Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Wildcat1 on July 02, 2012, 07:33:44 PM
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hey all, I'm in the market to buy my first "quality" car, and was thinking about getting a Saab 9-3. I saw a 2008 model with 50k miles on it for $14k, and was wondering if it was worth it? I'm looking to buy a mid-sized sedan preferably from Europe or the US, and so far this Saab looks really good.
does anyone own one? anything I should be made aware of? What else is out there for under $15k that would fit for me? Mostly what I'm looking for is something that is really fun to drive, that won't give the insurance companies a stroke because I'm under 25.
thanks :salute
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lol buy an old chevy pickup jack it up and put a loud exhaust on it :aok cheap on insurance expensive on gas. the only thing I have heard about saabs is the parts are quite expensive and so is the labor, Cap would be able to tell you that more than I, but that is what I have heard, and that they are very nice cars
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hey all, I'm in the market to buy my first "quality" car, and was thinking about getting a Saab 9-3. I saw a 2008 model with 50k miles on it for $14k, and was wondering if it was worth it? I'm looking to buy a mid-sized sedan preferably from Europe or the US, and so far this Saab looks really good.
does anyone own one? anything I should be made aware of? What else is out there for under $15k that would fit for me? Mostly what I'm looking for is something that is really fun to drive, that won't give the insurance companies a stroke because I'm under 25.
thanks :salute
no, its not worth the price. $14,000 is about the maximun retail value of that vehicle in excellent condition. within a year or 15,000 miles it will pass over a couple of milestones (5 years old 60,000 miles) and it will likely be worth around $5,000 to $7,000 due to depreciation.
if you can get the cost down closer to what wholesale would be, say around $8,500 to $9,500, then you wont lose so much when the value drops. or you could go the other way with it, get a Saab (or similar vehicle) that is over 5 years of age and/or 60,000 miles, then you will be in a better pricing range because you wont lose that massive chunk of depreciation value. the value will remain closer to the same for the next 4 years/35-40,000 miles.
depreciation tends to hit around specific time frames/milestones,
when first bought/100 miles,
then 3 years/26,000 miles,
then 5 years 60,000 miles,
then 10 years 100,000 miles.
keep these rough numbers in mind when looking for a vehicle and it will help you gauge whether or not your getting a good deal.
oh and as far as insurance, your under 25 so anything that is "fun" to drive is likely gunna be pricey.
good luck!
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Dunno how it works in the states or the prices but something like an Audi keeps it value very well and is a good looking solid car to boot. I remember a while back SAAB were in quite a bit of trouble and since the mid 90s the car is basically a GM.
(http://www.nationalcarbuyers.co.uk/images/audia3.jpg)
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anything european will cost more than the value of the car to fix anything in the usa.
semp
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Geez man... Just get ya a certified late model Malibu or something similar. Good cars, easy on gas, insurance won't kill ya, and if it needs fixed it'll be reasonable.
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Buy a ford mondeo and keep away from German cars because your paying for the badge on the front :old:
Horsedung Duck Tecmik :)
Dont buy a Range Rover they are for daft middleclass people who dont live in farms :old:
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Saab closed down recently, which to me is something of a downside. No doubt there are promises of support into the future but.....
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(http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/evolution/mercedes-logo.jpg)
"Das Beste oder Nichts"
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hey all, I'm in the market to buy my first "quality" car, and was thinking about getting a Saab 9-3. I saw a 2008 model with 50k miles on it for $14k, and was wondering if it was worth it? I'm looking to buy a mid-sized sedan preferably from Europe or the US, and so far this Saab looks really good.
does anyone own one? anything I should be made aware of? What else is out there for under $15k that would fit for me? Mostly what I'm looking for is something that is really fun to drive, that won't give the insurance companies a stroke because I'm under 25.
thanks :salute
Saab's emblems fall apart and owners are left with a silver circle. Christ, if an automaker doesn't show pride in their emblem, what does it tell about the rest of the vehicle? The Turbo Oil Feed lines are going to need replacing around 75k and if you cannot do it yourself, you will find it expensive elsewhere for starters.
In terms of reliability and longevity I would go with a Fusion or a Malibu. With either one of those, you cannot go wrong. They are reliable and Sedans, so it should be a bit lighter on the Insurance end as well.
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My wife has a 2006 5-speed 9-3 combi with 80K, and we got a 2003 sedan for my college-age son last year. Son's has 139K miles and going strong; real nice car - turbo with a 6 speed manual, very fun to drive. I like Saabs alot - very nice, safe, solid feel, comfortable driving ergonomics, good build quality. Will get low 30s mpg on highway, high 20s around town. Also have a 2006 Corolla and it is a cheap tin can by comparison to the Saabs, but mechanically reliable and gets better mileage. Disadvantage is the cramped driving position - feel like I can't stretch out my legs in the Corolla, even with the seat all the way back.
But, Saabs have quirks - both cars' shift knobs have popped off, and both cars have experienced the engine light going on with the computer's code indicating a leak in the emissions control system - lots of troubleshooting and in both cases it turned out only a Saab replacement fuel cap would fix the problem. (Generic Autozone caps don't work - no matter what the salesman says about compatibility). Decal on the 2006's emblem did fall off, but the 2003's is fine.
As mentioned above, Saab went bankrupt, and nobody successfully stepped in to save it (a Chinese company tried, but GM nixed the deal). So spare parts will eventually become harder to find/more expensive I suppose.
I don't think Saabs are particularly cheap to insure (you should do a comparison yourself with your specifics), but they are definitely fun to drive. And we are hooked up with a small family-owned independent garage in the area that specializes in used Saabs, so for us the support network is good for us. You might want to think about where you would get it serviced/repaired when things do break though.
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Japanese make the best cars in the world :old:
They are the most reliable :old:
Why don't you buy one of those Chrysler 300 they are fantastic :rofl
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I'd look at an accord,camery,fusion and if price is right maybe a malibu. If your going to go with a honda or toyota thats used look at 4 years old anything newer and you might aswell buy new because there wont be a huge difference in price.
On average 2 year old hondas and toyotas loose about 15%,maybe 20% if high mileage. Oh and both are made in the USA,compare that to most domestics and after 2 years they've lost 30 to 40%.
Neither car is perfect,hondas tend to go through brake pads and endlinks and the toyotas seem to have some brake router issues and tierod ends. However there is a reason they hold their resale value,overall they are very dependable cars.
YMMV.
:salute
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Japanese make the best cars in the world :old:
They are the most reliable :old:
Propaganda! :old:
Toyota for one was caught doing silent recalls that even the owner of the car did not know about when it came in for service. They done a good job of promoting that image, however plenty of mechanics are fixing them every day.
All cars have their quirks. A used car depends on how it was treated, serviced ect. The more expensive car was when built the more expensive to fix later, especially when manufacturer went belly up.
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Japanese make the best cars in the world :old:
They are the most reliable :old:
Why don't you buy one of those Chrysler 300 they are fantastic :rofl
i drive a chrysler 300 :old:
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:rofl
Why?
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Well very comfortable. Drives nice and looks good IMO. Plus i just put a new black Bentley grill on it :)
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Thanks guys :salute
I've always liked the Ford Fusion, fun looking car, especially since they had a facelift a few years ago. Does anyone own a Chevy cruze?
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Well very comfortable. Drives nice and looks good IMO. Plus i just put a new black Bentley grill on it :)
I prefer the George Foreman grill myself :)
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I prefer the George Foreman grill myself :)
I thought about getting a RR grill just out of your honor. :salute
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Saab is ok as long as I don't have to drive it or even get in it.
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Buy a Dodge Charger, or vette, Camaro, Viper, souped up stang, or some kind of American race car. Who cares about gas prices, insurance prices when you can pimp down the street in all that muscle. That or buy a full size pickup truck, like I have, and let out your inner redneck. Only two options I'd give.
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Saab closed down recently, which to me is something of a downside. No doubt there are promises of support into the future but.....
This and the OP's desire for "quality" need to be seriously considered.
I start where it will ultimatley end - my favorite mechanic. Find out what he can work on, what of those he recomends or thinks of (especialy if you want to maybe upgrade/tinker with it), and start with that list, imho.
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hey all, I'm in the market to buy my first "quality" car, and was thinking about getting a Saab 9-3. I saw a 2008 model with 50k miles on it for $14k, and was wondering if it was worth it? I'm looking to buy a mid-sized sedan preferably from Europe or the US, and so far this Saab looks really good.
does anyone own one? anything I should be made aware of? What else is out there for under $15k that would fit for me? Mostly what I'm looking for is something that is really fun to drive, that won't give the insurance companies a stroke because I'm under 25.
thanks :salute
KNOW WHAT We all say when we see a saab pull in the lot?
here comes another "saab" story.
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Dunno how it works in the states or the prices but something like an Audi keeps it value very well and is a good looking solid car to boot. I remember a while back SAAB were in quite a bit of trouble and since the mid 90s the car is basically a GM.
(http://www.nationalcarbuyers.co.uk/images/audia3.jpg)
i make good money on audis over here. they suck here.
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Thanks guys :salute
I've always liked the Ford Fusion, fun looking car, especially since they had a facelift a few years ago. Does anyone own a Chevy cruze?
I've had a lot of experience with the Cruze. What would you like to know?
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i make good money on audis over here. they suck here.
I would have to disagree, were are they imported from south America or Europe? the components are very solid. Generally as they age the problems are to do with plastics, have you ever had to change a radiator on one? Pain in the rear lol.
They retain their value very well bit like bmws.
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I've had a lot of experience with the Cruze. What would you like to know?
Have you ever had problems with it in general?
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Good luck getting parts for that saab.
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I would have to disagree, were are they imported from south America or Europe? the components are very solid. Generally as they age the problems are to do with plastics, have you ever had to change a radiator on one? Pain in the rear lol.
They retain their value very well bit like bmws.
back in the late 90';s, i had a rash of audis/vw's with water pumps going bad with only 40-50k on them. found out it was the plastic impeller on the knurled shaft that was letting loose. whos genius idea was that?
used to get a ton of them with bad thermostats in the same mileage. i've done a ton of catalytic converters in the a6/passats. sometimes the cat itself, more often that little section of flex pipe would break. can't buy that flex section, but rather only the entire cat assembly for that side.
timing belt? sheesh....gotta take the whole nose off of the car. almost prohibitively expensive to do it preventative. then when it breaks, you gotta pull the head too.
i just can't let myself recommend cars like that to anyone i know or even remotely like.
saabs may have improved over the years, but my experiences with those wrecks in the 80's/90's has jaded me against them pretty heavily.
maybe audi/vw ships the "bottom of the barrel" cars over here to us, i dunno.......
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Hey CAP, did you have people with saabs come in frequently for issues with the driver's side window regulator?
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Hey CAP, did you have people with saabs come in frequently for issues with the driver's side window regulator?
i didn't have enough of them to know. most had other mechanical problems.....or were just plain falling apart around themselves. the quality that i experienced with them was lower than 80's jaguars. the shop i spent most of my time at actually stopped working on anything european, 'cept for bmw, volvo, or mercedes.
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timing belt? sheesh....gotta take the whole nose off of the car. almost prohibitively expensive to do it preventative. then when it breaks, you gotta pull the head too.
You don't really have to take the whole front end off, you can loosen some stuff up use some hanging wire to let the top lean out some. Works pretty well.
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Get a used V6 Honda Accord. Get the coupe if you want it to look sporty. Good performance and handling, very good reliability, pretty good fuel efficiency. Not as flashy as a euro built car but if you want a good quality car that drives, handles, and performs well, it's hard to beat an Accord.
I also highly recommend the Honda GPS navigation. It is absolutely top notch in my opinion. I've used a couple other systems and the honda is comparatively very easy to use and responsive. It is worth the $$$ for the feature I think.
If you want to add bling or more horsepower later, there are plenty of mods available for accords.
Of course, your budget is low enough that you might need to settle on the 4 cyl accord and might need to skip the GPS. I just sold my 2006 civic for $11000, so you'll have to get a fairly old or lower trim line accord to remain within budget. Still, an accord is a really nice car and if you can find one at a good price with the V6 then you will probably be really happy with it. The 4 cyl versions are nice too, but I like having the extra power available so my personal buying decisions tend to be biased that way.
Still, I drove a total beater of a station wagon until I could buy my first new car with a very small car loan, and I ended up with a 1998 trans-am because it had the best bang for the buck in a new high performance car at the time. I paid $26.5k for it and it was still driving great 11 years and 120,000 miles later when I sold it. I replaced it with a 361hp G8 GT, brand new out the door for under $30k because pontiac was going under. I liked my firebird better but the G8 has more room for the kids so I guess it is ok. The point there is that you can find a nice car and not break the bank if you shop carefully and if you buy cheap now, you can go big later on and pay cash.
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You don't really have to take the whole front end off, you can loosen some stuff up use some hanging wire to let the top lean out some. Works pretty well.
that doesn't save as much time as one would think. at least it didn't for me.
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How about a WRX in SAAB clothing?
(http://images.thecarconnection.com/med/2005-saab-9-2x-4-door-wagon-aero-side-exterior-view_100289991_m.jpg)
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Wildcat1,
First off you know how many guys in your squad work on cars for a living? 4 off the top of my head LOL. If you want something sporty, fairly easy to work on, works in snow, can seat 4, and not bad in the mileage department, consider a 07-08 GXP Grand Prix. I have one as my daily driver and love it. The early ones did have some tranny issues, that's why I'm recommending 07-08's. I don't think GM figures out how to get a front wheel drive transmission to stand up behind an LS engine for the first couple of years. Insurance for me was only slightly higher then a regular Grand Prix. The Impala SS is basically the same car with a softer suspension and smaller front tires. GXP actually runs larger tires on the front (no rotations).
Here's a pic of mine at an autocross when I didn't feel like dragging a vette out. Actually didn't do so bad for a big car (compared to what you normally see autocrossing).
(http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af288/BigRatphotos/gxpautocross.jpg)
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Hey you could always look into getting a Ford P71 Crown vic.. awesome power and most are taken care of.
LawnDart
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with all of the collective automotive knowledge on this bbs, i still think there should be some sort of "automotive" forum.
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Get a used V6 Honda Accord. Get the coupe if you want it to look sporty. Good performance and handling, very good reliability, pretty good fuel efficiency. Not as flashy as a euro built car but if you want a good quality car that drives, handles, and performs well, it's hard to beat an Accord.
I also highly recommend the Honda GPS navigation. It is absolutely top notch in my opinion. I've used a couple other systems and the honda is comparatively very easy to use and responsive. It is worth the $$$ for the feature I think.
If you want to add bling or more horsepower later, there are plenty of mods available for accords.
Of course, your budget is low enough that you might need to settle on the 4 cyl accord and might need to skip the GPS. I just sold my 2006 civic for $11000, so you'll have to get a fairly old or lower trim line accord to remain within budget. Still, an accord is a really nice car and if you can find one at a good price with the V6 then you will probably be really happy with it. The 4 cyl versions are nice too, but I like having the extra power available so my personal buying decisions tend to be biased that way.
Still, I drove a total beater of a station wagon until I could buy my first new car with a very small car loan, and I ended up with a 1998 trans-am because it had the best bang for the buck in a new high performance car at the time. I paid $26.5k for it and it was still driving great 11 years and 120,000 miles later when I sold it. I replaced it with a 361hp G8 GT, brand new out the door for under $30k because pontiac was going under. I liked my firebird better but the G8 has more room for the kids so I guess it is ok. The point there is that you can find a nice car and not break the bank if you shop carefully and if you buy cheap now, you can go big later on and pay cash.
I completely agree with this.
I have a 2000 Honda Accord V6 Coupe with 135,000 miles on it and it's still rock solid. I've only had 1 minor little issue with it that cost $50 to replace and was simple enough I replaced it myself. Other than that it's been the most reliable car I could ask for. Hondas are extremely reliable and pretty cheap. I paid $5650 for mine in November of '09 with 122,000 miles on it. I would highly recommend one to anyone looking for a cheap, reliable, sporty car. Did I mention I get about 30mpg on the highway to?
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Japanese make the best cars in the world :old:
They are the most reliable :old:
Why don't you buy one of those Chrysler 300 they are fantastic :rofl
yup best cars. too bad the only way to stop them is a brick wall.
semp
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Have you ever had problems with it in general?
Not really... They're great little cars. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the radio display on the ones without the MyLink system. Other than that, they're fun to drive and crazy good on gas.
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hey all, I'm in the market to buy my first "quality" car, and was thinking about getting a Saab 9-3. I saw a 2008 model with 50k miles on it for $14k, and was wondering if it was worth it? I'm looking to buy a mid-sized sedan preferably from Europe or the US, and so far this Saab looks really good.
does anyone own one? anything I should be made aware of? What else is out there for under $15k that would fit for me? Mostly what I'm looking for is something that is really fun to drive, that won't give the insurance companies a stroke because I'm under 25.
thanks :salute
For the time being most of SAAB parts are on back order. Plus intervention of GM didn't help the quality at all.
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Not very glamorous, but I've had great success with Toyota Camry's.
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Not very glamorous, but I've had great success with Toyota Camry's.
Camrys are great cars. dependable, lot of room inside, and pretty dependable.
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My advice. Purchase what you want but do some research first. You will own it and drive it.
So best be satisfied with your decision.
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I have an '04 Subaru Impreza 2.5TS sport wagon. Fun little car, been driving 2 years and full coverage I'm only paying $200 a month with one recent accident on my moms license. If you can find an '04ish impreza and you want something sporty, not bad on mileage and cheap on the insurance, get one and put some aftermarket goodies in it.
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Camrys are great cars. dependable, lot of room inside, and pretty dependable.
I had a V6 camry too, bought it new in 2000. This thing had quite a bit of 'zip' to it as well, way more than I needed, but fantastic acceleration if you wanted it.
I had it serviced regularly per the manufacturers recommendations, never had a single, not one, maintenance problem.
Sold it to my brother for low blue book, he's had it now for 6 years and had no problems either, got about 200k miles.
It's just a well made car. I felt I got great value from it.