Date: 1 Sep 2005 17:07:41 -0700 From: "SmaartAasSaabr" <smaartaassaabrnospaml.com> Subject: Re: SAAB Quality Since GM?
What about the Buick 3800? Bulletproof, great fuel efficiency (30mpg in a full-sized car with automatic trans), great torque and power. Great engine. Or hell, I have a Saab 900 SE V6, 1994 model. Whatever people may say, it is a car that drove 190 k miles through the Northeast and still remains rust free (some bubbling near rear wheel well) and overall seems to be in excellent condition, even the leather and steering wheel. The only problem is I can't get it to start. But the engine turns over fine. Oddly the engine has about twice as much oil in the crankcase as it should (the dipstick is way up...) although this is fresh clean oil, not like if a headgasket blew. If I ever had the time to diagnose the thing, I bet I could drain the oil and it would fire up... I don't know where all the complaints of unreliability of any Saab post-C900 or 9k come from, but really these cars are solidly made and durable. Do the power steering racks go every 100k miles? Do the gearboxes grenade themselves at 120k? Do the dashboards show more crack than a plumber after 10 years? Do the headgaskets blow every 150 k miles? Do the frame rails near the front suspension mounts hold so much mud and crap that they rust out and render the car a piece of scrap metal after 15 years? Do the wiper linkages break and leave you with no wipers just that day when you need the wipers on HI just to barely see anything while driving 20 miles per hour on an Interstate? Oh and heater valves and crumbling wiring and... Don't get me wrong at all - I love the C900. My personal car is a 1990 Turbo. I also have a 1989 900 turbo, a mint 1990 900 S, a near-mint 1992 900 S (the 3 of which I'd like to sell) and also a 1987 SPG I've been stealing parts from. They are great road cars that are a joy to own, and even - work on. The 900 SE isn't technically mine either. And the C900 is a very well put together car. How many other 20 year old cars do you see going about their business? A few Mercedes but that's it... And they are very resistant to rust, comparitively speaking. But I can't go out and say that anything else produced by Saab is a junk car.
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