Date: 18 Sep 2001 03:18:47 -0700 From: johsnopsamanytime.co.uk (Johannes H Andersen) Subject: Re: Help! About to become a SAAB owner?
danny <dannynopsamia-esprezzo.com> wrote in message news:<3BA5C63A.5AA526Anopsamia-esprezzo.com>... > The Grand Poobah wrote: > > > Help me! > > > > My wife wants us to buy a 1996 9000 CS 5dr hatch LPT. Has anyone had any > > problems with this particular model? I've got to admit, I like the look of > > it but judging from this group, SAABs are either the best car you will ever > > own or total lemons. There doesn't seem to be anything in between. > > > > Has lots of fancy features like sunroof, dual airbags, cd stacker etc (no > > leather). 143,000 km on clock (about 90,000 miles). > > > > > > I own a '91 9000 CDS and have friends that own/have owned other Saabs. I > disagree with your description. Saabs are generally more reliable than some > other marques. There are plenty of Saabs with high mileage, and alway run > well, and there are cars like mine that have the"usual" faults to be expected > with a car that has 130,000 miles. The important thing is servicing. Saabs > can go on for ever, and some probably have with little servicing, but generally > speaking, certain jobs *must* be done, if the car is to become one of the high > mileage examples. On the 2.3 engines looking after the cooling system is quite > high priority, as the head is prone to damage if overheated (but no worse than > on other cars I've owned.) The timimg chain (and balancer chain) must be > renewed at the correct mileage or when they appear slightly noisy (and there > are plenty of other cars that suffer far worse if the cam belt isn't > religiously changed at the correct service interval - Vauxhall Omega for > instance). Very regular oil changes will help enormously, as will changing the > plugs a little more frequently than is recommended. Most cars will live to > 100,000 miles with little attention, but don't expect them to get to 200 or > 300,000 miles, like Saabs regularly do. > > The bottom line is the service history - make sure it's got a good history. Be > prepared to carry out regular servicing (and this doesn't have to be expensive > main agent servicing for the most part), and the car will outlast plenty of > others. Saabs are superb cars to drive - in the same class as Mercedes or BMW, > and yes, they are a little idiosynchratic, but that's good :) I second all that. Buying any second hand car is always hit and miss, you have to be on your guard and judge the possible trade-off between a low purchase price and possible restoration repairs. It is quite likely that the seller has skipped some items of repairs lately, why should he throw money out of the window? On the other hand, the 9000 CS/CSE is such a unique practical/stylish/sporty car that it is worth bringing it back up to scratch. The car is superbly built with high quality body/paint materials. But don't pay too much for that mileage/age of the car. Then you will have money left for necessary maintenance work. Johannes
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