Soon to be new owner of a SAAB 9-3

[OxyCoSaab]

Hello all,

Soon to be SAAB owner, first time buyer both in SAAB and cars lol.

The one I am looking at is a 01 Saab 9-3 Turbo Hatchback 46000 miles.

Just a couple of questions?

I was reading that theres a Viggen model... (I think I have the name right) How can you tell? The reason I ask is there is a badge on the back of the of the SAAB im looking at... its a V thats in perfect alignment on the back.


I have the VIN number if that helps to determine.


Second whats the type of gas that is required for SAAB? 87, 89, or 91?

Third is any special things I need tolook for that will come along the services as this is only 46000 miles


I owned a land rover before and had a bad experince.. but I look at it as the owner didn't take care of it than the actrually the engineering of the vehicle.

[Roto]

The viggen is a whole different animal visually from a regular 9-3.

this is a viggen front bumper


this is a regular 9-3 front bumper


as you can see it's a pretty significant difference.

This is a viggen badge:


It will also probably be present on the seats with a real viggen.

The biggest difference of all is that the viggen uses a Mitsubishi TD04 turbocharger.

[Roto]

at 46000 miles there's really nothing to worry about other than scheduled maintainance. Make sure to run synthetic oil and if it is a viggen I'd be having second thoughts about putting in low octane gas. Also a regular 9-3 will be a lot cheaper than a viggen.

[OxyCoSaab]

ok its not that symbol, i believe its a regular 9-3 with the turbo, in fact it looks exactly like the second pic thats posted (silver)

So sync oil (how many qts?) also any recomened filter? In my rover I was using the Mobil 1

also sense its a reg... 87 be fine?

and... any service recalls for an 01 i need to have done?? I saw that one with an airbag sticker not meeting qualifications but i didnt see any others.

[Roto]

take it to any dealer to find out about recalls. Mobil1 filters are good enough. 87 is ok, but I'd feel safer with at least midgrade.

[xhawksaab]

I have found the following with my '01 9-3:
1) Although I may occasionally run 87 or 89 octane, I mostly use 91 or better. I have documented that I get 5-6% better gas mileage with the higher octane which is only 4-5% more expensive so either I win or its a wash. But it runs better on 91.
2) The sump only holds 4 liters (slightly over 4 quarts). A lot of us use a larger oil filter than stock in order to get more oil into the system. I use the NAPA Gold 1515. It allows me to get 5 quarts into the system. I also use Shell Rotella T 5W-40 synthetic oil. It is actually designed as an oil for turbo diesel trucks (but it does meet SAAB standards) and has a better detergent and additive package than a lot of auto only synth oils.
3) My local SAAB dealer was able to give me a print out that listed ALL recall and warranty work that had been done on the car.

Good Luck and good SAABing.