2001 Saab 9-3

Viggen Convertible

2.3 liter

Manual

YS3DP75G017004823

Clear

Gasoline

2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible This 2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen has been a great car for us, but our son went off to college this year, and we don’t really need it. It needs a fair bit of work, and I’ve already got too many automotive projects (a ’55 T-Bird, a ’58 Porsche Speedster replica, ’65 Porsche 911 Coupe, a ’67 MGB-GT and an ’84 VW Vanagon Westfalia) to keep me busy, so were just going to sell the Saab as is. We have had it for almost exactly two years and have put a little under 20,000 miles on it. Incidentally, this was our third Saab, and I doubt that it will be the last. In fact, we might buy the son (at school on the east coast) another one next year, and it will likely be a first-generation 9-3, definitely turbocharged, and maybe another Viggen if we can find one. Here’s what wrong with it. It a 12-year old convertible with 106,000 miles and has a few problems: Convertible Top - The hydraulic top mechanism has issues. It doesn’t really go up and down as well as it should. The car gives a “Soft Top Failure” message usually in the process of going down and sometimes when going up, and the mechanism will stops for a while. We give it a few seconds rest, sometimes give the top a bit of a nudge, and we’ve always been able to get it to where it’s supposed to be. Charlie, my Saab mechanic (he is factory trained and does pretty much only Saabs and Subarus in his shop and, due to Subaru’s being pretty dependable, he does mostly Saabs), tells me that the top’s hydraulic cylinders are leaking and need to be replaced. Maybe a temporary fix could be topping off the hydraulic oil? The cylinders can be rebuilt for $600 (I can send you the web link), and Charlie says it’s a 4-hour job to replace them. The top, although the fabric is in pretty good shape (there’s one area with a bit of abrasion on the right rear side – see picture), also leaks a bit on the edges if the car is parked in the rain, so the next owner should either plan on keeping it in a garage or finding somebody who can get all the top’s seals working right. Or plan on replacing the top soon (maybe at the time the cylinders are rebuilt). The headliner is in excellent shape. The top can be put up and down, but it often requires a bit of loving persuasion and will certainly need to be fixed, probably sooner rather than later. Uses Oil/Likely Needs Valve Job – The car goes through a quart of oil about every time or two it gets fueled up – maybe a bit quicker in the winter. When the car first starts (particularly when the engine is cold and it is cold outside), it usually sends out a little blue smoke for a little while. It doesn't blow blue smoke after it has warmed up. We’ve replaced the turbocharger, suspecting that a worn turbo was the problem, but this didn’t fix it. Charlie says the next most likely culprit is the valve guides (and it’s unlikely that it needs rings as these engines rarely do so early), so the car should have a valve job with new guides. My cost estimate for this is around $1000. The Climate Control sometimes has a mind of its own – sometimes the Automatic Climate Control either stay 100% on or 100% off. Right now it’s working fine, but I’m sure this problem will recur. Probable solution is a new Climate Control module. I suggest finding a used one on eBay, but be sure it comes with a 30-day guarantee to confirm it's good. It should be easy to slip in. Ignition Coil Pack need replacing – The “Check Engine” light is on some of the time (it was off today), and Charlie says it needs a new set of ignition coils. New one’s cost $119 on eBay, and again it’s a simple job. Don’t buy a used one as it will probably be no better than what you have. Theft Alarm message – The “Theft Alarm” message comes up every time the car is started. We’ve recently had the siren unit rebuilt, but that didn’t fix it. Don’t know what to do next. But you can clear the message, and everything’s OK. Incidentally, the theft alarm seems to be working fine, it’s just the message that comes on when you start the car. Radio Antennas – the radio antenna doesn’t retract all the way – the mechanism is broken and a new unit is needed (less than $100 used on eBay and a relatively easy fix). Also the OnStar antenna has had its cover removed. We just put electrical tape over it, but it’s another easy fix (it just screws on and off). Seats – The seats show their age. There is a worn-through spot in the driver’s seat (see picture) and there’s a small sewn repair (by a previous owner) in the back of the rear seat and a seam splitting at the top of the rear seat back (see pic). Cheap imitation sheepskin covers from WalMart will be an adequate short-term solution, but eventually the seats will need to be replaced or recovered. Wheels – a fair bit of curb rash on the four original 17-inch wheels. But the car comes with four more 16” wheels with excellent snow tires that we bought new and are in great shape. We’ve been running the snow tires from about mid-November to mid-April, and the road tires the rest of the year. (see below – If you don’t want the snow tires, we’ll keep that set of wheels and tires and knock $500 off the sales price). Both sets of tires are pretty good (see pictures). We put two new front tires on the car when we bought it in October, 2011, and bought new snow tires a month later. Figure about 10,000 miles on the snow tires and 10,000 on the new front road tires. The rear road tires aren’t much older (see pics). The paint shows numerous small chips and the bumpers are pretty good but not perfect. After all, it’s got 106,000 miles! Here’s what’s right with it: It a Viggen, and they’re pretty rare. 4600 first-generation 9-3 Viggens were produced from 1998 to 2002. 1251 were produced in 2001 of which 738 convertibles were imported into the U.S. These were the best of the early 9-3s which I think were the best Saab ever built. The MSRP for the 2001 Black Viggen Convertible was $45K; the basic 9-3 hatchback was $26.5K. These are special Saabs. This one is well worth refurbishing. The car is a screamer and a lot of fun to drive. It runs beautifully (despite the “Check Engine” light and the oil consumption issue). Basically, when you’re out on the road, you’re driving the hottest thing around. The Viggen 4-cylinder 2.3 liter turbocharged engine produces 230 horsepower. Your basic 2001 9-3 had a 2.0 l engine with 185 hp. and the turbocharged 2.0 l had 205 hp. The Viggen has a bigger engine and a bigger turbocharger. This one comes with a 5-speed manual transmission that works flawlessly. Trust me, you’ll feel those extra horsepower when you lift your left foot off the clutch and put the right one down on the accelerator! It gets great mileage! 25 mpg driving around Park City, Utah (at an elevation of 6500 feet); 31-32 mpg cruising the freeway at 75 mph. And with the turbocharger it has plenty of power at our elevation. Front wheel drive works great for snow and the car handles great. Saab had this figured out. It’s got all the goodies. AM-FM-CD player, OnStar (although we’ve never used it), retractable radio antenna (unit needs to be replaced), anti-lock brakes, airbags all over the place, climate control (sometimes works poorly, see above), cruise control, power windows, power top (sometimes works funky, see above), fog lamps, power locks, power driver's seat, front heated seats, rear window defroster, electric trunk opening. It’s got WeatherTech front floor mats, good wiper blades, good glass (maybe a speck in the windshield), good lights and lenses, and two sets of excellent tires. The body is straight although the driver’s door (before we got it) and left front fender (son had a parking problem) have been replaced. Besides routine maintenance, here are the repairs we’ve done to it: 2 new front tires when we bought it. They have about 10,000 miles on them 4 new Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 tires with 4 new 16-inch Saab rims were purchased in November of 2011 (see picture); these have seen 2 winters’ use (about 10,000 miles) and will be good for at least 2 or 3 more. If the buyer doesn’t want them, we’ll reduce the sales price of the car by $500 and sell them to someone else. (i.e., bid full price for the car with the tires and wheels; if you don’t want them we'll reduce the final price by $500.) Replaced ignition cassette with used unit, 90710 miles, January 13, 2012. (But the used unit we replaced it with now needs to be replaced.) Replaced turbocharger with guaranteed, used unit, 92677 miles, May, 23, 2012.New starter, re-welded ring-gear to flywheel, put in rebuilt clutch disk, 99398 miles, December 12, 2012.This past summer we replaced the original Viggen front bumper with a black SE front bumper (see pictures); the Viggen bumper scraped on every speed bump or when you left a steep driveway or hit a big bump. And it cracked in several places (it’s basically a plastic/fiberglass spoiler wrapped around a steel bar). We have it, and it’s repairable, and the buyer can have it, but the SE bumper looks every bit as good and it is a lot more practical. Plus we put a new Interstate battery in it this past summer (2013), but I can’t find the receipt. The car comes with TWO keys (you don’t want to know how much it costs or how long it takes when you lose the only key you have!), the Owner’s Manual and other booklets that came with it, a Haynes Manual for the first generation 9-3s (unless you already have one, then I’ll deduct $15 from the price and keep the Haynes book for our next 9-3) and touch-up paint. This is a very fun car to drive. It probably should go to someone who knows Saabs and has the time and skill to bring it back to the car it should be. We live just off of I-80, near Park City, Utah (we’re 20 miles east of Salt Lake City, just off the freeway). The car is available for inspection and test driving. If you can get here to drive it, I’ll just about guarantee that you will be bidding on it. If you bid on it and win and come to pick it up but then find something that I’ve misrepresented or that you really don’t like, I’ll give a 100% refund. I will be out of town Thursday 10/17 through Sunday 10/20, so if you want to check it out and test drive the car, plan on looking it over before then. While I'm out of town, I can be contacted through eBay's "Ask seller a question" (I will have daily email access), or call me on my cell at 435-901-1486. Sunday afternoon and evening I'll be flying back to SLC, so leave a message, and if I get a chance to answer it, I will.Salt Lake City is both a Southwest Airlines and a Delta Airlines hub. It's usually pretty inexpensive to get to. If you fly in to pick up the car, you can catch a shuttle from the SLC airport to our home for about $35.00. Or we might be able to pick you up. I think the snow tires & wheels might fit in the back seat. Probably not the Viggen bumper, though. We’ll want $500 down via PayPal within 48 hours of auction close, and the balance due in cash at pick-up (or in a bank draft that you’ll get to us at least 24 hours ahead of time in order for my bank to confirm that it has cleared before pick-up). Check out my feedback with eBay, and you’ll see that I’m a straight shooter and a long-time eBay user. I’ve got lots more pictures of the car that I’d be happy to pop in a ZIP file and email to you if you want them. Just ask. Thanks for looking and thanks for reading through all of this if you’ve gotten this far.