Hi to everyone as i'me new to this site.

I got my 1st SAAB (a 9-5 ARC estate 2.2 TID)nearly a year ago and think its the best car i've ever had. In fact so much so that I am about to purchase a 9-3 convertible via an agent who brings them back to the UK from British forces personnel in Germany. I have been assured the car is to UK spec and at £18K for a one year old with 11K on the clock seems like a cracking deal.

I have two questions though!!

What do more experienced 9-3 LPT owners think of the car and has anyone else any experience of aquiring a car through this route?

I look forward to your comments chaps!!

Welcome to the board andy. It will only be a matter of time before you are hooked and yer missus (if you have one)calls you a sad b""t""d. like mine does !!

I imported my 2002 93 aero convertable a year ago through carsfromeurope.com (picked it up in Huntingdon from their base). The car cost me £22,700 which was a saving of circa £8,000 taking into account of all the options / additional UK cost. I bought mine on a PCP at 7% apr fixed which was the best I could find at the time. even now that rate is very competative with the likes of banks and Jamjar.com etc.

Okay so I saved a lot of money but it was painful waiting for it. It took around 12-15 weeks from memory to get the car and carsfrom europe were cr@p at responding to calls hence it was a frustrating 15 weeks. However the cost saving over ruled the pain. If I was to buy a new saab again I would certainly explore the savings that are available by importing however in saying that I dont beleive that the savings are that great on the likes of the new 93 aeros therefore you may get a better deal on buying from the UK. Sorry gone off the question slightly !

As far as the car goes, they are quick or at least the aero is but the chassis is horrible as you will find from reading through the boards. this should not put you off however as there are many upgrades out there to put the chassis right so it can withstand the power (try abbottracing.com although there are many others). There are all sorts of mods that can be
applied to the car to make it much better on power and handling and again subject to what you decide to do, you will find the answers on this board as there are many knowledgeble people (which I am not)

I would say that the suspension upgrade is a must (change springs and dampners) then go for your engine mods so you will all day.

cheers