2008 Saab 9-3 User Reviews

The 9-3 Is Beautiful Car That's Efficient, Fun To Drive, High Quality. — The 9-3 is an excellent vehicle. I just bought a used 9-3 and it is a very satisfying vehicle that seems without much compromise. Great ride. Great drive. It's a blast to pour through turns and push down the throttle. Very little turbo lag. This car is really built from the driver's seat out. The interior is excellent, sharp, and very comfortable. I would recommend this vehicle to anyone. It's probably one of the best balanced cars on the road. Oh, and it's just pure eye candy.

Primary Use: Commuting to work

Some Quirks And Minuses, But A Strong Performer And A Lovely Vehicle Inside And Out. — Lovely car, very comfortable, and loaded with great features, from parking assist (car beeps when in reverse and approaching a solid object) to OnStar to a chilled, lockable glove-box. The convertible roof opens/closes in 20 seconds and no longer needs to be latched manually as with older models. Pretty cool that you can open the roof with the remote while standing outside the car. Peculiar that you can't CLOSE the top again the same way; you have to be sitting inside the Saab for that, and use a switch on the dashboard. Acceleration and braking are strong, though I find the car a bit "polite" for my taste. My 1997 Saab ragtop had 25 fewer horses but it seemed to have a little bit more "get-up-and-go," perhaps due in part to the more aggressively tuned engine and an exhaust sound that was unmistakable from a hundred feet away. The older car was a bulldog mix; the new one a purebred setter. I can see the attraction in either. I love the exterior styling -- elegant while still retaining a good chunk of fairly rakish sports-car persona. Inside, Saab has pulled back from the mid-nineties cheapness born from being forced to use the GM general-parts bin, though remnants of it remain. Both visually and in a tactile sense, the plastic handbrake is a disappointment in a $43,000 car, as are the perennially flimsy cupholders. Swedes don't "get" cupholders, for some reason. My feeling is that if you're going to be selling on the American market, your designers ought to damn well include sturdy Big-Gulp-loving cupholders, and not treat the job with apparent disdain, as an afterthought. Thumbs down on that one. That said, fit and finish are very good overall, the leather is nice and pretty and soft, and at night the dash and lighted controls are just this side of understated. The cheap Christmas-tree look of earlier (nineties) model years has thankfully been tamed. (But what happened to the reading lights for the backseat? Axed and gone, but not forgotten. A strange way to save a few bucks.) The Saab 9-3 convertible is lower to the ground than its predecessor and as a result has a center of gravity that pushes it against the road, though the car is ready to rumble at a moment's notice -- as in "just a moment," because a touch of turbo lag has never been quite expunged from Saab engine design. No matter, though; flooring the gas pedal makes for fun, even exhilarating driving, especially with the top down. I had my previous Saab droptop for ten years before I sold it, and I plan on having the current one for at least as long. No doubt it will serve me faithfully and provide a safe and joyful ride, especially on days when the desire for wind-in-your-hair excess meets up with sunshine and the feeling-free fun that's embodied by a quality convertible.

Primary Use: Sport/fun (spirited driving, track racing, off-roading, etc.)

In A Hurry? — Excellant handling. If you need to get somewhere quick, this car will get you there! Great on gas, Cockpit is well designed and user freindly. Easy to maintain. The car is still new so no reports on maintenance just yet. Hard to believe it is under 250HP! If you really want to have some fun, switch it to manual mode :-)

Saab Survived - Thank You Koenigsegg — great car in every way. best way to wake up in the morning to drive with the roof open to work - enough power with hirsch tuning - not as common as a bmw, audi or volvo convertible - not at least extremely comfortable seats - and one of the very few 4-seater convertibles with a real roof (textile) - metal twin top? noooo way !!

Primary Use: Commuting to work

Beautiful And Fast — Fairly rare, yet highly underrated. Turbo adds alot of power all around, and interior is very smooth.