Driver’s diary
If the 9-3 is your first cabrio, or your last one was an MG in the 60s – midlife crisis? - then I am prepared to bet you £1 for charity that no sooner have you sat down than you will turn your head left and right, up, down, tilt it a bit this way and that. It’s not that the seats are uncomfortable - quite the opposite – nor is the roof too low (that’s the old Laguna).
The cloth roof means the temperature inside the car feels pretty close to the temperature outside and when you close the door you haven’t shut the noise of the world out as you do in every other kind of car. So as you sit you may find yourself looking about for an open window or a titled sunshine roof.
But, pre-flight checks done, whack the heater up and off you go. For miles and miles, in those beautifully made, supportive but supple seats. The touch-screen sat nav and radio and air conditioning are within easy reach and as small family car environments go, this is in my top 3 least stressful.
The space next to mine in the Used Car Expert car park is reserved for a suave lawyer who is only ever seen in tailored suit. But he still drives a Jaguar XJS, partly because the newer Jaguar XK can’t fit his wheel chair in the boot. But the Saab boot, with its 352 litre capacity will take his wheel chair with room for suitcases. And it looks every bit as suitable for a debonair lawyer.
You don’t take my word for it: Rolling up to a red light, I was aware that the lady waiting to cross lingered, undressing the Saab with her eyes. Despite the softer residual prices, the age of the design and arguably weaker brand, the Saab 9-3 Cabrio still turns heads like a BMW.
Pulling out of that car park a cyclist shot a red light straight in front of me and in the moment before what seemed like an inevitable collision, while the cyclists life flashed through his mind, I considered how pleased I was to be in a ‘safe Saab’ with its all round airbags and 5 star NCAP rating.
Fortunately, the ‘hydraulic, dual circuit, vacuum boosted ABS, TCS, MBA, EBD, CBC’ braking system meant I didn’t need any of that stuff, and crash averted, headed home, enjoying the smooth, poised handling experience and quiet cruise.
What’s the market like?
There are around 5,000 Saab 9-3s on the market today, about 2,000 of which are cabriolets. Which may seem a small proportion, as the 9-3 cabrio is probably the most famous.
A one year old 9-3 cabrio is between £18,000 and £20,000 depending on whether you buy the big 2.8 or little 2.0 petrol engine. The smaller petrol engine is actually the more expensive – supply and demand in action.
It is the same with the two and three year old cars, and there 3-500 9-3 cabrios of that age in the market at the moment, so you can shop around to find low mileage examples with extra kit on.
What else will this budget buy?
There are plenty of average family hatchbacks which now come in ‘coupe-cabriolet’ format. The ugliest, and therefore the cheapest on the used market is the Ford Focus. Then there is the Astra and Megane.
But none of these cars look or feel quite so ‘premium.’ The direct competitors in that sense are the Volvo C70 and BMW 3-Series. The C70 now has a metal roof, and costs £1,500 more if you compare 2007 year cars of similar specifications. A BMW 3-Series can be £1,200 on top of that.
Neither the difference in driving experience or the image really justify that. However, the issue is less that BMW and Volvo are over-priced and more that Saab prices seem to be perpetually a bit depressed. Which is a golden opportunity for savvy used car buyers.
Summary
The most comfortable seats of any family car, let alone a convertible GT car. Well made, refined and well balanced. The 9-3 also still manages to turn heads, 7 years after it was launched.
By: Matthew Tumbridge