well...in 2003 i bought a 1999 9-3 se HOT for 12,000 40k miles
2 mondays ago a stupid lady decided she would drive across traffic just before i reached the intersection...needless to say she was T boned by my 9-3.

no time to hit the brakes...40 mph...i killed her big dodge truck....i will put pictures up soon.

i do want to COMMEND SAAB and say that i will alway have a saab in my stable...the safety design is amazing. head restraints, airbags and seatbelts made this accident without injury. ifi had my camaro, i probably would have broken my legs, and if i was on my R1...well you nkow that answer.

the body shop working on the car has already reached 9000 to fix. insurance so far is going to fix it instead of totaling it out. if they find more damage i dont' think they will pay b/c i can't find a 99 selling for more than 8500.

if they total it what should i get?

2003 is the new body style and i think i found 2003 linear's for like 14, which would be a good deal for me.

what is the difference between the linear, arc, vector and then i know the top is the aero. was the vector only in 2003? i know i want the R engine though...
i could just buy anoter 99 and pocket some cash or go to a 2002 for a good deal and enjoy T7 managment.

what do you think? too bad the 99 viggen is still out of my price range. see my car was paid off...good graduation from college gift! i don't really want to have car any car payments as a result of this stupid lady..but if i got 9,000 and bought a 14,000 car i can finance that difference for what 50 bucks a month?

Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad you're alright. Can't beat Saab in the safety department. As an owner of a 2003 93 linear, I'll let you know a little about it. First off, this is the first year of the model, so there are some more problems than you might find in something that's been around for a couple years. The 2004 93 got rid of most of these, but that's gonna get out of your price range. The linear is the base model, 2.0t 175 HP engine. I assume that by the 'R' engine you mean the 2.0T engine. Same block as the linear, but larger turbo, larger injectors, and a different cam, getting 210 HP. That's available in the Arc and Aero (Vector).

Assuming you're in the US, the vector was only around for 2003, then was replaced by the Aero. There are some different tuners around to get some more power out of the linear, a lot of people like BSR, $800-$850 takes 2.0t engine to 204 HP.

I could go on more, but the answers to most of your questions are addressed in the 93ss section. The FAQ in there should be a good place to start to learn about the cars.

Best of luck getting back in a Saab.

Ryan

I Had the chance to have a 2005 9-3 auto box linear as a loaner for 3 days, even though it has i think 175 hp it felt faster than my 99 hot 205 hp. i don't like autobox's though...so i'd get a manual.

the design and handling was very amazing compared to my 99 though...so the linear might be what i can afford. i really want the bigger turbo, injectors R specs b/c the ppc is the same price for linear or arc/aero so i'd rather start with 210 and add power!!!! :)

i don't need navigtion but want it.
i don't need cilmate control but it was a nice feature on my 99.
i'm glad to know the what the vector/areo change was...
i DO NEED XENON LIGHTS...my regular lights suck.

any differences in suspension between the LINEAR, ARC, AERO?
thanks!

I Had the chance to have a 2005 9-3 auto box linear as a loaner for 3 days, even though it has i think 175 hp it felt faster than my 99 hot 205 hp. i don't like autobox's though...so i'd get a manual.

the design and handling was very amazing compared to my 99 though...so the linear might be what i can afford. i really want the bigger turbo, injectors R specs b/c the ppc is the same price for linear or arc/aero so i'd rather start with 210 and add power!!!! :)

i don't need navigtion but want it.
i don't need cilmate control but it was a nice feature on my 99.
i'm glad to know the what the vector/areo change was...
i DO NEED XENON LIGHTS...my regular lights suck.

any differences in suspension between the LINEAR, ARC, AERO?
thanks!
i know the newer aeros are little bit lower in stance than arc and linear...

There is different suspension on the Aero, it's lower and stiffer, Where the Arc and Linear have the same suspension. Also, wheels are 15" standard on linear, 16" standard on Arc, and 17" standard on Aero. It seems to me though that a lot of linears are upgradded to 16" (as was mine). Navigation may be tough to find, it wasn't available in the US until 05 I believe. I'm not sure how common the ACC and Xenon lights are on linears and arcs, but if you look hard enough I think you could find them. If you're looking at an 03 model linear, I think the launch package had both those options.

Like you said, the handling should be a lot better than an older 93, the chasis is much stiffer on the sport sedan.

A standard transmission feels quite a bit nicer IMO. I have a stick, and when I get an auto for a loner it seems sluggish to me. If you felt an auto linear was fast enough, then the stick would be even better. A warning though, there were problems with a lot of the 6-speed standards on the Arc and Vectors/Aeros not being too smooth. I'm not sure if Saab ever got a good fix for the problem.

Just to mix things up, I have seen a lot of 2002 9-3 SE's for sale lately for good prices. Just check that out. With under 30k they can be had for less than $14,000. I'm not sure where you saw the 03 for that cheap, but it must have higher mileage. If you threw in the Saab certification program you could have a warrantied car til 100k miles for a good price.

On a side note (and I KNOW that I always advise people to buy these, but, well tough, I own one and love it):

My friend in Maryland just picked up a '99 Viggen with 30k miles on it for $14000. I havent seen it, as he's all the way down there, but I must say that you'd most likely have fewer problems with a '99 vig than with an '03 linear, as these 9-3ss's seem to have a lot of problems in their first year, but the Vig pretty much had the same problems all 4 years. You wouldnt get your HID's, but you would get your climate control plus all the other cool stuff (Viggens came with almost every available 9-3 option as standard)

If you can find a deal like that, you could be a very happy SAABer. With some points off your license, but that comes later..:cheesy:

ok...so here's the deal as to what happened in the end...

i had a 99 9-3 se that would have ran out of warranty aug 1, 80,000 miles. so warranty was up.

on my way to my wedding they called and said they are gonig to total it out now...so i stopped at saab and got a proof of invoice for the CPO program dealer costs which shows the 1100 cost for certification and 385 labor costs + parts + what ever they usually charge the customer for it...so i figured 1500 bucks to be nice to the insurance company.

they came to me and said they would give me 10,000 for the title. i said no sent them a fax with this costs and sent them a recent tire purchase receipt. while on my honey mjoon they cut my dad a check for 11, 182 bucks....the car cost me 14,000 2.5 years ago...not bad 1800 bucks to drive for 2.5 years?

so...the sad part but NOT SO SAD.....my dad leased a 2005 cadillac cts last month. 318 a month...so he told me to give him the check and he'd give me his lease, and ignore the fact he put his CLK 430 down for equity...its loaded! i can't get an aero for that....we did find a nice low milage 2002 9-3 but they wanted 18,000 for it.didn't have any options either. there are so few out there b/c of this gm deal that i'm giong to wait until i can afford the 9-3 aero...so in 3 years that's what i'm getting. but for now...i'm driving Caddy style...i'll stay a member here!;oops:

The CTS is a nice lookin' ride!

Thanks! I Love It Great Car. I Miss The Turbo But...i'll Live.

I don't understand the part about the CLK 430.

What happens when the lease is up on the Cadillac? I'm guessing you turn in the car and then your 11,000 dollars is gone too. That sounds pretty raw.

I don't understand the part about the CLK 430.

What happens when the lease is up on the Cadillac? I'm guessing you turn in the car and then your 11,000 dollars is gone too. That sounds pretty raw.

yeah, says its not so

oh yeah and congrats

Nice ending :cheesy: The Caddy CTS is an awesome car.

my dad had the clk 430 and traded it in to get the caddy. i'm not sure how much of the 430 he owned though, that's why i don't know much about its value and equity of the benz into the caddy..


and yes the 11,000 is gone after 3 years.
but...had i not been in an accident and drove the car WITHOUT WARRANTY for 3 more years it might be worth like 3000..but it would be old and i might have spent 3,000 in repairs at that point.

2nd...if i sold teh car before it was totatled i would have gotten like 8,000 for it. i made out good with the 11,000.

3rd..the 99 saab was a graduation gift so it was really my dad's money anyway.

4th....i could have put it back into a new saab but I DON'T WANT A LINEAR, ONLY AN AERO. THE AERO would have cost me more than the 318 a month we got this caddy for....

5th...in texas there are so FEW 9-3's around b/c of the employee discount deal. I LIKE THE CADDY....

6th...by giving my dad the insurance check it pays off the caddy for the 3 years of the lease, pays my 3 years of insurance, and pays my gas (part of the deal with my dad) and he'll roll some of that money into debt i owe him for my extra 6th year (super senior) of college.

i'm cool with knowing that in 3 years i have a car payment. not many people make it to 29 years old owning nice cars and not having a car payment. so by the time i'm 29 i should have moved up in my job or moved to a higher paying job to buy my OWN saab. right now the only debt me and my family has is my wife's ford ranger which her dad screwed us on by refinancing it 3 times. 6 years into it still have 2 years left at 350 a month!!!!! its the highest ford ranger 2001 edge but they overpaid and he has no clue about money. and her insurance payment. we kept roomates to pay my mortgage so we're off to a good start, married 2 weeks now!!!!

our goal is to provide for our children many years to come the same as our parents could for us.

the caddy is a great deal for me, plus the looks i get are great. the ceo of my work place gave me a thumbs up...he drives a BMW 330 vert.

i'm sure if i turn in the caddy early too i'll be able to work a deal out b/c value should hold up, its a gm smart buy .

i came out way ahead on this deal....however my dad also gave us the optiont to keep the 11,000 check and send him 318 a month for the caddy but i'm getting a good deal by givign it to him. he offered us 5 percent interest on it to cover those other thigns. trust me...not a raw deal!

thanks for being her guys i'll stay around b/c i love the saab and that's what i want my wife to have when we can sell her ranger. she'll have a 9-3 ss.

by the way for 24,000 there is a 99 red 4 door VIGGEN at roger beasley saab in Austin, tX like 30k miles.

;oops: ;oops: ;oops: