Would a 9-3 be a good car to learn wrenching on? There's

Bumpin.

>>16394837
convertibles are shit.

Don't get a first gen 9-3 convertible. They have a flexy shit chassis from what I've heard. Other than that, Saabs from that time aren't too hard to work on. Parts aren't super cheap though.

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>>16394837

Never get a Saab convertible. This, like the 900 convertible, had the structural rigidity of a week-old salad because the roof had all the strength.

Maybe. What year?
The biggest issue will be sludge in the engine. If it's there it isn't worth it.
If it's o.k. then yeah it's fine. Parts for the 9-3 are plentiful, the local advance/Napa may need to order but they should be able to get it in a day. Eeuroparts/rockauto/amazon has everything you will need.

The chassis is fine for stock power. When you madify to 250+ torque you will want to add some bracing, kits are available.

The great thing about the saab is the ECU is open source now, so you can learn alot about engine tuning in addition to racing.

>>16395607
>The great thing about the saab is the ECU is open source now, so you can learn alot about engine tuning in addition to racing
Racing was supposed to be wrenching.

i bought one of these as a beater

surprisingly reliable seeing as its all beat to shit and full of sand and dried condoms and evidence of a lack thereof.

just waiting until it inevitably shits the bed when the sludge takes over.

>>16395607
>The biggest issue will be sludge in the engine. If it's there it isn't worth it.
How would one be able to check?

>>16400203
For the 9-3 sludge can be an issue from 00-02 and the 03 vert.

A thorough check is to pull valve cover and sump. This isn't practical for a pre purchase inspection though

What you can do is check to see if pvc#6 upgrade was performed. Google it for how to do this check. Another way sludge was prevented was with regular oil changes, 3k to 6k with only synthetic. You will need records or determine if previous owner was worth a shit.

I have an 01 with 240,000 miles and sludge free. It was a 2 owner car, mostly used for long distance commuting, easier on oil. The 2nd owners father was a Porsche mechanic, so the car was cared for.

>>16400276
Many thanks. I'm looking to get a 98-02 93 but I didn't appreciate how badly sludge can screw them over. Hopefully I can find one from someone who knows how to maintain them.

>>16400305
98 and 99 will not be prone to sludge but does have a weaker t25 turbo as apposed to the td04 found in the 00-02 9-3 SE.

>>16394837
If you want to hate working on cars and want to spend a lot of money on parts that you cant find. Get something more mainstream that have a lot of junkyard parts available if you want to learnto wrench

>>16400347
I enjoy working on my 9-3, 9000, and 900 on the rare occasions something needs to be fixed. With all but a few parts of the 92 900 I have not had any issue funding parts. These easily available parts are inline with euro part prices or less.

Do you perhaps live in a third world nation without a proper infrastructure. Is this nation by any chance known as bullshitlandia?