties to gallon. Not bad for 150mph car. There are a few niggles and I will try to get some pics but first impressions are good.

Enjoy!

Mine was only a 1.9 turbo diesel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the three years I had it.

It's one reason I now have the C70, I missed the open top.

The Saab is indeed a worthy car. We have a '99 2.0 N/A auto. We settled on that as we could not find a C70 that met all of our requirements.

The main problem with ours is that two of the rams that operate the hood are leaking and they are £400 each new. Recon units are available, but that is still £500 + per side fitted. At the moment we are getting by topping up the hydraulic reservoir every 10 or a dozen cycles.

Replacement would turn a reasonably priced car into a dear one, and in reality is probably not an economical proposition, which is a shame.

Regards. John.

I drove Saabs from 1972 to 2014 - (might explain my pen name)
There is a useful Saab forum at
http://www.saabtechtalk.com

Enjoy your real Swedish car <g>

Saab was my first love, owned a dozen or so over the years, particularly fond of v4s, robust, characterful and huge fun. Owned two of them and a 95 v4 combi.

Uksaabs has always been my Saab forum

Nice to see a few current and ex Saab fans. The only reason I moved to Volvo from Saab was their sad demise. I loved my 1986 900 8v Turbo (Looked a bit like a grandad car but for the time went like stink!). Then had 2 more 900s a 9-3 and finally a 9-5 Estate. The 9-5 estate had a solid folding rear parcel shelf instead of the Volvo "roller blind". Made a great out and about nappy changing table when my daughter was a baby :-) Shows how much my priorities had changed from when I had the 900 8v...

I was unfortunate enough to have a 2010 9-3 sportwagon for a year. Worst car I have ever owned. Rusty cheap pile of rubbish. GM sure as hell messed them up.

there's a very good Saab garage in Milton keynes, the Saab Centre - saabmiltonkeynes.co.uk - found them very good and very fair prices. There's also a specialist breaker - Neo Brothers just off the M25 at J25.
Worth talking to both.
I had 2.3 Aero HOT 9-5 estate, which went like a rocket. My wife still drives i
it's predecessor, another 9-5 estate 2.0, but with a factory remap to 190bhp.
vast difference in handling, as the 2 litre was just standard SE tyres and suspension - the Aero was very hard, and cornered much flatter.

I'm not a fan of GM saabs in general, if you read about them, Saab fought tooth and nail to keep their quality control in their own hands. Whilst my Saab indubitably is a gm product, I have the saving grace of the small victory 2006 was last year you could get this engine body combo with the old style dashboard, ie, genetically Saab. I am having a few wee teething issues due to inactivity but must say I am surprised how much I like it. It is rarely above 2000rpm and I have never needed to see the other side of 2500rpm. Incredibly smooth and flexible and so far, surprisingly frugal.