My 15 year old wants to know what the hive thinks of a Saab 9-3, 2.0T, 5-speed wagon!

Yup.  Some of his friends might be getting cars soon, and some of them are looking at manuals.  He finds the Saab wagon to be an interesting, somewhat different choice.  This particular car is, I believe, a 2006, with 175,000 miles (Ooooof!).  It's already had a clutch recently.  Condition appears to be excellent.

So, are these reliable?  Expensive to keep on the road?  If the turbo is puking oil into the intake, is it something I can easily replace, or is it more like a V6 turbo Audi that requires the entire car to be disassembled?

Thanks in advance!

My Dad gave us an 05 9-3 vert stick with 241K miles on it over the summer.  He drove it from Ohio to San Francisco the summer before.  They are OK as long as they are taken care of.  The motor is a SAABised ecotec motor so nothing as scary as and Audi 6.  The turbo is easy to get to.

Epsilon platform (Malibu/G6/Aura) and an ecotec 2.0. I'd think that's not a bad thing for a teens first car.

Is it a lower case or upper case T, there is a 20-30 horse difference.  The title says T, and I would like this car.

Solid Cars. My Aunt ran 2 into the ground (200K+ miles) with nothing out of the norm for maintenance except a strut blew out really early. By 2006, there was only 1 2.0L motor trim, the 210 HP version. Solid buy if the car itself has been taken care of. 

My sister in law has had a 9-3 since new, and as far as I know it's been pretty reliable outside of normal maintenance.  I don't think hers is a turbo, though.

I have one. I like it.  There was a run of these that have bad valves. I don’t know the exact year. But at that millage it would have already failed and been fixed.  

We have had an 04 2.0 t sedan and 2010 2.0T sedan and  2008 2.0T convertible.  They are great cars.  We still have the later 2.  Sedan has 110k and vert has 70k. The old sedan was sold around 160k. They have all been great and pretty easy to diy.  I send a few things out because I don’t have time.  Minor issues that come up are sway bar end links and strut bearings.  Gas gauge gets flakey.  Door hinges need to be lubricated regularly with a ptfe lube.  Oil changes are important for turbo life.  We do 5k. Full syn oil changes.

I use the Mobil one recommended for the car by SAAB or really by GM in this case.  I also run premium fuel (the turbo likes this).  Then you can turn off the traction control.  It is really fun to drive like that.  In the wet, without TC it can get interesting in a hurry.  I also noticed that these have rather large gas tanks. I have been averaging about 24-25 MPG over the last 1400 miles.  Not bad for what it is.  I love the wagon as it can swallow up vast quantities of stuff with ease.  

My car is a 07 wagon with the 2.0 turbo.  What is interesting is they list both a high pressure and low-pressure turbo for this car.  I have the high-pressure one (according to the VIN)

We are not the people to ask. We flock to weird E36 M3.

Boost

Manual

Wagon

hey kid, you got a BMW for your first car!

I know the car you're referring to lol. Had sent it to a buddy who's wife totalled theirs a couple years back. He's been looking for another since.

Things that scared me in my research: ICM/CIM/Steering wheel lock malfunction and some issues with faulty valves. 

The car in question spent most of its early life in the frozen north, so rust may be an issue.  Also, while four owners doesn't seem too many, the last one has owned for barely a year.  I'm a lot less enthusiastic about this particular car.