Saab 93 Convertibles

[happygoron 2]

Anyone know much about these?

 

Was thinking of swapping the 205 on swapz.co.uk

http://www.swapz.co.uk/swapz/669461/saab_c...axed_and_tested

[TT205 42]

My wife has one

 

Personally I don't like it, they rattle and wobble, there is a lot of road noise - ?the windows don't seal against the canvas roof properly

 

we've had 3 sets of coil packs, they crack on the bulk head (yes ours too - £600 to have sorted)

 

Wife loves it though

[Baz 421]

They're for gayers and people with no taste...

 

In all honesty they're pretty robust and generally screwed together fairly well, but trim and fittings start to suffer with age/mileage it seems, and parts & servicing aren't cheap. I can think of better options tbh, but there's also plenty worse to be fair!

[mainline 2 1 Cars]

Saab 900 Turbo convertible for me please!

 

edit: in black

Edited February 24, 2011 by mainline

[muddatrucker 125]

Does the munter come included?

[happygoron 2]

Does the munter come included?

 

First person to click the link!

 

Not planning on swapping for a saab. 900 turbo excluded.

 

 

[dino20vt 3]

Cavalier softtop, nice! I bet that interior has seen some action, it'd make those 325's on top gear look like a soap factory in comparison.

[Fox 3]

 

I've never liked any Saab, they are cars for old folks.

 

Although, (and I never thought I'd say it)

 

That looks pretty cool... A timeless silhouette? like a 205?

[Fox 3]

Does the munter come included?

 

Oh dear god! I couldn't find the X to close the window!

[Pugleyrich 37 1 Cars]

If you want a 93 it has to be a viggen or nothing

[omega 82]

Anyone know much about these?

 

Was thinking of swapping the 205 on swapz.co.uk

http://www.swapz.co.uk/swapz/669461/saab_c...axed_and_tested

 

looks a bit of a monster to me.i would want to check its service history before takeing it out,check the fluids to see if they are comtaminated and on that model with the top down it looks a bit floppy.

[rallysteve 22]

looks a bit of a monster to me.i would want to check its service history before takeing it out,check the fluids to see if they are comtaminated and on that model with the top down it looks a bit floppy.

I had, and my mum still has the same age hatch version. Interior fittings are very poor quality, bulkhead very weak.

 

Servicing will have to be spot on to be honest, they are very prone to sludge in the sump blocking the feed to the cam chain, which will then snap.

 

Parts are reasonably priced to be honest, and have always found it quite easy to work on, mine was the trionic 5 version which was supposedly prone to coil pack problems but after 90K its still going fine.

 

Front tyre wear is quite heavy too

 

Steve

[Anthony 1,003]

Ignoring the bodywork for a second... is that (or rather, was that) a bloke doing the "modelling"?

[allye 530 3 Cars]

That is disgraceful. Actually looks like a bloke. Nice back drop as well

[wilyoldave 0]

If that got on my bonnet - I would smack it..............hard!

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

looks a bit of a monster to me.i would want to check its service history before takeing it out,check the fluids to see if they are comtaminated and on that model with the top down it looks a bit floppy.

 

[omega 82]

 

 

well done.

[damien 22 1 Cars]

so is it a man or a woman? maybe abit of both.....

[dcc 855]

parents had a 93 aero hot when it came out, about 7 years ago i think. used to make my uncle look stupid in his m3! (speed and looks!)

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

If that got on my bonnet - I would smack it..............hard!

That just sounds so wrong...

 

He has literally taken her round the back by some bins

[wilyoldave 0]

That just sounds so wrong...

 

He has literally taken her round the back by some bins

 

Maybe I should have said with a bit of 4x2

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

That just sounds so wrong...

 

He has literally taken her round the back by some bins

 

 

So does that.

[happygoron 2]

I'm not convinced it's a her to be honest.

[GLPoomobile 958]

I know this is specifically about the 9-3 convertible, and in that sense I can't help, but I thought I'd impart my opinions on the 9-3 having briefly owned a 2002 SE Turbo Anniversary Edition hatch last Oct.

 

Personally, I liked my 9-3. I didn't find the interior to be cheap (but then I was coming from a 205!), just a little bland. It looked good, went well, was roomy, comfortable and practicle. It had a PPC tune so should have been somewhere north of 200bhp (185bhp standard) and mid-range grunt made overtaking a breeze. The Mi subjectively feels faster becuase it's an angry little bastard, but I had a lot more confidence overtaking in the Saab.

 

Compared to the Alfa 166 I have now, I actually quite miss the 9-3. Truth is, I'd have another (but only with the same kit as my Anniversary had, so it would have to be either a late HOT Aero or a Viggen). The only thing that puts me off having another one is the fabled "bulkhead split"....

 

They have a weak bulkhead that is made worse by a wonderful bit of engineering. They decided to mount the steering rack to the bulkhead, and not very well at that! If you believe everything you read on the internet, your almost gauranteed to suffer a bulkhead split in a 9-3, leading to MOT failure and a £400-£600 bill to get it sorted. There's undoubtedley a lot of people who have had this, but if you measured it against the volume of 9-3s sold worldwide, I wonder how many it would be. 1%? 2%? 5% even?

 

I actually suspected that mine might be on it's way out before I crashed it. After the crash I wandered down the road to my local independant Saab garage to get his opinion on the damage prior to the insurance assesment. Now this guy is pretty much a one man operation and he's run the garage for years, has got 2 Viggens of his own, and always has 9-3s and 900s parked outside. I mentioned to him about the bulkhead splitting and he said "where'd you hear that? Let me guess? On one of those internet forums?". He told me had worked on hundreds of 9-3s and he'd only ever seen one that had split.

 

Having said that, it does put me off getting another, unless I could find one that had been previously repaired and strengthened. I'd then budget (about £125 IIRC) on one of the rack braces that are quite common, which help prevent the lateral movement of the rack by bracing it to the chassis leg on one side.

 

I didn't feel that my 9-3 was in anyway sloppy (had fairly new dampers and slightly lowered springs), but I don't think I'd want a convertible knowing how weak the front end already is. PLus I just don't like the look of them.

 

Apart from that, I know the DI cassettes (coil packs) seem to be a common failure, and the good old reputation for sludging. The sludging was cured by an updated PCV kit (about £70 IIRC), and most diligent owners will have had the sump dropped, pump strainer and sump cleaned out and the updated PCV kit fitted. If no history of that it's easy enough to do yourself, so I wouldn't be put off by.

 

Here's my Anniversary post crash...

 

 

[GLPoomobile 958]

P.S. I just looked at the pictures of The Swamp Thing in that link. A little bit of sick came up

Edited February 25, 2011 by GLPoomobile