I am contemplating buyin a new or nearly new car towards the end of the year. I quite fancy the idea of a convertible the Saab 9-3 looks good as it comes complete with everything but sat nav as standard (leather,climate control,cd player,etc...)
Does any body have any first hand experience of the Saab and any problems with it?
Also could anybody recommend anything else in this class.
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isn't it a Vauxhall Vectra in drag, which with the roof chopped off will be even edgier?
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a convertible? In Britain?
sheesh! This Global warming must be more serious than I thought...
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a convertible? In Britain? sheesh! This Global warming must be more serious than I thought...
Great minds think alike.
Lot's of mates have MX5's and MGF VVC's (And one Z3). Very nice but the tops stay up on very long or very long drives [1] and in bad weather.
For me I doubt I'd get the top down 20 times a year.
But then, if I had 25k spare I'd buy a buy to let house [2] and a 400 quid Vauxhall Cavalier. Spending that sort of cash on something that depreciates would break my heart.
[1] Wind noise.
[2] Or a Yacht.
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Parp, Parp!
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Sorry to hear about the wind noise, Toad. Have you tried a change of diet - or thicker seat cushions may help silence it :o)
Terry
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apparently Britain buys/sells 4 times more soft tops than Spain
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Well...as i've just bought a Series III Land Rover for £250, I could suggest 100 of them. Alternatively buy a mere 10 and you'd have more than enough money for all the fuel you could ever want. AND (big and) no depreciation!
What's the depreciation on a new car for the first year? 33% so that's £8300!!! Ouch
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If you're not seriously rich - and I mean seriously rich -like have you had / got rid of kids, paid yer mortgage etc. etc .......then you must be nuts even thinking about spending £25K of your own money on a piece of metal that will be scrap in a few years. Now, if it was company money, or you've recently inherited half a million or won the lottery, well, that's another amtter !
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Now, if it was company money
My Dads just got a new company BMW.
We went out Wednesday and badly scraped both 13 day old nearside alloys.
We laughed.
Company cars rock. You enjoy a 20k deprciating asset and give it back when it's two years old and no longer shiney.
Paying 25k for something privately and getting 4 grand back three years later - now that sucks.
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Parp, Parp!
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Thanks for all the advice.
Why have you all got a downer on someone buying a new car......
OK I know I will loose money in depreciation but if I buy from someone like Micronet and get a £25000 car at £21000 and loose another say £2000 a year that surely is my choice rather than buying someone elses old car that is not going to be very reliable and incur repair costs.
Also if it wasn't for the likes of myself and obviously company and fleet cars there would be no used cars on the roads..... Someone has to be the one that owns it from new, as far as I know no car company produces a used car from new.
So getting back to one of my original questions........do Saab have plans to launch a convertible when the new 9-3 is replaced or updated?
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Stuart
I do have sympathy for your point of view. Having had years of buying other people's problems it was sheer bliss when I could eventually afford a new car.
To use HJ's expression, time is money and buying new can work out cheaper than the time it takes to sort out (or not) sold-on problems. So, provided you can afford it go for it I say.
Terry
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Why have you all got a downer on someone buying a new car......
Chill! Spend your cash how you like!
Good luck to you in you new machine and I hope it's great for you! Tottie like new cars as well!
Enjoy and don't worry about what anyone else thinks!
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Parp, Parp!
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try buying from SAAB (UK) as I am sure that they give some of their workers cars tht they have to get rid of pretty quickly.
I bought my car from BMW. It was 1yr old diesel and had just over 10k miles on and saved about 20+ percent off list.
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I'm all in favour of you buying new - if (a) that's what you really, really want (b) a new car is at the top of your list of priorites and (c) you won't start having tinges of regret when that new smell has worn off ! It's obviously your gelt and you're free to spend it any which way you want. However, it is worth thinking long and hard and also asking exactly WHY it is that new cars take such a hit in depreciation - could it be anything to do with over/unsustainable pricing in the first place ????
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From HJ's C-by-C Breakdown, the new 9-3 convertible will be out some time in 2003.
Have you considered a Lotus Elise or Vauxhall VX220? But seeing as you want most of the bells and whistles, I felt very cosseted and special the other day when I was in a Peugeot 406 coupe (alright not a drop top but possibly the most beatuiful sensibly priced car on the road - esp in maroony red). And you can get the sat nav on it.
Or maybe you could take the top off in a custom conversion of a BX or a Yaris for that money.
;-)
Paul C
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I really would think twice about paying extra money for scuttle shake and a yobbo friendly top. But thank goodness we're all different!
Good luck, Tomo
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"..someone elses old car that is not going to be very reliable.."
Why would someone else's car (which was new not that long ago) be less reliable than yours? We're just jealous of course, but I would think hard about what that much money could buy.
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I'd kill to have £250 to spend on a car, never mind £25000! Lend me a tenner...
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You must do what YOU want to do - no problem with that.
I bought one of my cars new three years ago for 9.5 K. Had a test drive in another car from the same garage 2.5 yrs later and found that they would offer £3.5 k trade in. So 6K in three years - 60% is a lot of dosh. You can do the sums for 25K. If you have 15K to blow good luck to you.
Think how excited you'd be if you were offered a 6.5K pay rise. You can have one if you keep the car that you already have. (Rough figures to incl tax and ins on income).
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Why not go for something a little less common - the Honda S2000. Fantastic engine (especially above 5000), reliable as hell, and when was the last time you saw one?
Andy
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The 9-3 is actually based on the Cavalier floor pan not the Vectra. The new 9-3 is based on the new Vectra floor pan though.
If you want a 9-3 import. Do NOT buy new in the UK. I had the 9-3 convertible for a day and it was great fun. It was only the 150 bhp version but was like pink fluffy dice off a shovel but sufferred from torque steer at take off (literally!).
I was going to import from Finland as it was the cheapest in Europe there (and they are only made in Finland) but changed my mind when I heard the new 9-3 was coming out.
My advice is import a 320D SE and run it for a year. You'll save around £4.5k on UK prices AND get back what you paid for it providing you give our ever so honest trade merchants a wide berth!
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Well actually last Sunday outside the local car parts shop Andy.
However I'd never seen one before, had no idea what it was before I saw the badge....and it looked stunning.
David W
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It looks much better in the flesh than in photos, doesn't it? I had an S800 once, which had a similarly loony engine (redlined at 8500 rpm) but probably handled rather less well. Enormous fun, though.
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Why not go the whole hog and get a95 Aero
A stunning machine especially with 5speed auto,
Traded my old 95 in for an aero in January, this new one is leagues ahead,
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