Now for more than ten years there has been no production of Saab cars, but even though there are no new ones on the roads around the world, there are still many Saab cars of various models cruising around the world.
Of course, the most represented among them is certainly the Saab 9-3 with various equipment variations and different engines. In Europe, it may be dominated by Saab cars with diesel engines, while in North America only Saab cars with gasoline engines were sold.
We have already written on this blog about the number of Saab cars around the world, and the fact that there are still hundreds of thousands of them tells us that there is still a good service network and that all spare parts are available for Saab cars, even though the parent company has long since ceased to exist.
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Are Saab 9-3 Reliable?
Existing owners of Saab cars already have their own service centers where they regularly maintain these cars, and it is known that Saab cars are generally very reliable if they are only regularly serviced. Existing owners of Saab cars already have their own service centers where they regularly maintain these cars, and it is known that Saab cars are generally very reliable if they are only regularly serviced. Also, over time, they found their own sources for Saab spare parts, as they leave it to the employees of the nearest service centers.
Are Saab cars expensive to service?
However, many potential future owners of Saab cars, i.e. those who just intend to buy used Saab cars, are most concerned about spare parts. Actually, they are worried about two things, are there spare parts for Saab cars, and are spare parts for Saab cars expensive?
The answer to the first question is positive – there are enough spare parts for Saab cars, and there are especially spare parts for the most popular Saab 9-3 model. In all countries where Saab cars used to be sold, all spare parts are available locally, and thanks to globalization, even if you don’t have a spare part locally, you can very quickly get it from a large number of Saab spare parts online stores.
Now, how high are the prices of spare parts for Saab cars, especially for the Saab 9-3 as the most popular model? Saab 9-3 as a compact luxury vehicle appeared on the market in 1998, and production lasted until 2014. The car was produced in two generations. The first generation was based on the General Motors 2900 platform, while the second used the General Motors Epsilon platform, where the Opel Vectra car stands out as the most popular representative. Precisely because of this fact, that Saab shares a platform with other GM car models, it also shares a large number of spare parts with cars that did not belong to the premium class at the time of production.
Most of the parts for Saab were produced by numerous global suppliers such as Delphi, Bosch, Siemens, Bremmo and similar manufacturers, so these and many other companies from Europe and China produce spare parts for all these GM-compatible car models. Because of this, they are easily available and not expensive, so it can be said that as far as spare parts are concerned, the Saab 9-3 is much cheaper to service compared to rivals such as the BMW 3 Series or the Audi A4.
The only major difference in the servicing of Saab cars can be the differences in the price of the work of local service centers. If there is a Saab service center in your area, you can inquire about the price of a service hour. This is the price that varies the most globally, so somewhere servicing prices are quite expensive and in these environments car owners often decide to service their Saabs themselves.
Existing owners of the Saab 9-3 believe that the best ratio of economy and power is provided by the 2.0 turbo petrol engines. However, some claim that they can be weak, so they recommend aggregates with larger volumes, which are characterized by greater power, but also increased consumption and more expensive registration. Saab Diesel engines are characterized by excellent economy, so in Europe, buyers mainly choose Saabs with 1.9 TiD and TTiD engines.
In short, are spare parts for Saab cars expensive, and is it expensive to service Saab cars?
In short, spare parts for Saab cars, and especially for Saab 9-3, are easily available (both new and used from the scrap yard), spare parts are not expensive, but the price of a service hour varies and can be a deterrent from buying a Saab car.
parts are NOT all still available esp for convertible models ! many parts are now NLA !!
and no underhood insulation for many years
No, they are on line with parts for Ford, GM, at least in Norway
One of the reasons I still have and drive SAAB cars is a friend who has direct access to the spare parts of ORIO.
Back in the days SAAB was still around it was harder for an independent person to get a status of spare parts distributor but after the bankrupty it became obvious that ORIO and SAAB drivers need these kind of distributors.
If I’d go for a Volvo or similar I’d have to find a direct source for the spare parts which I presume to be quite challenging.
That’s one of those reasons I still own and drive SAABs – besides loving them as well 😉
If anyone wants to get onto buying parts for Saab’s, try living in Tropical Queensland where it’s summer 52 weeks a year.
Obtaining parts are my worst nightmare, but E-Bay can usually look after the small stuff. Up here, the relentless sun does the most damage and so all 0lastic or rubber perishes overnight, but I’ve contacted 5he U.K.who in-turn have gone to Sweden to get parts for me! I find that the electrical parts are a pain and drive you crazy, but that’s the love you have for Saab’s. It’s not about being off the road, it’s the inexplicable joy of driving such a wonderful car. I must admit that it’s biggest downfall was G.M. putting their D.N.A. on the car, that was the dagger in its heart!