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Comments
Everyone here seems pretty knowledgeable about the 9-3 and I was wondering you could give me some advice on leasing this car since it will be my first car lease on my own.
I'm moving to Los Angeles in 3 days which is where I plan on leasing the vehicle, and I was wondering what the best deals are, what I should expect to pay per month, the financing rates, and residual values for a 24 month lease, with 12k miles per year.
I want to put down as little as possible up front and I also am not interested in the current 27 month lease promotion that they have on their website because when I worked out the numbers it didn't seem like a good deal.
I'm looking for the Saab 9-3 2.0T 4cyl turbo with automatic transmission- other than that I'm not looking for any other upgrades.
Also, when do the 2007 models come out-- will that make the prices on the 2006 models go down? Should I be getting a better deal since I plan on purchasing at the end of the month and during Memorial Day Weekend?
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!
-Ashley
I now live in San Diego and though I will never buy another Saab for as long as I live, Marvin K. Brown does provide excellent service. Strongly reccomend you lease because when you go to the dealer every month to get it fixed, you don't want to have to pay for it too.
Do yourself a favor and read Consumer Reports before choosing a Saab....
Our Saab is a 2005 and we were told loaner cars will be available for scheduled maintenance and warranty work when we purchased the car.
Loaner cars must stay in service for 120 days after which they are given a $1,000 to $2000 subsidy to be used as a rebate to the consumer.Dealers,if they choose, may restrict loaner car eligibility to only customers who purchased from their dealership.There is no need to negotiate loaner coverage at time of purchase.
Just drive it in to the shop until they look at it or call the police. Tell them you are coming with a camera crew.
That car, which overall is a GM product know, personified why GM has a reputation as a crap manufacturer.
Though I'm eligible for the GM Family Discount through an in-law, I passed on it and got a non-GM car to replace the 9-3.
According to the car magazines, SAAB's engineers have mostly been fired - ALL future SAAB's are going to be cosmetically modified Opels. In other words, just more GM crap, peddled as "upscale" European cars, and priced accordingly.
The 9-5 was designed before GM took full control, and is a wonderful car (if you can stomach the new styling). If you want a SAAB, that's your ticket.
Other than that, from now on, RUN from SAABs ... unless you like paying premium dollar for an Opel POS.
You should have read my posts on this car. Mine is absolutely horrible. I have a website, but I do not think I can post the URL on here but my motto know is "dontbuyasaab" if you get my drift.
I have hired an attorney, with a link on my website, and am in the process of a lemon law complaint against Saab. The car, an '06 9-3 Aero is a piece of junk with multiple electrical problems--some of which deal with the SID flickering EVERY time I touch anything electrical in the car; flashers, blinkers, seat heater, door locks, windows, etc. The car was in the shop four times for a total of 30 days in the first three months I owned it. And all of this UNDER 4k miles.
The dealership is worthless--you got that right. Corporate in Atlanta isn't much better. Saab was good when it was owned and run by Swedes. Now that GM has it (and I know I am GM bashing, but I can't help it) they have gone downhill.
The only thing I want now is to ditch my Saab and walk away. Forever.
Jeff
GM deserves its poor reputation.
I had a question about the rear windows on our 2006 Saab 93, we bought the car in January of this year, and the rear windows go down from the driver's seat with one touch, yet they do not go up with one touch, I have to hold the window buttons up to bring them up.
Is this the way the windows work???...I was thinking that they would come up on one touch since the go down on one touch...please advise...
Regards,
Sunny
IMHO, not allowing one touch from the front makes sense since you can't see if there is anything obstructing the window travel.
drew
I'd get the repair history of an '03 and have it checked out realy closely. I leased one, and had the usual assortment of issues. Made worse by a weak dealer service department (Barrier Saab in Bellevue, now defunct, though the Barrier dealership chain is weak in service in general). I did enjoy the vehicle when it wasn't giving me problems and when I overlooked the weak ride quality, however.
I took it to a dealer who gave me the impression that it has to do with the gas cap, he tighted it and the light went out. However that doesn't seem to work all the time.
Any of you have the same issue?
Thanks
Check the manual to see if these functions are supported. It works great except if the roof is in tilt position it will not open or shut, but the windows still do.
Yeah, GM has really had a beneficial impact on SAAB, making it just another GM "brand."
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/vehicles/2006/07/28/luxury-cars-breakdowns_cx_d- l_0731reliable.html
"Saab, a General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) brand that made our list with its 9-3, objected to the ranking. A Saab spokesman says the company's internal data show that the most recent Saab 9-3s "have very good quality results," and that labeling the car "unreliable" paints the wrong picture for potential buyers."
Obviously there is something wrong with GM's data gathering (perhaps upper management "shoots the messenger") for they don't seem to know what the rest of the outside world knows!
side note, the dealer recommends changing your oil every 10k, have you noticed anything with waiting that long???...i was thinking more along the lines of 7500.
It's a shame, before that I had leased a 2000 SAAB 9-5 that was a wonderful car, so much so that my wife got a 2002 9-5 (which we bought out after that lease).
The 9-5's are wonderful cars but, alas, were designed before GM took 100% control of SAAB. So the 9-5's are the last "good" SAAB's - the car magazines are reporting that (like the 9-3) all future SAAB's will be badge-engineered GM vehicles (mostly rebadged Opels).
I change my oil at 7,500 if my memory serves me I have had 2 free and 2 oil changes I paid for. I am due for my last free as I approach 3 years. I also tend to drive "aggressively" heavy right foot syndrome.
When changing the rear brake pads, does the cylinder need to be rotated when being pushed into the caliper? I know my old VW required this. I noticed two little holes on the piston which gave me this impression. Anyone have any thoughts or know where I can find the answer to this dilemma (short of buying the repair manual).
Thanks in advance.
Sorry for the multiple emails, but I went to the dealer and they are 100% useless, when I asked them to check the back windows for one-touch they came back to me and told me that it is working as designed and to look at page 132 in the manual which doesn't tell me anything. Anyway, I was wondering if you can put me in touch with location or person who fixed your car so all your windows work with one-touch both up and down.
Regards,
Sunny
Good Luck
What are the advantages of 17 wheels and tires, and are they worth a extra $200.00?
(1) Are the 17 inch wheels better looking?
(2) Do the 17 inch wheels and tires have better handling?
(3) Do the 17 inch wheels and wider tires give a better smoother ride?
(4) Do the 17 inch Wheels and wider tires have less road noise?
(5) Do the 17 inch wheels and tires give better milage?
(6) Do the 17 inch wheels and tires have better tread life?
(7) Finally, are they worth a extra $200.00?
Put battery on charge overnight, Sun AM it wont start again. Car got towed to dealer, who gave me a new SportCombi loaner off the lot (enterprise rental all closed). Picked up car Mon with new battery. Dealer explanation, all '03' & 04's shipped with a known cheap "2 year batteries" replaced under warranty if it goes bad. New battery is better quality should go 4-5 years.
Bottom line, SAAB of South Bay bent over backwards for me. GM rolls the dice on batteries :mad: , failure is very strange, battery doesn't get weaker, it just fails completely, no dim lights, or slow cranking. To jump the car requires best quality cables and heavy duty battery and alternator, but battery wont hold any charge at all. Also dont believe the status window on the battery, mine showed it to be OK!
Sorry for long posting but this type of battery failure came as a surprise to me
Thanks :confuse:
Thanks,
Don Luce
www.tirerack.com
There may be information to answer your questions about tires and wheels. Hope this helps
goodstar
(2) Yes, greater contact patch
(3) Maybe
(4) No, see (2)
(5) No, more aerodynamic drag
(6) Maybe
(7) Yes, if your answer to (1) is yes
If you read the message boards you find plenty of unhappy customers of all makes.
What's up with that? Does anybody have any quick fixes for novice car tinkerer? Is this a known problem that is worth fixing?
then :
1-better looking
2-better handling when dry, same to worse handling in the rain
3-harsher ride
4-more road noise
5-increased fuel consumption
6-shorter thread life
7-yes for the look and better dry handling, no for everything else.
Thanks,
Don Luce
I was very unimpressed by both the benefits of, and the attitude of, Saab's roadside assistance group in this circumstance. Coupled with an 18 month old, 30K plus car stranding us, numerous electrical/SID/alarm phantoms, defective keys (finally recalled), a glove box that no longer opens, defective window pinch protection, dead sunroof and embarrassingly noisy brakes when backing they can't or won't fix I can say Saab won't be getting any repeat business here-you can't sell someone both the most expensive and least reliable car of their lives and expect them to come back for more.
But as the bard might say, there's the rub. I have never seen a car with such a polarized group of drivers. You either love the car or hate it immensely. My cousin, for one, an owner of a 9-5, considers his car a complete piece of junk, and says all Saabs contain a congenital defect that can cause the engine to suddenly seize at any speed. It also appears that the 2003 and 2004 9-3s clearly had its share of "teething" pains, which hopefully have been corrected by now.
I recognize there is no perfect car (I once owned a Pontiac Sunbird, for instance), but I do need something that is at least reliable. Please share with me your thoughts, good or bad, regarding the 9-3, to help me make my decision (I'm also considering a Volvo S60 and maybe a Subaru Outback).
Thanks.