9-3 or 9-5 Aero?
Discussion
On the look out for a new car! Just turned 22 and fed up with my MK4 Golf GTI, and it's not to good for motorway cruising if am being honest, were I do about 70% of my mileage...
My budget is around £2000-3000 so will be looking at cars with over 100k on them really.
I don't know much about saabs... but how likely are they to go wrong and give big bills in general. I know it depends on the car etc.
And if anything does go wrong are they easy enough to diy or is it better left to the garage?
So main question is, is it worth looking at a saab aero for a cheapish run about? Doing 15K a year so MPG kind of matter a bit and managing to get 38MPG out of my golf combined, will a saab manage to get near that? Hear alot of people struggling to get into the 30's but surely that's purely town driving? Also is there a big difference in MPG between the two? As well as the general running costs of them.
Also is there any common stuff I should look out for when going to view them?
Cheers for any advice.
My budget is around £2000-3000 so will be looking at cars with over 100k on them really.
I don't know much about saabs... but how likely are they to go wrong and give big bills in general. I know it depends on the car etc.
And if anything does go wrong are they easy enough to diy or is it better left to the garage?
So main question is, is it worth looking at a saab aero for a cheapish run about? Doing 15K a year so MPG kind of matter a bit and managing to get 38MPG out of my golf combined, will a saab manage to get near that? Hear alot of people struggling to get into the 30's but surely that's purely town driving? Also is there a big difference in MPG between the two? As well as the general running costs of them.
Also is there any common stuff I should look out for when going to view them?
Cheers for any advice.
We have an LPG'd 9-5 Aero, which soothes the fuel pains a little!
These cars are at their best on a run, but whilst you could confidently expect low-mid 30s, high 30s is unknown territory for most. As you've seen, urban/heavy right foot use sees low 20s very easily.
You'll see a lot of stories about engine sludging and consequent catastrophic failures, although in theory Aeros shouldn't suffer if they have been fed full synth oil as they should have been.
Get over to UKSaabs Forum and have a wander around, I'd suggest.
These cars are at their best on a run, but whilst you could confidently expect low-mid 30s, high 30s is unknown territory for most. As you've seen, urban/heavy right foot use sees low 20s very easily.
You'll see a lot of stories about engine sludging and consequent catastrophic failures, although in theory Aeros shouldn't suffer if they have been fed full synth oil as they should have been.
Get over to UKSaabs Forum and have a wander around, I'd suggest.
I seem to remember that the official figures for the 9-5 auto are a lot worse than those for the manual. I probably still would have had one, though.
(That's assuming that Saab have sorted out their autos - I once test drove an automatic 9000, and unless you were in kickdown it always changed up just as the turbo started to wake up.)
(That's assuming that Saab have sorted out their autos - I once test drove an automatic 9000, and unless you were in kickdown it always changed up just as the turbo started to wake up.)
I've got a 1st gen 9-3 Aero & tend to get around 33 with general use but have seen up to 40 on an A-road run. & thats even with a stage 1 remap running circa 250BHP.
Engines & Gearboxes are bulletproof if serviced correctly & oil & filter swaped every 6K
Handling isn't going to win any prizes but you can buy a few bits to make it a nicer experience.
Engines & Gearboxes are bulletproof if serviced correctly & oil & filter swaped every 6K
Handling isn't going to win any prizes but you can buy a few bits to make it a nicer experience.
LesKellet said:
I have a 9-3SS Aero - getting around 40 mpg on the commute to work. For what it pertains to be, and I have had many Saabs, this one ticks most of the boxes. The only complaint I have is the poverty and terrible ICE reproduction.
Totally agree with that. The sound system is pantsLesKellet said:
I have a 9-3SS Aero - getting around 40 mpg on the commute to work. For what it pertains to be, and I have had many Saabs, this one ticks most of the boxes. The only complaint I have is the poverty and terrible ICE reproduction.
How do you find the 9-3 aero compares to the 9000 aero? I'm going to buy another saab but it needs to be quick. I wouldn't want to buy a slower car if you get what I mean. Was the 9-3 better in other ways then the 9000?I know this is an aged thread, but it came up in a search.
A 9-3 Aero of 2003-2005 vintage ticks all my current boxes on paper. 4 proper seats, 4 doors, decent luggage space with helpful split fold rear seat, reasonable performance, possible upgrades/remapping, 30+ mixed use mpg, a bit odd/unusual, and at the moment, to be had from £1-2k which is cheap enough to make residuals after 25k/2 years a non issue.
What are the major bork factors on these? Turbo? Timing chain/belt? head gasket?
I'd appreciate if anyone could provide estimates of likely costs. I can home spanner the basics (oil, plugs, brakes, suspension, straightforward on/off stuff).
Cheers!
ETA
One question, re parts. There are lots of breakers and I gather much of the stuff under the skin is from the GM parts bin, but are there any parts that aren't available? What will kill it?
A 9-3 Aero of 2003-2005 vintage ticks all my current boxes on paper. 4 proper seats, 4 doors, decent luggage space with helpful split fold rear seat, reasonable performance, possible upgrades/remapping, 30+ mixed use mpg, a bit odd/unusual, and at the moment, to be had from £1-2k which is cheap enough to make residuals after 25k/2 years a non issue.
What are the major bork factors on these? Turbo? Timing chain/belt? head gasket?
I'd appreciate if anyone could provide estimates of likely costs. I can home spanner the basics (oil, plugs, brakes, suspension, straightforward on/off stuff).
Cheers!
ETA
One question, re parts. There are lots of breakers and I gather much of the stuff under the skin is from the GM parts bin, but are there any parts that aren't available? What will kill it?
Edited by goneape on Saturday 28th March 21:58
I duplicated the query in GG, some more useful info there.
Clicky
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Clicky
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I owned a 9-3 Vector for a year to act as my 600 mile weekly round trip to Aberdeen and back, nice comfortable car with adequate power and would see 37mpg on my runs.
However, always fancied a 9-5 Aero estate so chopped the 9-3 in for one. Very big difference in all areas, for the better.
A genuinely quick estate, very comfortable, well equipped mile muncher. Mines an auto so is down a bit on mpg but normally will see 33mpg on my weekly runs. Personally I felt it a lot more Saab than the 9-3 and for me that's a good thing. 13 speaker stereo, heated front & rear seats, all mirrors are dimming versions the list goes on & on for equipment.
If I had a straight choice between a 9-3 & 9-5 Aero, I'd always go for the 9-5.
However, always fancied a 9-5 Aero estate so chopped the 9-3 in for one. Very big difference in all areas, for the better.
A genuinely quick estate, very comfortable, well equipped mile muncher. Mines an auto so is down a bit on mpg but normally will see 33mpg on my weekly runs. Personally I felt it a lot more Saab than the 9-3 and for me that's a good thing. 13 speaker stereo, heated front & rear seats, all mirrors are dimming versions the list goes on & on for equipment.
If I had a straight choice between a 9-3 & 9-5 Aero, I'd always go for the 9-5.
moustache said:
From my experience (9-5 manual aero estate) I get 35mpg on a run and that's with the odd blast (easy 4 car overtakes).
On a run, yes, but on mixed journeys it's closer to mid 20s, isn't it? There's an unusually large difference between consumption on these cars depending on their usage IME.The indy garage that looks after ours says there's only 3 things that regularly go wrong on an Aero. Crankshaft Position sensor, DI cassette and throttle body. None of which are particularly catastrophic. I've had all three go on mine but only after getting past 200,000 miles. The 9-5's need regular oil changes so look for that in the history and all should be well.
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