So since I couldn't find the time to fix up my good 'ol '94 Pro (leaking water pump, leaking valve cover, possibly blown head gasket, maybe fried injectors, leaking coolant reservoir tank), I had to purchase a new car that would run well.
I wanted to get something that was pretty reliable, not too common, and had some nice get up and go. I finally chose this Saab 9-3 2.0T Arc.
I did lots of research on this trim and model to make sure it didn't suffer from lemon syndrome and the reviews from 2005 models and up were glowing, solving many of the past reliability issues Saab had with their lineup.
It was never in an accident, never had any major breakdowns or repairs, clean carfax, only one previous owner, and only 51k on the clock.
The guy who sold it to me also undercut himself on the selling price since he thought it was the small turbo baseline model. It's actually the luxury sport trim fully loaded with the larger turbo 210 hp engine, so I got a realllly awesome deal on the price.
Only drawbacks so far is the interior is a bit cheap feeling, as the plastics seem creaky and the stereo button paint is chipping/wearing off. But aside from the everything is cherry, been driving it for a month so far and zero issues. Great stereo, fast acceleration, and attractive styling. Thinking about doing some minor cosmetic mods and a Fuel Map tune (since intake and exhaust mods don't do much for these cars, chip tuning is really the only true way of increasing HP short of swapping turbos and injectors). A Stage 1 JZW tune can bump it up to 265 no hardware modifications.
I'm still keeping my pro, but it's now my project car. Will be swapping the head, changing the head and valve cover gasket, replacing the water pump and belts. Will definitely do the ex.int cam swap, hopefully get around to shipping the intake mani to Ryan one day for a cut mani upgrade, and swap in the RX7 VAF. But all in good time, since I work everyday it's hard to find the time to work on it.
I wanted to get something that was pretty reliable, not too common, and had some nice get up and go. I finally chose this Saab 9-3 2.0T Arc.
I did lots of research on this trim and model to make sure it didn't suffer from lemon syndrome and the reviews from 2005 models and up were glowing, solving many of the past reliability issues Saab had with their lineup.
It was never in an accident, never had any major breakdowns or repairs, clean carfax, only one previous owner, and only 51k on the clock.
The guy who sold it to me also undercut himself on the selling price since he thought it was the small turbo baseline model. It's actually the luxury sport trim fully loaded with the larger turbo 210 hp engine, so I got a realllly awesome deal on the price.
Only drawbacks so far is the interior is a bit cheap feeling, as the plastics seem creaky and the stereo button paint is chipping/wearing off. But aside from the everything is cherry, been driving it for a month so far and zero issues. Great stereo, fast acceleration, and attractive styling. Thinking about doing some minor cosmetic mods and a Fuel Map tune (since intake and exhaust mods don't do much for these cars, chip tuning is really the only true way of increasing HP short of swapping turbos and injectors). A Stage 1 JZW tune can bump it up to 265 no hardware modifications.
I'm still keeping my pro, but it's now my project car. Will be swapping the head, changing the head and valve cover gasket, replacing the water pump and belts. Will definitely do the ex.int cam swap, hopefully get around to shipping the intake mani to Ryan one day for a cut mani upgrade, and swap in the RX7 VAF. But all in good time, since I work everyday it's hard to find the time to work on it.
pm if interested
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