Saab 9-3 Aero | Shed of the Week
Shed's long-running Stockholm Syndrome returns with a vengeance...
Regular SOTW customers will know that Saabs have featured quite heavily in this column down the ages. Shed’s been giving them a rest of late, based on a) variety being the spice of life and b) his interest in reducing the number of threats from disgruntled readers wanting to hear about other cars.
While we’re on the subject of disgruntlement, did you know that you can be gruntled? That’s a real word. It means happy or satisfied. Needless to say, Shed hasn’t been gruntled at home for a long time, but he’s hoping that the postmistress might be able to help him out with some out-of-hours freelance gruntling.
Getting back to used Saabs, there’s always been a disconnect between what they offer (seemingly a lot) and what they cost (not a lot). It’s fair to say that an Aero 9-3 ticks that box in that it is greater than the sum of its parts. In the case of Mrs Shed, some of her parts are great, others not so much, but she’s always been partial to a beefy Swede. Just ask Bob the Binman what happened when she clocked him in his Viking costume at last year’s Guy Fawkes bonfire night. Sadly, Shed’s horny helmet was lost some time ago, but he still feels like he might be able to conjure up a bit of excitement from behind the wheel of this week’s offering, a 2008 manual in Bjorn Again Black.
There was a 216hp version of the 2.0T Aero that, in non-auto form, steamed through the 0-60mph run in 6.7 seconds. Our manual shed appears to be the slightly lower-powered car with 207hp and 221lb ft, but that’s still plenty to get it through the 0-60 in 7.4 seconds and go on from there to a tidy 146mph. The driving experience wasn’t Ferrari-esque: the steering was too light and the manual gearbox was too stringy for that. Road noise was pretty high by class standards too, but on the plus side, the leathery perches in the Aero were posh and comfy, and an interior refit in 2007 simplified the job of driving the thing. Yes, it killed off the switch-rich, Jumbo jet cockpit vibe that Saabs had been known for, but sometimes you’ve just got to get with the times.
The official fuel consumption average for the 207hp Aero is 38mpg, which is very respectable for the performance. The equivalent emissions figure of 169g/km means a relatively affordable annual tax bill of £305, so your running costs should be low. Ah, you might say, but what about all the breaking down that Saabs suffer from? Didn’t they go downhill quality-wise after the takeover by GM? Aren’t these ones just rebadged Cavaliers?
Well, that last question will keep many a pub table convo going for hours. If you’re a 9-3 defender looking for facts to bolster your position, you could say that this generation of 9-3 gained some useful rear compartment interior space from a wheelbase stretch. Admittedly, the boot lost some of its roominess, but it was ludicrously large before and could afford to shed a bit. This particular boot looks like it’s been used to transport boiled elks, which is a shame, but nothing a strategically placed tartan blanket can’t cure.
Up at the other end of an Aero, you could easily burn your way through the 17-inch front tyres in less than 5,000 miles, but budget replacements start at under £40 a corner. Mid-table options from Kumho and the like are £60 a go, and even premium tyres like the Michelin Pilot Sport 5s come in at under £100. That GM thing might grind the cognoscenti’s gears, but one of the positives to come out of it was a lowering of prices of regularly consumed parts.
The mileage on this car is far from frightening at 135,000. The last MOT tester to look at it in December mentioned a corroded but not seriously weakened rear subframe and rear suspension arm. If that sort of thing bothers you, a new subframe can be had for about £240 and a suspension arm for under £50. As they say, it’s a lot of car for the money – £1,995 – and a potentially strong source of satisfying gruntlage.
This car for 2 grand looks half decent in 5 years or so I've had no problems at all from my 2.0 Turbo they give decent performance without guzzling fuel so this having the same engine should be the same . I'm sure it will make someone an half decent shed & as it's a facelift I think they look far better.
Went well, especially with a remap, it handled well but again, not much in the way of enjoyment.
Think the facelifts had many improvements.
Gear change was a bit crap, interior quality was woeful with button coatings peeling, stuff falling off etc Seats were good.
Not a car I would have again but can see the appeal and this looks smart.
I must confess I too like all manner of swedish things. It started with the Blond from Abba back in the 1970s talking of which did you know that if Bojorn and Benny had been called Steve and Dave the group would have been called ASDA.
Back in homeland UK this Aero looks to be very well presented with the right amount of risk to tempt someone off the fence just not me.. Like it tho.
Nice to see silver wheels too, although the front one looks pretty chewed up, for £2k though you can't expect it to be perfect.
When these were new our company had a deal with Vauxhall / GM so if your 'grade' allowed it you could have a 9-3. They looked so much better than the Vectra they were supposedly based on, sadly my grade ment I didn't qualify.
It's a shame the GM tie up didn't work out for SAAB, this platform sharing, as with the X-Type was always seen as a negative, "it's a Vectra in a party frock" etc. Weird when it's perfectly fine when VW, Skoda and Audi do the same thing.
Funnily enough I drive a 2008 Vectra now as a A-B commuter, basically the same car with a few tweaks underneath by Saab, it shames me to say the Vauxhall is much better built by comparison.
But, I do have a soft spot for this era 9-3's, they make good cheap commuters with the heated seats, this won't hang along for long.
Fun pub quiz fact - the 9-3 got 5 star ncap rating over 4 star for the Vectra at the time as SAAB insisted having a seatbelt off 'BONG' alert, where as the Vectra doesn't
I went BMW E46 after that and never looked back.
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