UKSaabs

I think a “Your Cars” thread from me is overdue.

So here we are and welcome to my 1999 9-3 S Auto Convertible. Picked up on 23rd September for £850 and imho an absolute bargain. It only has the 130bhp B204i but it’s perfectly adequate and I’ve not found it lacking. I drive like an old lady anyway.

So, on to what’s happened so far. There was a list of mostly mundane things that needed sorting and one or two others that were a cause for concern.
The guy I’d bought it off warned me about a roof fault. I’d prepared myself for the worse and in the end, it turned out he’d left the hooks up on the roof bag in the boot! Unhook, no more fault. More important was a Check Engine warning that came on immediately after paying for the car I asked here and elsewhere and after much head scratching the consensus was a split vacuum hose. 20 minutes with the excellent Lee at Saab Spares in Sheffield sorted that. Would this luck extend to the inoperative heaters and fans that got me money knocked off the asking price? Well, sort of. I found out that if I jiggle the fan switch they come on. It only blows to the screen and they’re half way between warm and hot but that’s good enough for me for now.

So here are some pics. Photography isn’t my strong point…



























Little jobs I’ve done apart from giving it a damn good clean (the carpets were gross) have been replacing wipers, changing the cabin filter, checking fuses, fixing the washer jets and making sure the fluids are all correct. I’ve also had the aerial replaced, bought some wheels and put new plates on.

It’s going in on Wednesday for a small weld where I’d imagine a seat mount spot weld has gone bad and a good coat of Waxoyl. Other than that, it’s all good. It’ll probably need new front shocks before the MOT next April and possibly rear pads and discs unless a bit of driving sorts that out.

Comments welcome!

In the interests of openness and avoidance of man maths I thought you might find this interesting too!

Saab 9-3 S Auto Convertible T411 JHL

Purchase £850.00
Insurance £177.99
DVLA £140.25
Exhaust fitted £125.00
Check Engine fault £35.00
Halfords (wipers, fuel filler cap, cleaning) £73.09
Plates £33.97
Halfords (cleaning) £25.48
Halfords (cleaning) £13.60
Saabits (hydraulic fluid, hoses, valve, filter) £43.94
Electric aerial fitted £78.00
Haynes manual £12.99
Alloy wheels and tyres £100.00
Wheel nut covers £6.99
£1,716.30

I'd allowed myself 1500 quid to buy the car and get it on the road and in a state I'm happy with. Not far off.

Very Tidy ! Interior looks in good condition - that was my criteria too. Oily bits I can fix torn leather not so much.

What did you clean the carpets with ? - I vac'd mine but it needs something stronger.

The fan sounds like just the switch so one off a flebay breaker and sorted.

Thank you!

The interior was a very bad state when I picked it up but no real damage. I think a previous owner may have had a dog and I keep coming across short black hairs and there are scratches to the back seat base and the rubber trim around the drivers door. It has scrubbed up well I think. In fact I've just finished cleaning and treating the letter with Autoglym leather cleaner and leather balm. I might need another coat of the balm though.

As far as the carpets are concerned, I used Autoglym interior shampoo and a nail brush. I think it's basically a mild detergent but I was surprised at how well they came up. What I thought were stains came straight off. It also does well on the lighter hard plastics like the door trim and around the seat bases.

You're probably right about the switch but the temperature control doesn't turn and the direction thing does nothing so I've got to factor that in too. Tbh it's not really bothering me at the moment.

These arrived about 5 minutes before I left the office The perfect finishing* touch!

Before:


After:




*finishing. Who am I trying to kid?

So I had the car in yesterday for the weld and Waxoyl. When I went to collect Dave says "Didn't need the weld after all". It turns out a weld had already been carried out and accessed from the inside. As previously mentioned either a seat or seat belt mount. So just the 30 quid for the mucky Waxoyl job.

Treated myself to some new headlight bulbs instead

Cost update

Saab 9-3 S Auto Convertible T411 JHL

Purchase £850.00
Insurance £177.99
DVLA £140.25
Exhaust fitted £125.00
Check Engine fault £35.00
Halfords (wipers, fuel filler cap, cleaning) £73.09
Plates £33.97
Halfords (cleaning) £25.48
Halfords (cleaning) £13.60
Saabits (hydraulic fluid, hoses, valve, filter) £43.94
Electric aerial fitted £78.00
Haynes manual £12.99
Alloy wheels and tyres £100.00
Wheel nut covers £6.99
Waxoyl £30.00
Headlight bulbs £20.99
£1,767.29

Fitted the new headlight bulbs. They're Philips Whitevision H4s.



Driver's side done for comparison



Both sides done



They came with a pair of Philips parking/side lights too but I can't get the old ones out no matter how loudly I swear. Any ideas? I read that you just pull but I ended up pulling the wires out of the housing They just turn so clearly don't unscrew.

Fitted this today.



The old one was barely readable.

Hopefully tomorrow my fan switch will come from Sverige.

Another update.

I received the new fan switch from Saab via Saabits and it works a treat. Adjusted the direction thing with a long screwdriver so it heats my feet and the screen plus fixed the temperature adjustment knob (superglue and insulating tape ). Surprised to find the AC seems to work too. As with fitting the new SID I was struck by how straightforward this all was. I think I've already mentioned that for these minor trim jobs the Saab is as easy to work on as my IS300. Compared to my previous Volvos which were a bit of a nightmare.

Also took out the headlights to get the new sidelight bulbs in. A bit of a roundabout solution but in the end the least frustrating.



Cost update.

Saab 9-3 S Auto Convertible T411 JHL

Purchase £850.00
Insurance £177.99
DVLA £140.25
Exhaust fitted £125.00
Check Engine fault £35.00
Halfords (wipers, fuel filler cap, cleaning) £73.09
Plates £33.97
Halfords (cleaning) £25.48
Halfords (cleaning) £13.60
Saabits (hydraulic fluid, hoses, valve, filter) £43.94
Electric aerial fitted £78.00
Haynes manual £12.99
Alloy wheels and tyres £100.00
Wheel nut covers £6.99
Waxoyl £30.00
Headlight bulbs £20.99
SID2 £50.00
Fan switch £32.00
£1,849.29

That's actually about it for now. Fingers crossed I won't have to spend anything else on it for the next few months. It'll be mainly inside now and on a maintenance charger apart from the occasional run out to make sure everything is kept working.

nice looking car! love the colour of the interior

Thank you!

Been meaning to ask. Is this Cosmic Blue?

Most definitely. Lovely colour!

_________________
......Gotta love a 9K..........

We can't go far on enthusiasm, but we don't go far without it

Thanks. I assume there's a plate with a code to decipher somewhere on the car but I kept forgetting to look.

Off to the NEC Classic Show today.

A day of highs and lows.

My dad gave me a little trinket for the Saab. I think he's ever so slightly taking the ****.

Love it !
So what happened then ?

Joined the Saab Owners Club (what can I say? she was very... persuasive) and the auxiliary belt snapped on the way home. I think the idler pulley went first and the belt let go. AA man kept referring to "useable classics" and chortling to himself

Best bit we were on one of the smart motorway sections and I really didn't like the idea of coming to a stop in the left hand lane in the dark on a Saturday tea time. I think I'd have rather cooked the engine. Luckily we were more or less at Tibshelf services so coasted into the car park.

Thank goodness for my previously unused Lexus breakdown cover.

Considering flushing the coolant and changing the gearbox oil as I've no way of knowing if these have ever been done.

Haynes makes it sound straight forward. Anything I should know?

That's a very nice looking convertible. I do like the cream interior with the blue.