Used Car Of The Day: 1999 Saab 9-3

by Tim Healey

Published: February 18th, 2026

Today's used car is project, there's no doubt. Remember, the point of this feature is for the car to be interesting, not a trailer queen. Anyway, if you have time, money, and a healthy enjoyment of pain, this 1999 Saab 9-3 might be for you.

This one does apparently start and run, though it needs a catalytic converter. The seller says the parts and frame are solid.

This one apparently has no rust.

You can find it for $499 in Cleveland. Click here for more.

[Images: Seller]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#UCOTD #UsedCaroftheDay #Saab #1999Saab93 #Saab93

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.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 12 comments

MaintenanceCosts on Feb 19, 2026

Another Junkyard Find by another name. The key parts don't even seem to be in good enough shape for this to be a good parts car.

4 Reply
Mnemic on Feb 19, 2026

This has junkyard written all over it. There's an old youtube video of a guy that bought a red one of these and the video is about how to "spruce up an old car to sell it" and he literally spray paints the seats and other interior trim, he blew off the peeling clear coat with compressed air and then wiped new clear coat over the spots. It was all greasy used car sales tricks. I can find it if anyone is so inclined...

2 Reply

Recent Comments

Andarris Here in the Toronto area I haven't seen a 2006-2012 with intact rocker pannels for over two years now. I presume everywhere around the Great Lakes is the same ? They were super cheap dhring the first two years of the pandemic - could get one with less than 85K for around $6500 certified or a little higher mileage for $5000. Glad I skipped it, even in 2021 some of the 10's &11's were displaying corosion like you'd see on a 7 year older Impala, Camry or Accord. Also the mid-model switch to EPS made me balk at the few clean ones I found.
Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh I do not ever have delays. I only fly out of PDX or EUG to LAS or OAK and OGG then back .. have never been delayed in the last ?30-ish? trips to vegas/disneyland/maui/cruise ship vacations.... EUG has contract tsa so we never have any TSA delays. unsure which airports have PRIVATE contract TSA that is UNAFFECTED by the deadlock that i HOPE NEVER EVER END.
Big Al from Oz gidday mites how are yall feelin today? Want to have a barbie? We are right here gettin dee fire ready
Michael S6 The 3 Amigos better hope that the oil spike is short lived as 4-5 dollar a gallon gas would put a damper on their cash cows especially "Ford's strategic shift" of killing off the escape/Lincoln cousin. Most other automakers have a full line of vehicles with much better full economy. GM is sucking air and its Cadillac devision is mostly EV and geriatric line up of ICE cars and SUV's that were supposed to be phased out this year. The expensive gas may push shoppers toward EV but GM's horrible EV reliability is a barrier.
Tane94 I read the GM press release about first quarter sales 2026 vs 2025 and Buick is getting its butt kicked:Buick Total* 41,654 61,822 -32.6 The future is bleak for Buick.