Used Car of the Day: Save This 2009 Saab 9-3 From the Scrap Heap

by Tim Healey

Published: March 30th, 2023

used car of the day save this 2009 saab 9 3 from the scrap heap

This 2009 Saab 9-3 Combi is for sale for just $600.

That's because it has 265K miles on the clock and needs work -- including new brakes. But it runs well otherwise, according to the owner. It has an automatic transmission.

Apparently, the A/C and heated seats work, and the tires are only a few months old.

There's also a lot of cosmetic damage, mostly scratches, a balky sunroof, an unreliable Bluetooth connection, an exhaust leak, and an inaccurate speedo.

Perhaps this would make a good project car for the Saab fan in your life.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 17 comments

TheEndlessEnigma on Mar 31, 2023

The tires are worth more than than rest of the car. IT's also a Michigan car, probably has unreported frame rust problems.

1 Reply
Tassos on May 03, 2023

Such crappy dirt-cheap cars should be donated to charity, OR, better, donated to MEXICO, where a mechanic's time is cheap. SHould NOT stay in the USA.

Alternatively, CUBAN mechanics have been very ingenius keeping 50s US POS running forever. The price is right for them.

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