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: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:19:19 -0300
From: Dexter J <lamealameadingdongnopsamlamelame.org>
Subject: Re: Opinions Please..


Salutations: Grunff wrote: > > Dexter J wrote: > > > While we very much love the SAAB for handling, comfort and safety, the > > 300TD offers seven passenger seating at the expense of comfort and handling > > - it's like piloting the Tirpiz from the test drive and just as safe I'll > > bet.. > > I'd agree with you there - big old Merc estates are great cars, > just not much fun to drive. I personally couldn't live with one. > But they're *beautifully* engineered - no nonsense engineering > at it's finest. > > Are 9000s that thin on the ground where you are? You can't go > anywhere without tripping over one round here... > > -- > Grunff Hey brother Grunff - you were right about the unpleasant threads - glad I was busy otherwise.. And yes sort of thin - but not just 10+ year old SAAB examples - it's the sodium bargain with the devil we have to make round here.. Nova Scotia is sort of a small isthmus into the North Atlantic and thusly we have a very active freeze thaw cycle through the winter such that the highways folks are forced to pretty much bury all the roads in an inch of rock salt come late fall, reapplying to maintain safe depth from about Nov 1 through May 1 - when they then have to reroll most roads to push the heaves back down and, of course, bring in the tandems to fill in the pot holes where they had pushed down the heaves the previous year.. I can't find it, but there is a spring picture of the road up to our campground that looks almost exactly like those old shots you see of Flanders during the first world war.. Complete with rusty barbed wire, dead trees and what looks for all the world like a pair of facing trenches that have been shelled with rail guns.. In short - it's absolute hell on bodies and chassis around here and most locals swear you can actually go out on quiet nights and hear the salt cooking your machine.. Assuming you haven't blow off an engine mount or broken a coil in your travels through the fall/winter/spring - you can expect to find at least one rust hole (pin right up to custom air vent) come spring.. Consequently - there are very few examples of 8 or 9 years old cars of any kind that don't (or won't shortly) need substantial chassis and body work (including the 300TD) - and the very few pre '93 SAAB 9000's that aren't already knackered are cared for lovingly and not usually for sale, or for sale at fairly steep prices given the love and care that has been lavished upon them to clear annual safety inspections (MOT) to this point .. For example, there is an OK - not great - but OK Anniversary 9000 on the blocks for $12,000 (CDN) that we were looking at until I saw the tell tale oil pooling around a fresh passenger side engine mount AND a slightly rough welding patch just behind the rear wheel well on the drivers underside.. There are of course several good 95's and even a couple of OK NG900 - but again - prices start in the 4.5k range for non-turbo automatic 900's with cloth and worn springs/shocks.. The Mercedes turbo wagon does have curb appeal for us and around the same fuel mileage on diesel interestingly - but I will make the leap that work on it will very expensive - perhaps more expensive than the SAAB.. So - I really wondering if my estimates for parts or service on my current 9000 is way off because based on current research, I might be able to pretty much restore and customize my current SAAB for about the same $6,200 it will take to buy this Mercedes - which no doubt will require about the same kind of work I'm looking at for the SAAB now in another season or two.. Is the 89 9000T CD 'the one', if you get the reference.. Can I invest in a proper job now before it's too late body wise and end up with another 300,000k?.. Or - is it again time to put a round between the headlights and move on to the next machine? It's a sour pickle that has to be dealt with soon one way or the other brother Grunff - my toe in current changes about 1.5 on both sides every time I hit the brakes above 60kph - but you can't quite hear the control arms binding because of the pretty much open pipe under the passenger seats.. Arrggggg - why? -- WHY damn it -- is it always the pretty ones?.. -- J Dexter - webmaster - http://www.dexterdyne.org/ all tunes - no cookies no subscription no weather no ads no news no phone in - RealAudio 8+ Required - all the Time Radio Free Dexterdyne Top Tune o'be-do-da-day Rose Royce - Car Wash http://www.dexterdyne.org/888/072.RAM

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]