Saab 9-3 Convertible - Daily Midlife Crisis
Discussion
I've been driving my old Shogun Sport round as a daily driver and to be honest, I love it but it's not become the off-roader I planned and more of a run about so started looking at more well suited options for running about and picking up my eldest daughter (120 miles away).
I wanted something with four seats so little two seaters were out but I quite fancies a convertible. Narrowed it down to the CLK as I'm familiar with Mercs or a Saab as I'd owned one before and have a soft spot for them.
I'd been browsing Autotrader seeing what was about, I didn't want to spend more than £3k (preferably £2.5k) and was going to wait until the new year.
I'd spotted this particular car at over £3k but I was staying strong even thought it was the newer twin turbo diesel, right colour and trim. Well, a couple of weeks after I spotted it they had dropped the price down to £2,500 so I couldn't resist going to see it!
Turns out that they had had a rather expensive audio install, uprated speakers and headunit which they had removed and dropped the price. Suits me, all the standard audio worked fine and the car was very very tidy.
125k on the clock, they'd owned the car for 6 years and done a list of jobs in that time. The owners husband is a mechanic and also has a old Evo 3 drag car, son has a modified Focus so they're all car nuts.
Came with a massive pile is receipts, full service history and some of the large potential jobs done. It had a new clutch and dual mass flywheel, one of the turbos was playing up so they replaced them both and just good overall maintenance. It's also had a stage 1 re-map by a firm called Nordic Tuning who I looked up before viewing and they come up as a trusted tuner on the Saab groups I've looked at.
It drives really well, it's no hot hatch but definitely goes well. It's making around 225bhp so plenty for this kind of car.
Typically I bought a convertible on a typically British rainy day but the roof works fine and is water tight, which is nice. Waiting on some car mats to arrive and to get out and give it some TLC.
Noticed it has Xenons lights as well which is a plus.
Also has these sidelights which look like Xenon/LEDs but not sure if they're standard or not.
Neat little boost gauge, unnecessary but quite cool.
More pics to follow. Keen to get it on the motorway and see how the fuel consumption is. My last 9-3 did 55mpg without a remap so let's see.
I wanted something with four seats so little two seaters were out but I quite fancies a convertible. Narrowed it down to the CLK as I'm familiar with Mercs or a Saab as I'd owned one before and have a soft spot for them.
I'd been browsing Autotrader seeing what was about, I didn't want to spend more than £3k (preferably £2.5k) and was going to wait until the new year.
I'd spotted this particular car at over £3k but I was staying strong even thought it was the newer twin turbo diesel, right colour and trim. Well, a couple of weeks after I spotted it they had dropped the price down to £2,500 so I couldn't resist going to see it!
Turns out that they had had a rather expensive audio install, uprated speakers and headunit which they had removed and dropped the price. Suits me, all the standard audio worked fine and the car was very very tidy.
125k on the clock, they'd owned the car for 6 years and done a list of jobs in that time. The owners husband is a mechanic and also has a old Evo 3 drag car, son has a modified Focus so they're all car nuts.
Came with a massive pile is receipts, full service history and some of the large potential jobs done. It had a new clutch and dual mass flywheel, one of the turbos was playing up so they replaced them both and just good overall maintenance. It's also had a stage 1 re-map by a firm called Nordic Tuning who I looked up before viewing and they come up as a trusted tuner on the Saab groups I've looked at.
It drives really well, it's no hot hatch but definitely goes well. It's making around 225bhp so plenty for this kind of car.
Typically I bought a convertible on a typically British rainy day but the roof works fine and is water tight, which is nice. Waiting on some car mats to arrive and to get out and give it some TLC.
Noticed it has Xenons lights as well which is a plus.
Also has these sidelights which look like Xenon/LEDs but not sure if they're standard or not.
Neat little boost gauge, unnecessary but quite cool.
More pics to follow. Keen to get it on the motorway and see how the fuel consumption is. My last 9-3 did 55mpg without a remap so let's see.
JESTER_ST1 said:
Lovely car, always fancied the idea of owning a Saab. Still cracking looking cars.
Thank you. They are great cars and just a bit different in some ways. I had a 2005 Saab 9-3 estate back in about 2015 and really took to it but it felt a bit tired and after six months sold it for an E Class which suited better at the time. But I always liked the quirks of the Saab, it was comfortable and unconventional in some ways. This one seems even better, has more history and I think has been cherished a bit more. Plus, it's newer and a higher spec. This was the old wagon...
Looking forward to giving it a thorough clean, getting the mats in it and getting the roof down! Could be a chilly first drive with the roof off though. Also my youngest daughter can't wait to go out with the roof down haha.
Lovely! Saab's are cool, scratched my itch few years ago by running a (2011 TTid 9-3), was lovely car in all honesty, but working from home my mileage diminished over night and fancied going "proper shedding".
Here is my 9-3, winter tyred up few years ago.
So...I run it's unloved brother now, all £900 worth of 2008 Vectra SRI, and it's funny, as I can see bits of my old 9-3 in spirit in this (of course same platform etc) but they are totally different set ups and feel, dare I say the Vectra is stronger built, and it pains me to say this as I really like Saab's.
Enjoy OP the 'verts are tremendous lookers, still very classy!
Here is my 9-3, winter tyred up few years ago.
So...I run it's unloved brother now, all £900 worth of 2008 Vectra SRI, and it's funny, as I can see bits of my old 9-3 in spirit in this (of course same platform etc) but they are totally different set ups and feel, dare I say the Vectra is stronger built, and it pains me to say this as I really like Saab's.
Enjoy OP the 'verts are tremendous lookers, still very classy!
757 said:
Enjoy OP the 'verts are tremendous lookers, still very classy!
Thank you mate. That Saab in the snow seems to look absolutely perfect as well. The build of the Saab is ok, certainly not premium but it's solid enough. Also, since I work from home most of the time, I can put my lunch break to good use. I hit the interior today, which shows little sign of wear considering its age and mileage. Just needed a good clean up. Carpets and seats got a good vacuum, then attacked everything with Nonsense APC.
I say it was quite clean, but the nooks and crannies needed a bit more work.
Used Nonsense on the seats too, then followed up with some Dodo Juice Supernatural Leather Cleaner.
It has this black trim on the interior which seemingly is quite rare, looks neat and cleaned up well.
Plastics were cleaned and wiped down with some Autoglym Rubber & Vinyl Care to give them a bit of a shine.
Standard headunit is pretty good, plays MP3 CDs at least and is touch screen which I can't think was common 2008!
Still the best cupholders in any car I've owned!
It's things like this which set Saab apart in terms of quirks. Normal looking vent....
But when you adjust the direction you can see multiple layers, unnecessarily complex way of directing the air but very cool.
Andy665 said:
I may be wrong as not that familiar with the facelifted 9-3s but that headunit may not be OE - hardly matters - it looks like it is and if it has the functionality then who cares
I hadn't actually thought of that. They'd originally had quite a pricey double DIN unit in there which they swapped back over to this one. I did a quick Google after you commented and it seems that looking at 2008 9-3s there are some with a more typical Saab radio, lots of buttons and green lighting. Others have this unit in there. I wonder if it was an optional extra. Satnav was so maybe it's this unit as it does have navigation built in, which was recently updated but I'm sure Waze is better hahaIt had a few boxes ticked when it was new including the black trim all round which apparently is quite uncommon.
757 said:
Looks OE to me, seen similar in other 9-3's (can tell by the button design either side...I am a Saab geek 
) I'm guessing OP it has navigation aswell, as this would be used for that too.
Saab geeks are very welcome. It does indeed have the navigation although not used it yet. It came with an update DVD as well which has been used on it, might be more usable than the one in my CL from 2010 at least haha. ) I'm guessing OP it has navigation aswell, as this would be used for that too.DamnKraut said:
Seeing the thread I thought it wouldn't take until the end of the first page before the OP's detailing OCD sets in. Guess I wasn't too wrong 
You would be absolutely correct. One thing whenever I guy a car is it's not properly mine until I've detailed it in some way or other. Gives me a feel for the overall car, see it's blemishes and good points too. Certainly, no nasty shocks for my OCD on the interior, it's aged very well actually, better than I would have expected. Outside could do with a wash and polish but from what I have seen it's tidy with a couple of minor marks. Mats will be dispatched tomorrow as I hate driving round without any. Been using paper ones as a temporary measure haha.
757 said:
Looks OE to me, seen similar in other 9-3's (can tell by the button design either side...I am a Saab geek ) I'm guessing OP it has navigation aswell, as this would be used for that too.
Definitely OE, i had the same HU in mine) I'm guessing OP it has navigation aswell, as this would be used for that too.One of the few 'early' implementations of voice control that actually worked!
Alex_225 said:
757 said:
Enjoy OP the 'verts are tremendous lookers, still very classy!
Thank you mate. That Saab in the snow seems to look absolutely perfect as well. The build of the Saab is ok, certainly not premium but it's solid enough. Also, since I work from home most of the time, I can put my lunch break to good use. I hit the interior today, which shows little sign of wear considering its age and mileage. Just needed a good clean up. Carpets and seats got a good vacuum, then attacked everything with Nonsense APC.
I say it was quite clean, but the nooks and crannies needed a bit more work.
Used Nonsense on the seats too, then followed up with some Dodo Juice Supernatural Leather Cleaner.
It has this black trim on the interior which seemingly is quite rare, looks neat and cleaned up well.
Plastics were cleaned and wiped down with some Autoglym Rubber & Vinyl Care to give them a bit of a shine.
Standard headunit is pretty good, plays MP3 CDs at least and is touch screen which I can't think was common 2008!
Still the best cupholders in any car I've owned!
It's things like this which set Saab apart in terms of quirks. Normal looking vent....
But when you adjust the direction you can see multiple layers, unnecessarily complex way of directing the air but very cool.
looking good Thank you. Last bit to do inside is give the carpets a quick scrub, it's clearly not driven without mats but they must have scrapped them before selling I assume because they were scruffy. So I'll use some carpet cleaner before fitting my new mats which are now with the courier, hopefully arrive tomorrow.
Got Friday off so think I'll do the outside then and get some more photos of the exterior.
Got Friday off so think I'll do the outside then and get some more photos of the exterior.
I know with old cheap cars like this, often people just make do with any old mats thrown in. My Shogun had some random mats in it that did the job until I bought some fitted ones. The ones in my CL were black despite a grey interior and they were tatty so binned them and bought some deep pile grey ones.
I've got some rubber fitted mats from Carmats4u. This will get all round use and the rubber mats I find are just better for all round use.
I've got some rubber fitted mats from Carmats4u. This will get all round use and the rubber mats I find are just better for all round use.
They arrived. It's sad that I'm slightly excited that I have some new car mats! As I mentioned, I ordered from Carmats4U who I have used multiple times before. This is actually the 8th set of rubber mats I've bought from them over the years.
This time they gave me a free upgrade to their diamond texture premium mats, which was a pleasant surprise. I'd looked at them but was being mean and didn't want to pay the difference.
Texture is really smart actually, more refined than the usual ones.
Gave the carpets a quick wipe down first.
My OCD is happy.
Also, forgot I had one of these FM transmitters which I used to use in my old E Class. Perfect spot for it in the arm rest. I'll see how well that works and pair it up soon.
This time they gave me a free upgrade to their diamond texture premium mats, which was a pleasant surprise. I'd looked at them but was being mean and didn't want to pay the difference.
Texture is really smart actually, more refined than the usual ones.
Gave the carpets a quick wipe down first.
My OCD is happy.
Also, forgot I had one of these FM transmitters which I used to use in my old E Class. Perfect spot for it in the arm rest. I'll see how well that works and pair it up soon.
i loved mine youre making me want another one!
we were driving through a leafy suburb one day and a cabrio went past us, and we both said we would love one,
so we said why cant we have one?? sod it
traded in a family car and got one before the kids were too tall to get in and out the back.
loved it a 150 hp linear sport with the nicer radio
only trouble we had was the wiper mechanism did come off, which you can buy clips for off amazon so i fixed it myself
the only thing id recommend you do is soak the hood, scrub it with baby shampoo and a soft nail brush,
gets all the muck out,
dont treat it, it gos dead patchy just wash it and leave it
nice car look forward to the updates
we were driving through a leafy suburb one day and a cabrio went past us, and we both said we would love one,
so we said why cant we have one?? sod it
traded in a family car and got one before the kids were too tall to get in and out the back.
loved it a 150 hp linear sport with the nicer radio
only trouble we had was the wiper mechanism did come off, which you can buy clips for off amazon so i fixed it myself
the only thing id recommend you do is soak the hood, scrub it with baby shampoo and a soft nail brush,
gets all the muck out,
dont treat it, it gos dead patchy just wash it and leave it
nice car look forward to the updates
dirky dirk said:
i loved mine youre making me want another one!
we were driving through a leafy suburb one day and a cabrio went past us, and we both said we would love one,
so we said why cant we have one?? sod it
traded in a family car and got one before the kids were too tall to get in and out the back.
loved it a 150 hp linear sport with the nicer radio
only trouble we had was the wiper mechanism did come off, which you can buy clips for off amazon so i fixed it myself
the only thing id recommend you do is soak the hood, scrub it with baby shampoo and a soft nail brush,
gets all the muck out,
dont treat it, it gos dead patchy just wash it and leave it
nice car look forward to the updates
I make no apologies for the encouragement haha. we were driving through a leafy suburb one day and a cabrio went past us, and we both said we would love one,
so we said why cant we have one?? sod it
traded in a family car and got one before the kids were too tall to get in and out the back.
loved it a 150 hp linear sport with the nicer radio
only trouble we had was the wiper mechanism did come off, which you can buy clips for off amazon so i fixed it myself
the only thing id recommend you do is soak the hood, scrub it with baby shampoo and a soft nail brush,
gets all the muck out,
dont treat it, it gos dead patchy just wash it and leave it
nice car look forward to the updates
Thanks for the info on the roof, did yours ever leak or was it ok just being cleaned? I wasn't sure whether to treat it and waterproof it. Although I understand it has a waterproof membrane in the middle and channels the water etc. So it's ok for the roof to be wet.
Managed to get my FM transmitter working which was good, comparable sound to a normal radio station which is handy. I'll be doing long drives in it (250 miles at a time) and listen to audio books off my phone.
Only niggle I have found with it is the headlights. Twice now the driver side headlight has not come on, not sure if it's moisture or something. Just took it for a 15 mile drive just now and it was fine. Although the headlights aren't great despite being Xenons.
Finally a dry day and a chance to give the outside of the Saab a clean. Attacked some green on the roof using some shampoo and one of my kids old toothbrushes! 
Was only on one side of the roof so only took a few minutes to get that clean.
Used a combination of Autoglym Super Resin polish, which I have loved for years. So easy to use, especially in damp weather. I then coated the car in Britemax Extreme Elements. One of the easiest sealants to apply, you can literally apply to the entire car and it wipes off perfectly!
Meguiars tyre shine and overall it's come up really well. Few little dings and some stone chips on the front but for it's age and mileage I'm impressed.
The tailpipes were very black and the rear trim quite streaky. So some Chemical Guys trim gel and some exhaust polish took it from this...
to this...
Surprisingly dainty alongside the CL!
Attacked the engine bay with some APC too.
Some more trim gel on all the plastics and the engine bay looks pretty good.
So there we go, it's properly mine now I've detailed it. Few little bits left to do and I'm not quite sure about the purple brake calipers but overall I'm really really pleased with this car!
Let's see how it goes next Friday when I do 240 miles in it and the same on the Sunday.
Was only on one side of the roof so only took a few minutes to get that clean.
Used a combination of Autoglym Super Resin polish, which I have loved for years. So easy to use, especially in damp weather. I then coated the car in Britemax Extreme Elements. One of the easiest sealants to apply, you can literally apply to the entire car and it wipes off perfectly!
Meguiars tyre shine and overall it's come up really well. Few little dings and some stone chips on the front but for it's age and mileage I'm impressed.
The tailpipes were very black and the rear trim quite streaky. So some Chemical Guys trim gel and some exhaust polish took it from this...
to this...
Surprisingly dainty alongside the CL!
Attacked the engine bay with some APC too.
Some more trim gel on all the plastics and the engine bay looks pretty good.
So there we go, it's properly mine now I've detailed it. Few little bits left to do and I'm not quite sure about the purple brake calipers but overall I'm really really pleased with this car!
Let's see how it goes next Friday when I do 240 miles in it and the same on the Sunday.
New aerial has been ordered from Amazon, two different aerials multiple fitments and £6 in a Black Friday deal. Can't knock that.
Good to see my hard work yesterday paying off seeing that the sealant I applied is doing it's job. Nice considering this is just condensation.
Applied some Rain-X to the glass too so that will help clear the windows in the irain!
Good to see my hard work yesterday paying off seeing that the sealant I applied is doing it's job. Nice considering this is just condensation.
Applied some Rain-X to the glass too so that will help clear the windows in the irain!
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