1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hi.
My wife and I currently have the following:
my heavily mod'd '88 SPG
a '94 convertible
my wife's '00 9'3.
We are turning in the 9'3 in 2-3 weeks and are struggling with our decision of what to buy.
We'd planned to buy a 9'5 Aero, but I can't seem to find any (other than on eBay) that are in a price range I want to be in (less than $17K) and that are still under warranty, so on to plan b.
Plan b is to purchase a 9'3 SE used. We test drove two (on paper) identical cars tonight. Both 2000, silver, automatic 9'3 SE's with approx. 38k on 'em.
One was 15.5, warranty expires in October, 03, and it was super fast and was nearly perfect outside. However, the seats were horrible in that there was virtually no cushioning left. There was something that was clearly broken inside both front seats because when the driver braked, it felt like someone was jabbing at us. Also, the automatic shift lever felt sloppy, it had different tires front to rear, the steering feel on center was sloppy, and just generally like it had led a rough life.
The other one is 16K, warranty expires in Feb 04, has newish Dunlops all around, was not nearly as peppy (could that be a simple matter of unplugging the battery and having the engine management and trans relearn a more aggressive driving style?), had several nicks on the paint, bad SID (which would be replaced under warranty), window switch lights out (warranty). Seats were very comfortable in this one.
I'm not sure what to do. The 15.5 one is out of the question. Seems like a rolling lemon. The 16K one is nice and if they fix the paint chips & scratches and the warranty stuff, I'd be pretty happy with it (concerned about the disparity in apparent power between the two).
What do you think? Do you think that 16K is reasonable? SHould we wait for another one to come along that's perhaps got more warranty left, fewer exterior blemishes, feels zippy already?
Of course, if I can reset the electronics to make the car zippier, then perhaps that is a good sign of how it's been driven before...
Look forward to all of your thoughts.
posted by 69.140.105...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.