2002 Saab 9-3 Convertible

2002 Saab 9-3 2.0 Turbo Automatic Convertible

110,000 miles with a 40,000 mile engine fitted in 2021 by RTJ.
Remapped by Noob Tune 220bhp.

This car has quite a funny story… I found it on Facebook, and my good friend Paul (who has helped me collect a number of cars in the past, a fully paid up Geoffista but someone who hadn’t up until July 2021 been a Saab owner) was fairly local to this blue 9-3 Turbo. So I asked if he didn’t mind popping along to buy it for me, and he said he’d love to! I transferred the money over to Paul and asked him to send me some photos when he had the car. I waited…. and waited…. and waited… and finally I sent him a Whatsapp saying something along the lines of ‘Oi I am about to report my car stolen’ with a jokey face, and he very coyly sent some photos over. He then proceeded to tell me the car was very nice, and that I wasn’t having it back.

This was a bit of a spanner in the works, because in true Geoff style I’d already announced via email that a Saab 9-3 Turbo was coming in for a giveaway! This was around the time the Citroen XM popped up for sale, so the timing actually worked in my favour. A deal was hashed out with Paul to buy the Saab from me (or pay for it, as he already had it on his driveway!) and he became the new owner. With the money, I toddled off and bought the Citroen instead.

It would transpire that me not giving the Saab away was a bit of a blessing – for me, not so much for Paul. After falling deeply and madly in love with the Geoff Saab that Geoff Never Saw, Paul started to have a few problems with it. To cut a long story short, Paul ended up replacing the engine with a rebuilt 40,000 mile from RTJ Saab Specialists, which was then fettled with a ‘Noob Tune’ to take it to the 220bhp mark.

Paul enjoyed the car for a good six months, but on a recent family day out, the reality of having three children and a two door convertible finally hit home – you can’t take many bikes in a soft top, and Paul needed something bigger… So what should he do? The Saab owed him more than it was worth, and there was also the faff of selling such a car in January. Paul didn’t want to deal with all the Facebook hagglers offering ‘£500 cash today mate’ and another Geoffista and previous winner James Bellis tagged Geoff Buys Cars in one of Paul’s car sales posts, suggesting that Geoff Buys Cars might swap it for a Volvo Estate. I think the comment from James was intended as a joke, but it popped up on my phone the very day I was collecting a Volvo Estate! A few WhatsApps were exchanged between myself and Paul, and the deal was done. It was a Swedish Swap where he’d end up with a very tidy Volvo V70 with 7 seats and some T5 wheels, and I’d take the Saab back.