My Saab 9-3 For Sale

UPDATE: SOLD - To all of the many who showed interest, thank you.
FOR SALE: 2004 SAAB 9-3 ARC, merlot color, less than 70,200 miles
Manual transmission, 5-speed
A special car, read the details below
$5,800 (Below Kelly Blue Book, and Saabs are already a steal at KBB prices)

Up for sale is my beloved 2004 Saab 9-3 ARC. To answer the obvious question of why I'm selling it, it is because my wife and I need to simplify and reduce expenses. We are both retired and on fixed income, with no pension. We decided we should share one vehicle, rather than two, and that we need AWD with a good ground clearance. Hence, we traded her Aztek (unreliable) and I am selling my Saab (very reliable but too little ground clearance for the snow capital of Ohio). The income from this sale will go toward restoration of my 1964 and 1966 2-cycle Saabs. I will be a Saab owner till the day I die.

NOTE: This car has a smooth-shifting 5-speed manual transmission. If you need an automatic, this is not the car for you. Also, I would like this car to go to a Saab aficionado, even if it means selling for a lower price. If you are just looking for a transportation appliance, please just look for a Toyota or such.

I bought this car on eBay in February, 2007 with approximately 32,784 miles on it. Though it had a number of issues, all covered under warranty, it never once let me down. The car is rock solid mechanically and has been fully serviced at 70,087 miles as detailed below. Most importantly, I replaced the water pump and all four ignition coils. These coils are known to develop cracks at 70k+ miles, and they are not cheap, so 4 brand new coils is a big plus. This car is ready to serve for many thousands of miles.

If you are a Saab fanatic (like me), you may be interested in the following information. It doesn't add to the real value of the car, but may add to its intrinsic value. Or is it extrinsic? It has to be one or the other but I don't know because I'm not a scholar, however, I think you'll know what I mean. If you know about the Save SAAB campaigns in 2009, you might be glad to know I had this car at the Detroit rally on January 5 at GM headquarters. You can see the car there in this photo, in the foreground:

Saab 9-3 and myself at Detroit SAVE SAAB rally, Jan 5, 2009 (click image to view large Autoblog image)
I'm in the photo too, but I don't want to point out my old, hunched over body. The SAVE SAAB poster is not included with the car, it stays with me.

Further, you may know about the Rescue SAAB mosaic from 2010:

Rescue SAAB Mosaic from 2010 (click image to view full-size image)
This Saab is in there four times, twice with the car sitting on a hill with the sun reflecting over the roof, and twice with me standing beside it. See #1 at row 26, col 15, #2 at row 34, col 10, #3 at row 56, col 33, and #4 at row 58, col 12.

THE GOOD:
The service I performed (myself) on the car includes the following:
1. New water pump (low cost but major effort);
2. Four new ignition coils, OEM Mitsubishi, same as original;
3. New serpentine belt;
4. New air filter;
5. Oil and filter change (Mobil 1, 0W-40 as always);
6. New spark plugs (replaced late last summer);
7. All broken plastic rivets replaced with new (thank you clumsy mechanics);
8. Essentially all new Dexcool antifreeze due to pump replacement; and
9. The headlight lenses were defogged with a 3M restoration kit.

The headlights are now pretty clear and good looking, but not quite like new. I think you'll be happy with how they look (see photos). Further, new OEM SAAB rotors and pads were installed a couple of years ago, however, they are like new due to the low number of miles driven since my retirement.

The car comes with two full sets of rims and tires, one set for summer, the other for winter. The car is pictured with the summer rims. The winter tires are shown separately in the photos below. Please excuse the muddy winter tires. It was too cold to clean them, but I will clean them before sale. The summer tires are high performance Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 225/45R17. These tires are not your average "comfy" type tire, but they will put a smile on your face if you like to drive the twisties at speed. I installed these in 2010, however, they have good tread left. On average, they have about 6 to 7/32" tread left. Subtracting about 2/32" for tread-wear indicators leaves about 4 to 5/32" safe useful life. These rims have TPMS sensors (tire pressure monitoring sensors).

The winter tires are Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip M+S 215/55R16. These tires also have useful tread left, but I recommend replacing them because of age. They are about 8 years old now. One also has a slight bead leak, but I don't want to gunk up the rims with bead sealer for tires that I think should be replaced. However, this is your call. You could add air about once a month. These tires have on average about 5/32" tread, or 3/32" before hitting the tread-wear indicators. These rims DO NOT have TPMS sensors.

In the photos, you will see interior photos with and without mats to show the carpet condition. The carpet is like new except for some salt staining in the driver's area. The mats are genuine SAAB accessories, and there are also photos showing these installed. These mats are a solid rubber-like material. And, there is a genuine SAAB mat protecting the trunk area.

I have installed a European style driver-side convex rear-view mirror. I think ALL cars should have these instead of the flat mirrors because they completely eliminate any blind spots. SAAB mirrors, by the way, are increasingly convex on the outermost 25% to further eliminate blind spots. However, I still have the original flat mirror which is included with the car. I will install the flat USA version prior to delivery if the buyer prefers.

The 2003-2005 Saab 9-3 models had the famous Saab push-button dash and a fiber-optic data bus. I'm in love with this unique dash and the green lighting, and Saab's famous night-panel feature. However, with the automatic climate control, you will hardly ever need to even push a button. Summer/winter, doesn't matter, it runs the heat, fans and air conditioning as needed. You just set the desired driver-side and passenger-side temperatures and forget it. It even automatically turns on the rear defogger and rear-view mirror heaters on cold mornings. It also automatically turns on the front seat heaters on cold mornings, but only turns on the passenger-side seat heater if someone is sitting in it.

The night-panel feature turns off all unnecessary dash displays with the push of a button. This eliminates unnecessary glare and reflections and greatly improves comfort and vision on long night-time drives. Anytime you need to know something, the appropriate display will light automatically.

Usually, the only time you may need to touch a button is on an exceptional morning where the windshield has excessive fog/frost on the inside (or outside). But, there is a single button that takes care of that! Hit the front defroster button, and the fan speed goes high, all air is directed to the windshield, and the air-conditioning turns on to de-humidify the incoming air. When clear, just hit the "Auto" button and operation returns to normal. Beautiful!

There is one down-side to the unique fiber-optic data bus. Installing after-market audio upgrades is complicated. However, I think you will be delightfully happy with the 300 watt, 13 speaker, infotainment system as is. Just make sure you NEVER splash water on the amplifiers (one under the driver's seat and one in the trunk behind a panel).

With the wonderful 5-speed manual transmission, I can easily push MPG up towards 35 MPG with judicious use of the throttle. Even high speed cruising can yield 30+ MPG. I could maintain 26-28 MPG on short-trip daily driving. Of course, your mileage may vary according to your right-foot habits.

Lastly, I want to mention the car's high pressure headlight and windshield washer system. The first time I pulled back on the wiper control to wash the windshield scared the heck out of me. Twin jet blasts coming off each headlight, and 6 jet blasts coming from 3 nozzles on the hood had me thinking something exploded. Not so, just very effective windshield/headlight washers. They NEVER froze in the winter. Just use them sparingly, they go through a gallon and a half of fluid pretty quickly. But the dash-mounted SID will warn you when the reservoir is low so you have time to refill.

THE BAD:
I've covered most of the plus features of the car, but I should describe its few faults too, to be fair. However, these are basically of the cosmetic or nuisance nature. I cannot claim this was a garage-kept car driven only on sunny days. It was my daily driver, and I drove it regardless of weather. It NEVER let me down. However, there are a few small spots on the paint where the clear coat has peeled. I tried to show these in close-up photos below, but they don't show well. Also, our 20+ guinea hens thought the shiny hood and trunk would be a good place to perch. Their claws left barely perceptible scratches. They aren't noticeable unless you look closely. The photos below don't show these well. Click on the appropriate images below if you want to take a closer look at the full-size images. There is some harmless deterioration of the rubber rear window seals. These seals are only for cosmetics. There are no leaks. There are also minor nicks here and there as to be expected on a 9 year old car.

There are some interior issues as well. Courtesy of the local Saab dealer mechanics, the dash, just under the speedometer, toward the left, has a crack. You likely wouldn't notice it if I didn't tell you. It's in the photos. Also, the rear window seems to have a clear laminate coating on the inside. There is a short, horizontal crack, and slight peeling in one spot. The glass IS NOT cracked. Interestingly, the reflection of a jet contrail in the fourth photo of the right, rear quarter points almost directly to it. It is barely visible below the contrail reflection.

The steering wheel volume+ control works sometimes, and sometimes not. It was "repaired" under warranty several times. However, the dealer simply replaced the column integration module each time, claiming that would fix it. It didn't. I think it would just decide to work after their "repair", and quit later. I think the dealer just wanted maximum profit for the least amount of work. GM paid, so I didn't care but I just decided to live with the fault. I would suggest the same to the next owner. The dash volume control, and the steering wheel volume- work well.

As with a number of these older Saabs with the above-dash display (SID), the "INFO" knob which lets you scroll through SID displays by rotating the knob CW or CCW doesn't always know which way you rotated it. Annoying, but you can eventually get to the display you want.

The photos show a small nick in the rear, right-side seat cushion. It is NOT a cut. I scuffed the surface when putting a heavy TV on the rear seat. It shows in the photos because the scuffed surface accumulates dirt more readily. Otherwise, the seats are in good condition, with the driver seat showing the most wear. But even the driver's seat is nice as the photos show.

As to service records, I kept pretty good records after purchasing the car. The first driver leased the car and turned it in after 2 years, and the car went to auction. I have no records for that time frame, but the car appeared well cared for and had no issues. I bought the car sight-unseen but it worked out well for me. Guess I'm lucky. I did an eBay Autocheck at that time and it showed no issues. I have a copy of that Autocheck for the buyer. Of course, I know the car has a clean bill-of-health since that time. I have my records, and a GM service inquiry showing all dealer-provided service on the car, including warranty work.

I did a Kelly Blue Book lookup on March 22. KBB gives Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Fair prices for a private party seller. I think this car easily qualifies as Very Good, however, I am only asking for something between the Fair and Good KBB prices. Considering that Saabs are already a great price value, compared to what you would pay for makes of similar luxury and quality, the low asking price makes this car almost a steal.

NOTE: Although this Saab is mechanically excellent to the best of my knowledge, it is being sold as is, and there is no warranty, express or implied.

The features on this car are as follows:
Engine
   4-Cyl, HO Turbo, 2.0L
   210 HP @ 5,300 rpm
   221 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm
   EPA 20 city / 30 hwy
Drivetrain
   FWD
Transmission
   Manual, 5-Spd
Wheels and Tires
   17 inch alloy wheels (summer - 225/45R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 94Y)
   16 inch alloy wheels (winter - 215/55R16 Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip M+S 93H)
Braking and Traction
   Traction Control
   ABS (4-Wheel)
   Electronic Stability Control
Steering
   Power Steering
   Telescoping/Tilt Steering Wheel
Entertainment and Instrumentation
   AM/FM Stereo (300 watt, 13 speakers)
   CD (Single Disc)
   Premium Sound
Comfort and Convenience
   Air Conditioning (Automatic dual-zone climate control)
   Power Windows (Automatic opening and automatic closing with pinch protection, and comfort opening via remote)
   Power Door Locks
   Cruise Control
   Heated rear view mirrors (very nice feature)
   Folding 60-40 rear seats with pass-through hatch
Safety and Security
   Dual Air Bags
   Front and Rear Side Head Curtain Air Bags
   Tire pressure monitoring system
   Fog lights
   Rear fog lights (yes, you read that correctly)
   High pressure headlight and windshield washer system
Seats
   Dual Power Seats (Driver seat with 3-way memory, including rear-view mirror)
   Leather
Roof and Glass
   Sun Roof (Sliding and flip-up with pinch protection and comfort opening via remote)
Exterior
   Aluminum hood (No need to worry about rusting from stone chips!)

Click on any image for 2048x1536 image, then use your browser's Back button or arrow to come back

A left front view, click image to enlarge

A right front view, click image to enlarge

A left rear view, click image to enlarge

A right rear view, click image to enlarge

Driver interior showing carpet, click image to enlarge

Passenger interior showing weatherproof mat, click image to enlarge

Driver's seat and carpet, click image to enlarge

Rear interior from left and carpet, click image to enlarge

Front passenger seat and carpet, click image to enlarge

Rear right side interior and carpet, click image to enlarge

Trunk with trunk protector and weatherproof floor mats, click image to enlarge

Trunk with trunk protector, click image to enlarge

Space saver spare and tools, click image to enlarge

Driver's interior with weatherproof mat, click image to enlarge

Driver's seat and floor with weatherproof mat, click image to enlarge

Rear interior from left with weatherproof mats, click image to enlarge

Front passenger seat and weatherproof mat, click image to enlarge

Rear interior from right with weatherproof mats, click image to enlarge

Instrument cluster showing small crack, click image to enlarge

Dash in daylight, click image to enlarge

Dash in low light setting, click image to enlarge

Dash mounted SID (Saab Information Display), click image to enlarge

Motor, click image to enlarge

Left front tire, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 225/45R17, click image to enlarge

Sunroof, sliding and flip-up with pinch protection and comfort opening via remote, click image to enlarge

Rear seats folded down, click image to enlarge

Left front headlight, click image to enlarge

Right front headlight, click image to enlarge

Aluminum hood closeup showing Guinea scratches and clear coat spot, click image to enlarge

Driver side roof closeup showing clear coat scratches, click image to enlarge

Passenger side roof closeup showing clear coat spots, click image to enlarge

Winter rims/tires, Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip M+S 215/55R16 (Will be cleaned), click image to enlarge