rich1068

Quick update. Did the deed on Sunday. Exhaust blowing a bit, check engine light on, heaters don't work, 850 quid, love it A couple of not very good pictures. All the way back from Peterborough up the A1 to Sheffield with the roof down. Doing it properly 👍

1999 Saab 9-3 2.0i S Auto Convertible. Slow but uncomplicated. It's a birthday present to myself (50 in October) and will be (I hope) a high days and holidays car. Looks pretty good in the photos but obviously you never know until you see in the flesh. Cheap as chips so if it all goes Pete Tong I don't get too badly burned. No service history other than the last one but MOT history looks good, spoke to the testing station and they said there was nothing to really worry about and they did the last service too. And totally unrelated to the selling dealer which I always find reassuring. £140 for 6 months tax and £170 for classic insurance. If anyone is wondering why I'd choose something like that for a mid-life crisis car, I have a 5yo 7yo and 10yo. Anything smaller or with less seats and it would never get used! Anyone want to chip in with Saab related tales of woe? Bearing in mind I spent most of last light looking up hood faults.

Even better than that, it's the all petrol, all natural 3ltr 2JZ. None of that hybrid malarky

Deep pockets for the inevitable gearbox fail (though many out there have already had a rebuild) and shares in Shell are advised. The 2.5 is supposed to be a peach. The 3.2 is out there too but higher tax like the V8. Shame about the no diesel thing though. The D5 could tow the Ark Royal.

How big is the scratch? I got a little nick about half to three quarters of an inch long on my IS wheels and as it turned out silver Smoothrite was a perfect match 👍 You wouldn't see it unless you were looking.

Lexus Sheffield sourced an OEM kit for my '02 IS 300. Might be worth a phone call. Ask for Russell in Parts.

Agreed. There'll be one or two harumphing about the price but I'd certainly pay that for an as new "they don't make them like that anymore" motor. 👍

Gadgets ahoy! Might look into one of these.

Bloody hell. Am I jealous much? Just a bit! Enjoy your new motor. And more pictures would be nice

Neither did I! That makes things much easier.

I'm looking forward to trying my 400h in the snow this year. Hopefully we'll get some. But at the risk of awakening the car forum Kraken it's going to be all about the tyres. Put decent all seasons or winters on and you could drive virtually anything in the snow. Hell, keep the LS, put some skinny winters on it and post the videos here Vehicle aside for a second I ran Nokian winters for a couple of years and then Pirelli all seasons on our XC90. Like the 400h it ran FWD most of the time (Haldex) and with the winters it was unstoppable in proper deep you're-stupid-driving-in-that snow and never had any problems with the all seasons but just took things a little more steady. I'd imagine the 400h will be much the same Can't comment on the 300 but the 400 is a quiet, comfy cruiser but also has a nice V6 note when you give it some beans. But like most you'll no doubt become obsessed with trying to run it on battery and regenerate when you can. It's extremely addictive. If you ever see a dark grey one silently cruising around Sheffield at about 15mph and holding up the traffic, that's me

Are they getting their engines mixed up? Does the IS300h have a smaller sump than the 200T?

Agreed, a sad loss. One of my favourite not so serious actors. But rather than his various driving movies one of my favourites is the underrated Hustle. Worth seeking out even if it's just for Catherine Deneuve.

Back in the day I had the Corgi model of that.

Haven't really been following this but that's bloody deep for a saloon.