At $8,500, Is This 2001 Saab 9-3 A Hot Deal?
The seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice 9-3 claims in the ad that they want the car to go to a Saab enthusiast. If they fail to find one, I’m sure they’ll turn to someone with cash in hand. Let’s see what we think about the amount of cash they require.
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Little Deuce Coupe. Hot Rod Lincoln. 409. Drag City. The Rock and Roll jukebox is filled with loads of odes dedicated to the hot rod. Nowhere, though, has anyone ever written a toe-tapper about one like the 1931 Ford Hot Rod limo we looked at last Friday. Long but not low and mean but plainly not lean, that big beast was weird and wonderfully built, but what exactly would anyone do with it? Unless you’re in some sort of time-warp ’60s TV show rock band, our Ford’s only real market is the livery service. That couldn’t justify a $59,000 price tag, though, leaving our Limo kicked to the curb with an 82 percent No Dice loss.
People have long been told, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” But what if it’s even hotter outside of that kitchen? Summer is in full swing, and great swaths of the country are experiencing the sun’s wrath in the form of will-sapping heat. Temperatures in the southwest are breaking records, while in Texas, hurricane Beryl has left thousands without power, sweltering in their homes under triple-digit temperatures. I think we can all agree that this is not convertible weather, nor is it the best time to try and sell a convertible.
That, however, is just what the present owner of this 2001 Saab 9-3 is attempting to do. Maybe they’re not totally crazy. After all, Fall is just around the corner.
The Saab itself looks to be in very nice condition, and at 60,000, it sports laudably low mileage. Most notably, though, this is a manual gearbox car. Its 2.0-liter DOHC turbo-four is backed by a five-speed stick, making the most of its 205 horsepower output.
According to the ad, the car has been garage-kept all its life and enjoyed a “tune-up,” whatever that entailed, just 10K ago. The tires and brakes (likely meaning pads) are also recent updates.
Aesthetically, the Saab seems solid. The silver paint pairs well with the black canvas top and factory alloy wheels and appears without issue. There is some minor scuffing on the front bumper, along with some wear on the top, but nothing major. The cabin features leather seats, factory fake wood on the dash, and the obligatory between-the-seats ignition switch that Saab-o-philes so dearly love.
It also has one of the weirdest stereo head units ever offered, with the display and the CD slot separated by, of all things, a swing-out cup holder. You so crazy, Saab!
The seller points out what looks to be pinhole burns in the mouse fur on the driver’s door, likely from flicking cigarette ashes out a cracked window. Hopefully, the car doesn’t reek like a backroad casino overall.
This is a three-owner car, and the current owner fesses up about an incident (being oddly specific about it occurring at a Target parking lot) in which a truck backed into it. That required the replacement of a tail lamp. Seemingly, that’s the extent of the car’s hit parade. It has a clean title, is claimed to be in “as new” condition with everything on the car working as it should, and comes with an $8,500 price tag.
What’s your take on this Saab and that $8,500 price? Does that seem fair for the car as it’s described? Or do you think that, in setting such an asking, the seller must be crazy from the heat?
You decide!
North New Jersey Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Paul Pearson for the hookup!
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