Saab 9-3 Convertible
I was furiously searching for a sub $5k commuter car a few weeks ago in what has to be the worst time in history to be searching for a used car, especially in that price range.
Facebook Marketplace was my drug of choice. My heart was set on a second generation Lexus GS 300. An Infiniti G35 coupe or sedan would have fit the bill as well. There was also a brief flirtation with Lexus LS400, though clean ones are hard to find nowadays.
But living in Florida, I kept my eyes peeled for a convertible. It needed to have four seats though. This had me looking at BMW 3-series and Toyota Solaras.
Facebook Marketplace, being Facebook Marketplace, served me up a Saab 9-3 convertible during my search. This particular one was $3,500. I went to look at it. Turned out to be a piece of crap. Car Wizard says ask to see the clear title before even looking at a vehicle; advice I promptly ignored and went for a test drive. As bad as this Saab was, I couldn’t help but like it. A lot. Even the wife liked it. And yes, the seller couldn’t produce the title, which was “coming any day in the mail.” Lesson learned.
This led me back to FB Marketplace to look for a Saab 9-3 convertible specifically. In one of those better lucky than good moments, I found the one you see here. It’s a 2008 9-3 Convertible. One owner since new.
Normally, I’d would’ve shied away from a Saab. This 2008 is from the GM era. It’s got the 2.0T (capital T, yes it supposedly means something versus the small t.) It had 154k miles on the odometer. But in this particular case, and at this price point, I wasn’t so much buying the car, as buying the owner. The car is well cared for and had records. And it just happened to be 2.3 miles away from where I’m living. Sometimes you can get lucky. And so far, so good. Fingers crossed.
And if you’re really into Saab’s, I recommend taking a look at the Auto Autopsy channel on YouTube. I spent a lot of time there learning about Saab, and it gave me confidence to pull the trigger on purchasing an orphaned brand.
I have had three of them and one I would buy back twice from the guy I sold it to: the original 900, the 9000 on which I had to rebuild the engine (after I managed to exchange it twice) and then the 9-5 Wagon.