Thread: Interested in buying a 2008 9-3 1.9 TTiD Aero 180 wagen - got some questions!

Hi folks,

been lurking in the background for a few weeks now and just registered as I am very interested in a 2008 SAAB 9-3 1.9 TTiD 180 Aero estate with 58K and FSH at a friends garage, so it will have a years warranty if i buy it.
Having been let down by "german reliability" earlier this year - a turbo & injectors costing over £1500, I had been considering getting a petrol but the TTiD is very tempting with its performance and economy being very attractive to me.

I have found a few posts on here regarding the TTiD but there is little on what goes wrong. Given that a 2008 car is now at least 3 years old how does the TTiD models cope with the usual diesel ailments and failures i.e. DPF, DMF, Turbo, pump, injectors etc etc?


So any issues or tips on whjat to look for in a 9-3 TTiD?

thanks in advance!

Welcome to SS..

what sort of mileage & journeys are you doing..

Had mine for about 10 days now covered over 1K miles it has 77K on the clock all good it's and Auto Saloon so economy is not that good to be honest but performance and comfort is great and even the boot has surprised me coming from an Estate car previously.
So just waiting to see if I suffer any large bills in the near future other than the cambelt at 90K.

Good luck the 1st one I bought was a manual similar mileage and age (58 plate) and I got "Limited Performance on the way home so it went straight back to the bloke who was selling it for a full refund, a lot around at the moment coming from Saab Leasing my only worry now is if the prices drop due to the Bankruptcy.

Also be warned you cannot get a spare key fob new at the moment, if you find one it will be very expensive, so if you don't get 2 I would be worried and also even to get replacement bodies to solve the toffee rubber effect is very costly i.e £42.50 off eay for a good used set of plastics, nothing in them it's amazing that no one has got a supply of aftermarket plastics.

Anyway this is my 2nd time with a 9-3 last time I had the 2.2TiD and in the short while I had it it did cost me a far bit of cash I seem to remember, hoping this one is not so bad as it has replaced a Mondeo Estate TDCI that has cost me under £500 in parts in 4 years ! Sadly it's DMF gave up at 184.5k miles not bad really.

Enjoy

is this a manual or auto?

with 58k on the clock providing it has been well looked after and parts have been replaced when needed, serviced at correct intervals you should be ok, I have a 05 1.9TID and I have had this since 2009 on 59k it is now on 76k the only thing that has gone wrong is the alternator which cost me £250 to have done.
It had the 70k service done with all the recommend parts - cam belt, fan belt, water pump.
All seems to be ok apart from the auto box which I have had fluids changed in costing £100.00 slightly improved issue but suspecting box is going which at £1600-1800 to replace I am really not looking forward to this.
Others on here may also have autos and have had no issues at all.

Depends on the journeys you're doing.. If you're doing less than 10k a year / short journeys i wouldnt even consider a diesel.

You won't be any better off on fuel costs because of the price difference between diesel and petrol and short journeys are not good for diesels either.

How long and miles are you keeping the car for? If you're looking for 3 years out of it then i'd get the cambelt waterpump done straight away. No risk then.

Originally Posted by aerojon

Welcome to SS..

what sort of mileage & journeys are you doing..

I do anything between 10K and 18k a year.
At the moment my journeys are a mix of;
* some short journeys local town driving,
* 10 - 15mins duel carrigeway with some town driving
* and at least once every 2 weeks, sometimes once per week I have a 192mile commute, mostly motorways.

If you buy a Diesel you will need to do some long distance driving to allow the emission control system to work properly once a week a long 40min or so drive once engine temp is normal to allow for a DPF regeneration to complete if you do not drive long enough to allow this to happen you will hit problems with the emission system clogging up.

At that i'd be tempted by a 2.0T petrol.. Apart from being a lot more fun and having a lot wider rev range, it'd be better suited to your shorter journeys..

I can bet on your loing commute it will average 40mpg too - assuming they're fast roads/motorway etc.

Timing chain, too..

Originally Posted by virtualm

Have I convinced you enough yet?

Been looking to change for the last year from a 1.4 petrol 306 (the sh1tbox as my friends call it, which to be fair is about to fall asunder). Thought about an A4 and a 320D but passed a 1.9TTID Aero one evening with the LED eyebrow lights on and boom, mind made up!

I'm looking to by in the UK (an 08 Aero w/ 65-75K on the clock is running at about £15K here in Ireland, madness).

Sounds like you could come home having to all your clothes tossed on to the front garden, given the way speak of your 9-3!!

Just had it hirsched - 200bhp, 430lb torque - this is an amazing car. And my clothes are still in the wardrobe, mind you I kept her indoors quiet with her Rav4 ;-)

Be interested to hear of yourvexperiences with the 200 bhp upgrade...I'm on the verge of buying a aero ttid which is fitted with the kit(from new)......what's advantages and the negatives(if any?)

Must admit,I'm very excited at the prospect of owning the car...it will be quite a change after five years of a diesel freelander.....

I have fitted a DTUK eco chip to mine - 1.9TID 150 claimed to be up to about 190, makes a considerable difference when connected (mines an auto well it was until the auto is no longer auto and more manual as of this morning) the economy went up on journeys too you will have a lot more oomph in the higher gears in 6th you will comfortably be able to overtake without the need to down change unless you want to .

There won't be a negative to the Hirsch upgrade Saab would have honored the warranty still if applied after purchase so they must have faith in the upgrade and not affecting the reliability of the car the power increase is substantial but not over the top to the point whereby parts are put under stress.

No problems at all with the Hirsch remap, it's expensive though - but for a car that's worth this much is it really worth worrying about saving a few hunder quid on tuning boxes, not that I'm knocking them I'm sure they offer a big difference trouble is I've read too many problems with them and the remap is safer.

I' am absolutely gobsmacked what a difference the extra 20bhp / 30nm torque has made. There's not much difference in the 0-60 but the mid range is amazing, it's like having a different car. 4th gear pull 50-75 is rapid, and the power just keeps on coming. You wont regret buying one of these, a lot lot rarer than your average bmw / audi you see on the road, and a great looking car - but then again I'm biased....

I've bought the aero today(pick it up next week) and was lucky enough to find one with the hirsch 200 bhp kit already fitted from new....thanks for your advice!