The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine) | 12/12 Make Amazon Pay Saabnet!
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 03:58:40 GMT
From: wwwnopsamus-technologies.com (Dean Malandris)
Subject: Re: The joy of owning a Saab.  Do they build their planes as well as this?


On Wed, 4 Aug 1999 19:00:05 +0100, just as I was about to see how much duct tape you REALLY need to stop a gerbil from exploding, "Sara Davis" <saranopsamis45.swinternet.co.uk> distracted me by babbling thusly: >Can someone enlighten me as to whether I just got (extremely) unlucky or >whether this is the common joy of Saab motoring everywhere? I don't know what to say... we have two SAABS in the garage, one is a 1986 8-valve 2,0L auto 900 sedan I got for my mum back in 1994 when the 3,0L BMW was going through too much fuel for her short trips, and the other is a 1990 16V 2,0L turbo 900 convertible which I bought in October last year to replace my old faithful BMW E21 manual sports sedan (what a great hoon car THAT was!). So now we have two SAABs instead of 2 BMWs. On the auto car, it's got 145.000km on it and has had nothing but the regular oil, plugs, filters, etc. Only now, in the next week or two, am I going to rebuild the power steering rack to stop a slight leak. Disgusting... not needing major work every week (unlike the Alfa GTV I once had which needed SOMETHING to be worked on every week. Great driver's car but love/hate relationship). As for my turbo cab, it developed a severe leak in the power steering (Saginaw 3000 rack) so I rebuilt that, and I am going to replace the water coolant pump as it's developed a slight leak and I want to catch it early. Apart from that, it's been trouble-free and I drive it just as hard as I used to drive the E21. Difference is, where the E21 used to be a raging, shrieking animal (and make no mistake, I LOVED that), the 900 just does it elegantly and without getting fussed. Bit disgusting, all that unruffled grace. Anyway, the point is, the SAABs have been no better or worse than the BMWs or the Volvo we had. I won't mention the Australian cars we had because they simply don't rate - I buy with engineering as my criterion, not the way it looks or brand image. No car we have had did NOT have a leak in the power steering (always bought second-hand vehicles) and so, to be honest, rebuilding a rack or changing a water pump is par for the course for me. When I bought my turbo cab in October last year it had 74.500km on it. Now it has 92.000km on it and with the odd business trip to Melbourne (interstate) will probably clock up as much over the next twelve months as it has over the first five years of its life. What it boils down to is this: SAABs are beautifully engineered vehicles (as are BMW, Mercedes, Peugot, etc etc etc.) There is no such thing as a brand which is perfect, or the ultimate car. Anyone that says so is an idiot. If ANY vehicle is maintained reasonably well, it will serve you for a long time. If not maintained, well, what do you expect. Complex vehicles like these are more of a pain in the arse to correct major work on if the previous owner has abused it, and obviously it's in your best interests to get a "nice" one if buying second-hand. In my case, I had to fly up to Brisbane (again interstate, different direction) to find mine, but upon driving it back I was glad I had spent that little bit of extra time and money. Of course I could have been unlucky and blown a head gasket or snapped a CV joint in the middle of the mountain ranges; that's the luck of the draw. No matter how good you are mechanically, shit happens, as they say. So I would say you were unlucky. Not much consolation, I know. But speaking from my own experiences with several marques (from the spanner and driving end, both for my own and friend's cars) I will quite happily keep running these two vehicles until it's time to change. After that, though, I don't think I myself will have another SAAB. Not that there's anything wrong with them, as I have said. But my classic 900 turbo is immaculate, has all the suspension and body bits on it to make it go round corners, HARD, and after winding up the turbo boost, never fails to evoke a "SHEEEEEEYIT!!!!" response from clients silly enough to ride with me. I look at the GM-family cars that came after the Classic 900, and well, I lose heart. They are beuatiful cars, but they do not inspire me. And my nature is that I can't get another of the same car twice, otherwise why get rid of it in the first place, so I will most likely get into another BMW or similar next time. But only because beautifully esoteric models like the Classic 900 are no longer made by SAAB.

Return to Main Index
StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]