Saab 9-3 Sportwagon V6
Discussion
Hi all,
My 20 year old Volvo V70 T5 is getting a bit long in the tooth now, but still requiring a decent sized car for general airport run/tip/dog/drum carrying duties I thought I would start searching for a replacement.
I had a few options I had thought about, Audi A4/A6 Avant's, Mondeo ST220 Estates and a newer Volvo (V50/V70) and looked at loads of adverts for these, but nothing resulted in a phonecall. Then I thought about the 'other' Swedes
I was torn between getting a 9-5 Hot Estate and the 9-3 Sportwagon in either 2.0 210bhp guise, or the V6. I don't particularly like the look of the 9-5 with the Dame Edna glasses which limited me to earlier models, and as I was dead set on getting a manual that limited my options even more. Eventually I narrowed my options down to a 9-3 and then to a V6 (I've never had a car with a V6 before, but plenty of 4 cylinder 2.0's!)
So I present to you my new (to me) Saab 9-3 Aero Sportwagon.
and another picture with my incredibly filthy Focus ST.
I'm incredibly happy with it. I think it looks great, although I would have pretty much preferred any colour other than silver!
Specs wise the important stuff is that it has the Turbo 2.8 litre V6 mated to a manual gearbox. I'm very happy with this combo although I must admit, the feeling of acceleration isn't as brutal as my T5 Volvo. Its a very progressive power delivery whereas the Volvo is a massive surge when the turbo spools. From reading up, an aggressive stage 1 map will sort that out so that will probably be on the cards at some point in the future.
Otherwise its got 92k on the clock, full service history, stack of invoices and a very good spec pack - Bi-Xenon headlamps, Sat Nav, Heated Seats. 4 matching Kumho tyres aswell which is usually a good sign that a car has not been maintained on a shoestring.
The rear back box has seen better days but I feel its fairly quiet for a V6 so I'll be looking to get the rear exhaust section sorted out ASAP anyway.
All in all a happy bunny, I best get signed up to UKSaabs now!
Cheers,
Ant
My 20 year old Volvo V70 T5 is getting a bit long in the tooth now, but still requiring a decent sized car for general airport run/tip/dog/drum carrying duties I thought I would start searching for a replacement.
I had a few options I had thought about, Audi A4/A6 Avant's, Mondeo ST220 Estates and a newer Volvo (V50/V70) and looked at loads of adverts for these, but nothing resulted in a phonecall. Then I thought about the 'other' Swedes
I was torn between getting a 9-5 Hot Estate and the 9-3 Sportwagon in either 2.0 210bhp guise, or the V6. I don't particularly like the look of the 9-5 with the Dame Edna glasses which limited me to earlier models, and as I was dead set on getting a manual that limited my options even more. Eventually I narrowed my options down to a 9-3 and then to a V6 (I've never had a car with a V6 before, but plenty of 4 cylinder 2.0's!)
So I present to you my new (to me) Saab 9-3 Aero Sportwagon.
and another picture with my incredibly filthy Focus ST.
I'm incredibly happy with it. I think it looks great, although I would have pretty much preferred any colour other than silver!
Specs wise the important stuff is that it has the Turbo 2.8 litre V6 mated to a manual gearbox. I'm very happy with this combo although I must admit, the feeling of acceleration isn't as brutal as my T5 Volvo. Its a very progressive power delivery whereas the Volvo is a massive surge when the turbo spools. From reading up, an aggressive stage 1 map will sort that out so that will probably be on the cards at some point in the future.
Otherwise its got 92k on the clock, full service history, stack of invoices and a very good spec pack - Bi-Xenon headlamps, Sat Nav, Heated Seats. 4 matching Kumho tyres aswell which is usually a good sign that a car has not been maintained on a shoestring.
The rear back box has seen better days but I feel its fairly quiet for a V6 so I'll be looking to get the rear exhaust section sorted out ASAP anyway.
All in all a happy bunny, I best get signed up to UKSaabs now!
Cheers,
Ant
Edited by Spantney on Saturday 13th January 19:41
Edited by Spantney on Saturday 13th January 19:41
Edited by Spantney on Saturday 13th January 19:42
I like these and had this engine and gearbox in a Vectra.
As you say, they don't feel as quick as you expect - the 2.0 turbo 93 Aero I think actually feels faster because of how the power comes in. The V6 is much better when it gets into its stride though.
I'm not sure what you mean by it being quiet for a V6 - I've never heard that a V6 should be particularly loud.
Has yours had the timing chains done? I think that's the major thing to look out for. They were done on my Vectra before I got it so that was something not to worry about.
As you say, they don't feel as quick as you expect - the 2.0 turbo 93 Aero I think actually feels faster because of how the power comes in. The V6 is much better when it gets into its stride though.
I'm not sure what you mean by it being quiet for a V6 - I've never heard that a V6 should be particularly loud.
Has yours had the timing chains done? I think that's the major thing to look out for. They were done on my Vectra before I got it so that was something not to worry about.
dandam said:
Congratulations, definitely get yourself signed up on uksaabs, lots of good advice, few scary stories about the v6 being over tuned but a stage 1 from Karl (better noob tune or something like that ?!) always gets great reviews.
Enjoy and keep us updated
Karl doesn't do the V6.Enjoy and keep us updated
Lovely engine the v6, they definitely need a remap though to get some oomph out of them....but don’t go too far with the tuning or it might go bang 
Ive got a JZW Stage 5 tuned v6 (properly rapid) but it threw a rod last year so hasn’t moved since. I was thinking of getting the wagon next and swap everything over or a nice Vectra VXR. No time atm with a new baby so any plans have been shelved for now.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Ive got a JZW Stage 5 tuned v6 (properly rapid) but it threw a rod last year so hasn’t moved since. I was thinking of getting the wagon next and swap everything over or a nice Vectra VXR. No time atm with a new baby so any plans have been shelved for now.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Re the exhaust, most tend to replace the rear mufflers with straight pipes, makes a huge difference. I fully decatted mine, so 3” DP, 3” mid pipe (where the 2nd cat lives) small centre resonator and straight piped the back. Way too loud for a DD but I only drove it occasionally so didn’t bother me.
https://youtu.be/157eJOCUIR0
https://youtu.be/abtMT-tpxkY
https://youtu.be/157eJOCUIR0
https://youtu.be/abtMT-tpxkY
Nice car, OP. 
Must have been a stretch to find a manual one of these. Plenty of manual four-pots about, but not so many V6s.
The 9-3 estate has been on my radar for years. The only thing that really puts me off about these is the "plain, bordering on stark" dashboard architecture. I like my motors to have a bit more to look at when I'm driving.
Having said that, I'd never rule one out. Hmm, I wonder if my wife would like one, when her (old) New Beetle stops passing MoTs. 
Must have been a stretch to find a manual one of these. Plenty of manual four-pots about, but not so many V6s.
The 9-3 estate has been on my radar for years. The only thing that really puts me off about these is the "plain, bordering on stark" dashboard architecture. I like my motors to have a bit more to look at when I'm driving.
Having said that, I'd never rule one out.
Hmm, I wonder if my wife would like one, when her (old) New Beetle stops passing MoTs. Jimmy Recard said:
I like these and had this engine and gearbox in a Vectra.
As you say, they don't feel as quick as you expect - the 2.0 turbo 93 Aero I think actually feels faster because of how the power comes in. The V6 is much better when it gets into its stride though.
I'm not sure what you mean by it being quiet for a V6 - I've never heard that a V6 should be particularly loud.
Has yours had the timing chains done? I think that's the major thing to look out for. They were done on my Vectra before I got it so that was something not to worry about.
Yeah I think the potential is there, I just need to unlock it! Regarding the sound - I think I'm a bit underwhelmed as my mates Nissan 370Z sounds awesome, but I spose this is a 'boring' Saab estate at the end of the day. I just fancy a bit more of an 'event' coming from the pipes! Does sound good on a cold start though. As you say, they don't feel as quick as you expect - the 2.0 turbo 93 Aero I think actually feels faster because of how the power comes in. The V6 is much better when it gets into its stride though.
I'm not sure what you mean by it being quiet for a V6 - I've never heard that a V6 should be particularly loud.
Has yours had the timing chains done? I think that's the major thing to look out for. They were done on my Vectra before I got it so that was something not to worry about.
Regarding the chains - no, it hasn't had them done. But I had a lengthy chat with the Saab specialist I bought this car from as I did bring it up as a point of concern. He said that the chains were susceptible on cars which hadn't had a lot of maintenance and those which had run short of oil. Seeing as this has such a good history and what appeared to be 2 careful owners, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. There is no chain rattle and I'll be keeping the car well serviced so wish me luck!
dandam said:
Congratulations, definitely get yourself signed up on uksaabs, lots of good advice, few scary stories about the v6 being over tuned but a stage 1 from Karl (better noob tune or something like that ?!) always gets great reviews.
Enjoy and keep us updated
Cheers, will do! Regarding tuning I was looking at possibly Maptun or the JZW tuning that is offered for these. I'm well aware of NoobTune but as several people have mentioned above, he doesn't appear to offer tunes for the V6 (yet?!). Will keep you posted Enjoy and keep us updated
griffin dai said:
Re the exhaust, most tend to replace the rear mufflers with straight pipes, makes a huge difference. I fully decatted mine, so 3” DP, 3” mid pipe (where the 2nd cat lives) small centre resonator and straight piped the back. Way too loud for a DD but I only drove it occasionally so didn’t bother me.
https://youtu.be/157eJOCUIR0
https://youtu.be/abtMT-tpxkY
Thanks Griffin Dai, I remember seeing your car thread a while back. Its a bit of a monster https://youtu.be/157eJOCUIR0
https://youtu.be/abtMT-tpxkY
I don't think mine will be following the same extent of tuning, but definitely some exhaust mods and a tune are on the cards. I think straight pipes mid-back is probably what I will do, although I'll be keeping the cats for ease of MOT purposes. Just out of interest, do you know what sort of power/torque the stock clutch will take? Thanks!MorganP104 said:
Nice car, OP.
Must have been a stretch to find a manual one of these. Plenty of manual four-pots about, but not so many V6s.
The 9-3 estate has been on my radar for years. The only thing that really puts me off about these is the "plain, bordering on stark" dashboard architecture. I like my motors to have a bit more to look at when I'm driving.
Having said that, I'd never rule one out. Hmm, I wonder if my wife would like one, when her (old) New Beetle stops passing MoTs.
Thanks! Must have been a stretch to find a manual one of these. Plenty of manual four-pots about, but not so many V6s.
The 9-3 estate has been on my radar for years. The only thing that really puts me off about these is the "plain, bordering on stark" dashboard architecture. I like my motors to have a bit more to look at when I'm driving.
Having said that, I'd never rule one out.
Hmm, I wonder if my wife would like one, when her (old) New Beetle stops passing MoTs. Yeah I'd been seriously searching for about a month and during that time there was about 4 different manual V6 sportwagons that came up. Only 2 were at the same end of the country as me. I almost phoned about a different car one weekend but decided not to, and this one's advert appeared on the Monday. I'd paid a deposit by the Wednesday after having all the service history, etc scanned over to me! Picked up on the Friday and a nice little 100 mile drive home so not too bad!The dashboard is a bit of an odd one - I can't really decide whether I like it or not, although I do love the 'Night Panel' option. This one does have the nav option so there is a bit more going on but the facelifted dash (07' onwards I believe) is much nicer.
My wife seems to like the Saab, although she was mostly just impressed with the cup holder in the dash!
Cheers
Edited by Spantney on Saturday 13th January 22:43
Spantney said:
Just out of interest, do you know what sort of power/torque the stock clutch will take? Thanks!
I’ll have to double check, the infos on UKsaabs somewhere but I haven’t been on there in ages since the engine popped. Kinda lost interest so the cars just sat there. Mine slipped at stage 1 so between 400-420ft/lbs but some have been fine here.Just so you’re aware the Vectra VXR uses the same set up, its worth pricing up some kits for the VXR.
I struck a deal with CG Motorsports a couple years ago for a run of their 666 & 777 type race clutches. 666 is organic 777 was a 6 puck clutch. Solid flywheel & heavy duty cover. These were £650 but might be £750 now. A few have gone the cheaper route though and had theirs relined for around £50. Not really sure what the go too set up is now, I needed one to comfortably hold 550ft/lbs (ish) so went with CG.
Mapping wise, I wouldn’t touch JZW again, ever. Cost me a car, blamed the dyno for my low numbers and car leaning out (shockingly low numbers for stage 5!!) then blamed my driving style etc etc and I know a few guys who waited months & months for their map updates and a few who couldn’t get a reply at all from him.
Avoid JZW, just not worth hassle/money.
Take a look on UKS for more info on Maptun, BCB, Vtuner and Nordic seem to be getting decent reviews. Hirsch is another but their maps are pretty tame. Trust me map it with any of the others and it’ll pin you to your seat
Nordic tuning are well known for building some monster Saab’s so worh a look. There’s also a guy called Rabbid who can live map the car.
I’ll either use him or Nordic next time.
griffin dai said:
Avoid JZW, just not worth hassle/money.
After yours eeeerrr had problems.I had a look at some other dyno graphs that have a\f ratio listed, it's no wonder they are failing when running that lean low down.
It's also why many remappers don't list a\f ratios, as you could see how good the map really is.
griffin dai said:
I’ll have to double check, the infos on UKsaabs somewhere but I haven’t been on there in ages since the engine popped. Kinda lost interest so the cars just sat there. Mine slipped at stage 1 so between 400-420ft/lbs but some have been fine here.
Just so you’re aware the Vectra VXR uses the same set up, its worth pricing up some kits for the VXR.
I struck a deal with CG Motorsports a couple years ago for a run of their 666 & 777 type race clutches. 666 is organic 777 was a 6 puck clutch. Solid flywheel & heavy duty cover. These were £650 but might be £750 now. A few have gone the cheaper route though and had theirs relined for around £50. Not really sure what the go too set up is now, I needed one to comfortably hold 550ft/lbs (ish) so went with CG.
Mapping wise, I wouldn’t touch JZW again, ever. Cost me a car, blamed the dyno for my low numbers and car leaning out (shockingly low numbers for stage 5!!) then blamed my driving style etc etc and I know a few guys who waited months & months for their map updates and a few who couldn’t get a reply at all from him.
Avoid JZW, just not worth hassle/money.
Take a look on UKS for more info on Maptun, BCB, Vtuner and Nordic seem to be getting decent reviews. Hirsch is another but their maps are pretty tame. Trust me map it with any of the others and it’ll pin you to your seat
Nordic tuning are well known for building some monster Saab’s so worh a look. There’s also a guy called Rabbid who can live map the car.
I’ll either use him or Nordic next time.
Thanks for the very helpful reply Just so you’re aware the Vectra VXR uses the same set up, its worth pricing up some kits for the VXR.
I struck a deal with CG Motorsports a couple years ago for a run of their 666 & 777 type race clutches. 666 is organic 777 was a 6 puck clutch. Solid flywheel & heavy duty cover. These were £650 but might be £750 now. A few have gone the cheaper route though and had theirs relined for around £50. Not really sure what the go too set up is now, I needed one to comfortably hold 550ft/lbs (ish) so went with CG.
Mapping wise, I wouldn’t touch JZW again, ever. Cost me a car, blamed the dyno for my low numbers and car leaning out (shockingly low numbers for stage 5!!) then blamed my driving style etc etc and I know a few guys who waited months & months for their map updates and a few who couldn’t get a reply at all from him.
Avoid JZW, just not worth hassle/money.
Take a look on UKS for more info on Maptun, BCB, Vtuner and Nordic seem to be getting decent reviews. Hirsch is another but their maps are pretty tame. Trust me map it with any of the others and it’ll pin you to your seat
Nordic tuning are well known for building some monster Saab’s so worh a look. There’s also a guy called Rabbid who can live map the car.
I’ll either use him or Nordic next time.
I'll make sure to steer clear of JZW in that case then, really sorry to hear about your car! Looks nice, a friend got one of these a couple of weeks back with a BSR map already in place. Seems to go well enough and is nice and quiet on the motorway.
His is the 07 which as you said brings the slightly more up to date dashboard.
Good cars if maintained well, many have fallen into the '250bhp for not a lot of cash bruv' circles.
His is the 07 which as you said brings the slightly more up to date dashboard.
Good cars if maintained well, many have fallen into the '250bhp for not a lot of cash bruv' circles.
Good evening all. I come to you with a small update from the land of Saab! I've mostly just been busy with the little jobs which I seem to take the most pleasure out of.
I firstly bought some Saab mats off of the internet, I think they add a nice little touch to the interior of the car.
I then drove the car in the wet and realised the Kumho tyres were really not that great after all. So the car had 4 brand new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3's fitted in 235/45/R17 97Y XL and a full wheel alignment done. It was a bit out to say the least! They are the same tyres that I have on my Focus ST and its made a superb difference to the overall handling and stability of the car and inspires much more confidence, especially in the wet.
I've also fitted some updated alloy center caps to replace the old style, fairly worn blue ones:
The car then subsequently repaid me for spending all that money on it by the battery committing Hari Kari. It had a Bosch S3 battery fitted but looked long past its best, and I managed to get a brand new Bosch S4 battery half price from EuroCarParts in one of their many sales. No pictures of this but I'm sure you know what a car battery looks like.
When I first purchased the car I noticed that one of the sidelights was out, no biggy I thought, I'll get it changed as and when. I bought some nice Philips Blue Vision 5W5 sidelights and attempted to swap them out the other evening. All I can say is that unless you are part praying mantis, appendages don't seem to be able to perform the required contortions to swap out a sidelight bulb. In the end, the front bumper had to come off, and the headlight assemblies removed to do it. It actually wasn't THAT bad of a job and I managed it from start to finish in about 40 minutes but a bugger nevertheless!
I have sidelights again!
After much deliberation and forum searching, I decided to play it reasonably safe and go for the Maptun Stage 1 map, which I purchased from NeoBrothers along with a Maptun Air Filter. The Stage 1 map has made an incredible difference to the way the car drives and I couldn't recommend it enough
Its booked in next week to have a stainless steel catback exhaust fitted, minus the rear silencers but keeping the resonator. Hopefully that should liven things up in the sound department.
There are a couple of small issues with it at the moment. Its thrown an EML twice now, once was before the map which cleared itself after a day or so.
It also got thrown this morning. My code reader says 'Bank 1 too lean at idle' but I have noticed the EML's do correspond with a petrol refill the night before. Forum searching leads me to believe this issue is reasonably well documented and that the charcoal cannister/EVAP purge system might be past its best. I've ordered a replacement from america (as its a Cadillac part it seems!) as they seem to be unobtainable in this country at the moment so will get that fitted once it arrives.
Also, my drivers door (only) seems to not like unlocking with the remote blipper. Sometimes it will take a couple of 'unlock' commands from the blipper to actually unlock the door. Apparently disconnecting the battery for half hour and/or giving the door electronics connector a clean with contact cleaner may remedy the issue so I'll try and give that a go at the weekend.
And one final picture of it nicely parked up!
Cheers,
Ant
I firstly bought some Saab mats off of the internet, I think they add a nice little touch to the interior of the car.
I then drove the car in the wet and realised the Kumho tyres were really not that great after all. So the car had 4 brand new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3's fitted in 235/45/R17 97Y XL and a full wheel alignment done. It was a bit out to say the least! They are the same tyres that I have on my Focus ST and its made a superb difference to the overall handling and stability of the car and inspires much more confidence, especially in the wet.
I've also fitted some updated alloy center caps to replace the old style, fairly worn blue ones:
The car then subsequently repaid me for spending all that money on it by the battery committing Hari Kari. It had a Bosch S3 battery fitted but looked long past its best, and I managed to get a brand new Bosch S4 battery half price from EuroCarParts in one of their many sales. No pictures of this but I'm sure you know what a car battery looks like.
When I first purchased the car I noticed that one of the sidelights was out, no biggy I thought, I'll get it changed as and when. I bought some nice Philips Blue Vision 5W5 sidelights and attempted to swap them out the other evening. All I can say is that unless you are part praying mantis, appendages don't seem to be able to perform the required contortions to swap out a sidelight bulb. In the end, the front bumper had to come off, and the headlight assemblies removed to do it. It actually wasn't THAT bad of a job and I managed it from start to finish in about 40 minutes but a bugger nevertheless!
I have sidelights again!
After much deliberation and forum searching, I decided to play it reasonably safe and go for the Maptun Stage 1 map, which I purchased from NeoBrothers along with a Maptun Air Filter. The Stage 1 map has made an incredible difference to the way the car drives and I couldn't recommend it enough
Its booked in next week to have a stainless steel catback exhaust fitted, minus the rear silencers but keeping the resonator. Hopefully that should liven things up in the sound department.
There are a couple of small issues with it at the moment. Its thrown an EML twice now, once was before the map which cleared itself after a day or so.
It also got thrown this morning. My code reader says 'Bank 1 too lean at idle' but I have noticed the EML's do correspond with a petrol refill the night before. Forum searching leads me to believe this issue is reasonably well documented and that the charcoal cannister/EVAP purge system might be past its best. I've ordered a replacement from america (as its a Cadillac part it seems!) as they seem to be unobtainable in this country at the moment so will get that fitted once it arrives.
Also, my drivers door (only) seems to not like unlocking with the remote blipper. Sometimes it will take a couple of 'unlock' commands from the blipper to actually unlock the door. Apparently disconnecting the battery for half hour and/or giving the door electronics connector a clean with contact cleaner may remedy the issue so I'll try and give that a go at the weekend.
And one final picture of it nicely parked up!
Cheers,
Ant
phil_cardiff said:
Looks low, is the suspension standard?
I like the look of it btw, have a soft spot for Saab since owning a 9-5 aero.
I did think that but I certainly haven't touched the suspension and there is nothing in the paperwork which indicates any form of lowering springs, coilies, etc.I like the look of it btw, have a soft spot for Saab since owning a 9-5 aero.
Am enjoying the Saab, will enjoy it even more once these little niggles are sorted
Some minor updates for everyone interested in the world of Saaby goodness.
I got fed up with the EML code being thrown every time I filled it up full of petrol so I replaced the EVAP purge valve on the car. I couldn't find any in stock in the UK so I ordered one up from the states and it came in just over a week. A bit of a fiddle to replace having never done it before but had the job done in about 30 minutes so not too bad! No more EML's, yay!
New one:
Job in progress:
New one in, old one out
As the old rear backbox was really scabby and one of the hangers had snapped, I then had the car in to Pipecraft in Basildon, who I can highly recommend. A new stainless rear exhaust section was fitted to the car. I had it made up with 4" slash cut tips, rather than the OEM 3.5" so it fills the bumper cutouts a bit better but isn't too OTT.
I'm always a big fan of the little jobs, as I think they make a big difference to the overall appearance of the car, so I fitted a new set of plates. The old ones had definitely been on there a while and the rear had started to de-laminate.
Fairly acceptable MPG for a reasonably sensible motorway run!
Do love the dash, although a few people have commented at night especially its just a wall of light. I can see why they fitted the night panel button
The other niggling issue that I had with the car was that the drivers door had started to play up, not actually opening when unlocked. It was getting progressively worse, as at first it would take between 2-5 unlocks from the fob for the door to actually unlock. One particularly cold morning I was unable to get the door to unlock for over 5 minutes and I eventually just got in the passenger side and climbed over. As the door wouldn't unlock from the inside either I thought that wasn't exactly the safest thing to do, incase I got in an accident so had it booked in to my local Saab specialist. He said it was a fairly common issue and was a fault with the actual lock mechanism. He managed to get a brand new genuine part from Saab and the 3rd party warranty supplied with the car has agreed to cover the majority of the cost (think I'm out of pocket about £30 all in which I'm not going to argue with!).
Its very nice to have a car which I can actually get in the drivers side again!
I have a few more jobs now planned for the car. I've noticed that the Xenon headlamp washers are not working at the moment. The car passed its MOT just before I bought it, and I thought that Xenon washers had to be working but this wasn't even picked up as an advisory so not sure if they have just stopped working since I had it. The windscreen washers are fine so I suspect the headlamp washer pump is to blame as its not unheard of that they seize up. I'll get one ordered up as they aren't expensive and just fit it when its not quite so bitter outside.
Also, there is plenty of meat of the brake pads but the discs front and rear have a pretty noticeable lip. Again once the weather is better, I'll order up a new full set of discs, pads and fluid and give the car a full brake service.
The car also had a removable towbar fitted when I bought the car. I've removed the actual towbar but the mounting is still on the car and is annoying me. When the weather is better I'll get it up on the ramps and get the towbar mount removed fully. I'll also give the car an oil and filter change whilst it is up there
Other than that, I can now enjoy it. The car is noticeably smaller in the back than my absolutely cavernous V70 but the Saab is still taking its wagon duties in its stride.
On a slightly off topic note, if anyone is interested in what happened to my old Volvo wagon, then you can keep track of it here as fellow Pistonheader and Youtube celeb DannyDC2 actually bought it. Nice to see it gone to a good home and being fixed up!
https://www.youtube.com/user/Y0RKSHRE
Cheers,
Ant
I got fed up with the EML code being thrown every time I filled it up full of petrol so I replaced the EVAP purge valve on the car. I couldn't find any in stock in the UK so I ordered one up from the states and it came in just over a week. A bit of a fiddle to replace having never done it before but had the job done in about 30 minutes so not too bad! No more EML's, yay!
New one:
Job in progress:
New one in, old one out
As the old rear backbox was really scabby and one of the hangers had snapped, I then had the car in to Pipecraft in Basildon, who I can highly recommend. A new stainless rear exhaust section was fitted to the car. I had it made up with 4" slash cut tips, rather than the OEM 3.5" so it fills the bumper cutouts a bit better but isn't too OTT.
I'm always a big fan of the little jobs, as I think they make a big difference to the overall appearance of the car, so I fitted a new set of plates. The old ones had definitely been on there a while and the rear had started to de-laminate.
Fairly acceptable MPG for a reasonably sensible motorway run!
Do love the dash, although a few people have commented at night especially its just a wall of light. I can see why they fitted the night panel button
The other niggling issue that I had with the car was that the drivers door had started to play up, not actually opening when unlocked. It was getting progressively worse, as at first it would take between 2-5 unlocks from the fob for the door to actually unlock. One particularly cold morning I was unable to get the door to unlock for over 5 minutes and I eventually just got in the passenger side and climbed over. As the door wouldn't unlock from the inside either I thought that wasn't exactly the safest thing to do, incase I got in an accident so had it booked in to my local Saab specialist. He said it was a fairly common issue and was a fault with the actual lock mechanism. He managed to get a brand new genuine part from Saab and the 3rd party warranty supplied with the car has agreed to cover the majority of the cost (think I'm out of pocket about £30 all in which I'm not going to argue with!).
Its very nice to have a car which I can actually get in the drivers side again!
I have a few more jobs now planned for the car. I've noticed that the Xenon headlamp washers are not working at the moment. The car passed its MOT just before I bought it, and I thought that Xenon washers had to be working but this wasn't even picked up as an advisory so not sure if they have just stopped working since I had it. The windscreen washers are fine so I suspect the headlamp washer pump is to blame as its not unheard of that they seize up. I'll get one ordered up as they aren't expensive and just fit it when its not quite so bitter outside.
Also, there is plenty of meat of the brake pads but the discs front and rear have a pretty noticeable lip. Again once the weather is better, I'll order up a new full set of discs, pads and fluid and give the car a full brake service.
The car also had a removable towbar fitted when I bought the car. I've removed the actual towbar but the mounting is still on the car and is annoying me. When the weather is better I'll get it up on the ramps and get the towbar mount removed fully. I'll also give the car an oil and filter change whilst it is up there
Other than that, I can now enjoy it. The car is noticeably smaller in the back than my absolutely cavernous V70 but the Saab is still taking its wagon duties in its stride.
On a slightly off topic note, if anyone is interested in what happened to my old Volvo wagon, then you can keep track of it here as fellow Pistonheader and Youtube celeb DannyDC2 actually bought it. Nice to see it gone to a good home and being fixed up!
https://www.youtube.com/user/Y0RKSHRE
Cheers,
Ant
Edited by Spantney on Sunday 25th February 15:33
Edited by Spantney on Sunday 25th February 15:43
Hey all
I just thought I would give a quick update in the world of Saab ownership now I've reached the 1 year mark. Its all going pretty well!
Over the last few months I'd been busy making a list of the not so good areas on the car and trying to address them one by one. As mentioned beforehand, the brakes on the car were all looking a little past their best. There was a noticeable lip on all discs, the car pulled slightly to the right every time you used the brake pedal and on top of that there was a vibration through the steering wheel also when the brakes were used.
I duly went out and purchased front and rear Brembo pads and discs for the car, as well as some new Dot 4 fluid and set to work getting them changed out. As a side note, I actually managed to get them changed out on the 2nd attempt as on the first attempt I discovered that Saab's use funky torx bolts to mount the caliper on the carrier and you need E-Torx sockets in order to remove without utterly destroying them so I had to order some off the internet before I could actually do the job.
Heres the state of play with the wheel off:
Of course, as is customary for working on a car outside in England it decided to absolutely chuck it down halfway through the job! But undeterred and using my garden table's parasol as cover we cracked on.
Eventually we were rewarded with some nice shiny brakes.
We then began bleeding the brakes and it became abundantly clear that the car was in dire need of a fluid change!
2 litres of Dot 4 later and we now have nice shiny new brakes all round with new fluid. Braking performance is much better, the pedal is more confidence inspiring and the car doesn't pull to one side & vibrate when the brakes are used. Definitely a worthwhile job for the safety aspect alone. I was quite surprised that even though the discs and pads were definitely past it, the calipers and pistons are in really good shape and there was no dramas retracting the pistons or anything like that. Even the locating screw on the brake discs came out without having to resort to impact drivers or drills, and the discs popped off the hub without even so much as a gentle tap.
Another little annoyance with the car was a very slight knocking sound from the front any time I went over a speedbump or anything like that. The first time I attempted the brake job, I did notice that the front droplinks were looking extremely tired and suspected that might be something to do with it. I purchased a set of Meyle heavy duty droplinks and whilst doing the brake job, I also got those fitted. I really like the Meyle HD stuff, I had their droplinks fitted to my old Volvo also, the quality is top notch. The old ones were seized solid and required an angle grinder to remove them.
New ones fitted:
Good news is that this has cured the knocking sound. Also whilst the front was in the air, I replaced the Xenon washer pump as my headlight washers had never worked during my ownership and I was unsure whether the car would pass its MOT if they were inoperable. New pump did the trick and I now have working headlight washers again.
Over the christmas period, I put it in for its first MOT under my custodianship and was rewarded with a lovely clean sheet MOT pass.
To celebrate this and kick off 2019, I even popped down to the seafront and had a play with my DSLR camera (I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination!). Probably one for the bad parking thread!
Anyway, that brings us up to date. My only plans for this year are to replace all the spark plugs and coil packs at some point as the car has thrown a CEL under heavy acceleration a few times and coils are basically known to be a consumable on these cars. I believe there is an 'uprated' type of coil pack which some of the Saab guys recommend fitting so will probably sort that out when the weather is a bit warmer.
Cheers all,
Tony
I just thought I would give a quick update in the world of Saab ownership now I've reached the 1 year mark. Its all going pretty well!
Over the last few months I'd been busy making a list of the not so good areas on the car and trying to address them one by one. As mentioned beforehand, the brakes on the car were all looking a little past their best. There was a noticeable lip on all discs, the car pulled slightly to the right every time you used the brake pedal and on top of that there was a vibration through the steering wheel also when the brakes were used.
I duly went out and purchased front and rear Brembo pads and discs for the car, as well as some new Dot 4 fluid and set to work getting them changed out. As a side note, I actually managed to get them changed out on the 2nd attempt as on the first attempt I discovered that Saab's use funky torx bolts to mount the caliper on the carrier and you need E-Torx sockets in order to remove without utterly destroying them so I had to order some off the internet before I could actually do the job.
Heres the state of play with the wheel off:
Of course, as is customary for working on a car outside in England it decided to absolutely chuck it down halfway through the job! But undeterred and using my garden table's parasol as cover we cracked on.
Eventually we were rewarded with some nice shiny brakes.
We then began bleeding the brakes and it became abundantly clear that the car was in dire need of a fluid change!
2 litres of Dot 4 later and we now have nice shiny new brakes all round with new fluid. Braking performance is much better, the pedal is more confidence inspiring and the car doesn't pull to one side & vibrate when the brakes are used. Definitely a worthwhile job for the safety aspect alone. I was quite surprised that even though the discs and pads were definitely past it, the calipers and pistons are in really good shape and there was no dramas retracting the pistons or anything like that. Even the locating screw on the brake discs came out without having to resort to impact drivers or drills, and the discs popped off the hub without even so much as a gentle tap.
Another little annoyance with the car was a very slight knocking sound from the front any time I went over a speedbump or anything like that. The first time I attempted the brake job, I did notice that the front droplinks were looking extremely tired and suspected that might be something to do with it. I purchased a set of Meyle heavy duty droplinks and whilst doing the brake job, I also got those fitted. I really like the Meyle HD stuff, I had their droplinks fitted to my old Volvo also, the quality is top notch. The old ones were seized solid and required an angle grinder to remove them.
New ones fitted:
Good news is that this has cured the knocking sound. Also whilst the front was in the air, I replaced the Xenon washer pump as my headlight washers had never worked during my ownership and I was unsure whether the car would pass its MOT if they were inoperable. New pump did the trick and I now have working headlight washers again.
Over the christmas period, I put it in for its first MOT under my custodianship and was rewarded with a lovely clean sheet MOT pass.
To celebrate this and kick off 2019, I even popped down to the seafront and had a play with my DSLR camera (I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination!). Probably one for the bad parking thread!
Anyway, that brings us up to date. My only plans for this year are to replace all the spark plugs and coil packs at some point as the car has thrown a CEL under heavy acceleration a few times and coils are basically known to be a consumable on these cars. I believe there is an 'uprated' type of coil pack which some of the Saab guys recommend fitting so will probably sort that out when the weather is a bit warmer.
Cheers all,
Tony
Edited by Spantney on Sunday 6th January 12:59
Xcore said:
Was very close to buying one of these last year and I regret not!
I might be a little biased but I honestly think Saab's are some of the best bang for the buck cars you can get. Aside from the annoyingly expensive tax (my car was registered about 4 days after the 2006 tax change so I'm clobbered for the full £520 a year) there isn't much I would change about the car now I've sorted the little niggles.I've been eyeing up 9-5 Aero HOT saloon's as a little side project recently but lack of room for more cars is thankfully stopping me from taking the plunge!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff