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Re: What's a good 900 for a student, and what to look for? Posted by Saana88 [Email]  (#207)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Saana88) on Fri, 26 Nov 2004 19:08:56
In Reply to: What's a good 900 for a student, and what to look for?, JohnD, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:37:35 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
My college car was a BASE 900. There's just less stuff to break.
'91-'93 had head gasket issues- either get one that's already been done or plan to change it and the thermoswitch and the thermostat, and replace coolant every other year. They're not unreliable, just very, very picky.
8 valve cars will get significantly worse fuel mileage in cold weather and are kinda finnicky, but get them so they are happy and you're good to go.
16 valve cars breathe better, and although the parts (air mass meter, etc.) may be more expensive they are slightly more reliable in my experience.
Transmissions are the achilles heel of the 900. If you test drive a car and it pops out of gear or blocks them entirely or grinds excessively or howls at you under load at 45-55 miles an hour, walk away. On the later boxes ('91 onward) take a long enough test drive (15-20 minutes) to make sure it doesn't suddenly start losing gears when things warm up.
1990 and up saw indtroduction of ABS and air bags on all cars. Keep the brake fluid clean and they are very reliable. The insurance discount helps.
900s are safe; I've crashed two, both moderate side impacts on the driver's side. I walked away. VERY strong cars, especially in the vicinity of the doors, sills, and firewall. Other posters have rolled them; the windshield pillars are made out of 2.5 millimeter thick tube steel. I'm a structural engineer (HIRE ME!!!) just out of school.
Keep an eye on the bottom of the doors in NY; knock on them to make sure they're not all painted duct tape or filler material. They are fairly rust-resistant cars, but I've encountered numerous used car sellers trying to hide some serious rot. Then again, I live in NY and my 900 is seventeen years old and is just starting to rust. Look at the wheel well lips, doors, trailing lower edges of the hood, corners of the trunklid, the spare tire well under the trunk floor, and even though it's replaceable, the fuel door.
If you're looking at 5 speeds, the gearboxes were at their best in 1989 and 1990. Older gearboxes were reliable as long as the fluids are kept new, but there comes a time when things break. Newer boxes have revised shift forks that are not as durable, but will be okay if treated well.
If you're looking at automatics, you shouldn't. Or you can be like me and spend an entire semester break doing automatic to manual conversion after you throw it in reverse to back out of the driveway to go home for thanksgiving and.... nothing.
Fifteen minutes later, the car and gearbox warm up and there's the familiar THUDDDDD! and you're in reverse.
I really don't recommend the auto in a college car, or for anyone at all. It's not that we don't get along, how can I put this? They're crap. The sound of my motor spinning ridiculously high revs on my way to/from school kept me awake, but it also got horrible fuel mileage and couldn't get out of its own way.
So no autos, okay?
posted by 69.67.22...
, Fri, 26 Nov 2004 19:08:56 <-- Viewing This Message
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