Saab 9.3 Sportwagon 1.8t Linear SE 5dr Automatic
In association with Motorpoint
In nocturne blue with 16 inch alloy wheels and body coloured bumpers, door handles and a matt chrome door trim, this car is a really handsome fellow and a favourite amongst the sales men over at Motorpoint in Newport. I haven’t driven many estates, generally the ones I have driven I have found really cumbersome in look and drivability so I was keen to get behind the wheel of this one to find out how well it performed.
The interior of the Saab 9-3 Sportwagon is absolutely smashing. A real touch of luxury with cream gauze effect and black leather interior it has a very modern feel. It’s a car with a lot of kit too, it comes as standard with dual zone climate control and a pollen filter for those of us that suffer with hay fever during those summer months it demonstrates real attention to detail and comes as a welcome relief.
There is centre console storage, an adjustable steering column, leather steering wheel and gear knob. The orange lit dash with chrome effect bezels give a really airplane like feel when driving at night with well positioned headlights to give you a really good view of the road ahead even when driving along the darkest of country lanes. You feel really safe behind the wheel whatever the weather. Split folding rear seats add even more room to the cavernous boot should you wish to transport half of the contents of your home to a new destination. The weekly family shop would feel positively lonely in the back of this machine.
The Saab 9-3 Sportwagon automatic makes for a fabulous drive. Despite its size and weight, performance is really good. It’s comfortable and quick, with a top speed of 124 mph you’ll never be late for anything. I did find that handling was a little bit out however. At speed there was an ever so slight but present understeer which caught me a little by surprise. Nothing to worry about but certainly something to note.
The parking sensors do their job, so whilst parking isn’t the easiest due to the vehicles length, the excellent steering and good visibility provided by the wing mirrors makes it as easy as it can be to park in a tight spot.
The Saab 9-3 Sportwagon is absolutely jam packed with safety features and presents a 5 star euro ncap safety rating. With five, three point seatbelts, dual stage driver and passenger airbags as well as front seat mounted side airbags, seatbelt load limiter, seatbelt pretensioners and side curtain airbags. You can feel pretty confident that Saab have you pretty well covered.
The only negative to this car, aside from the small amount of under steer I mentioned earlier, is economy. The Saab sportwagon emits 214 g/km of CO2 which puts it in band K for vehicle excise duty and will cost you the princely sum of £215 per year to tax. Fuel efficiency isn’t one of its strong points either. I found that I wasn’t able to get much more than 35 mpg out of this bad boy so if you’re looking for a car that’s kind to the environment and cheap to run, this one isn’t for you.
As a family car, the Saab 9-3 is practical and really affordable at £12,499 from Motorpoint with just 18,000 miles on the clock. It has stacks of space for transporting the family, dog, surfboard, bicycles and kitchen sink so if you’re the outdoorsy type who need a big car to get out and about as well as a very smart executive model that you can be proud to turn up to the office in then this car is most definitely for you.
All cars are supplied
kindly by Motorpoint Newport. Founded in 1998, Motorpoint is the UK’s number
one car supermarket group. It currently operates from five locations – Burnley,
Derby, Glasgow, Newport and Peterborough. In 2008, Motorpoint sold 35,000 new
and nearly vehicles.
For more information call Motorpoint Newport on 0845 4133000 or
visit www.motorpoint.co.uk
I am comparing nearly new forecourt cars with within the same year of
manufacture and with similar mileages. Prices featured are available at
Motorpoint at the time of going to press. These prices may be subject to change
at any time.