1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
The 1996 900SE you are considering is a very different car than the 1993. It may be a better car for you (where you say you are not a "car buff"), because it is somewhat more modern and may require less DIY knowledge to keep on the road. Still safe + nice to drive. There are pros + cons to both. 1993 was the last year for the c900 (except the convertible in '94). 94-98 is the NG900, the later years of these are apparently quite reliable (predate the sludge issues that start to crop up in the 9-3s), and completely worthless on the used market - exactly what you might be looking for! I would avoid early model years and the V6.
WRT to the car you just passed up: AC, radio, etc are irrelevant. If these are make or break issues for you, you're looking at the wrong car. Dead AC will not leave you stranded! You have to go into it prepared to be fixing a whole whack of stuff in the next few years. With the right indy, or DIY, it is manageable + potentially very rewarding to own a c900, and they can be very reliable, but the newest ones are 16 years old and all kinds of stuff will break eventually! Fortunately these cars are good to work on!
Keeping that in mind, the only thing that matters is rust. A rust free car is worth fixing. A rusted out car is a parts car. Good condition major items (engine, tranny, etc) are important as well, but *anything* is worth fixing if the car is free of rust. Along these lines, original paint is important too - Saab factory paint is incredible stuff. A repaint (aside from collision/safety implications) is likely to rust faster once it starts.
Our daily driver is a 1993 900s. The car you looked at likely had the NA 2.1L engine, for which you need to carefully check out the history or risk headgasket issues (ours has been apart a few times), see Townsend's website + search this board for more info. If you get a car with that engine, I recommend flushing the coolant, switching to Mercedes coolant, lower temperature thermostat + fan switch (as per Townsend). I know you were looking at a manual, but be aware that the automatic is essentially a timebomb - if babied, it can last, but you probably don't want it. Imho, the c900 to own is a turbo 2.0L manual, but good ones are getting scarce and going up in price now.
If you are just getting into Saabs, try out a few different models over the years so you get an idea what you care about most, and research the boards here on Saabnet. You may find the newer Saabs are a little more cost effective (vs c900 or 9000) if you are not very DIY inclined. The upfront cost of the car is not the whole picture!
James...
posted by 67.158.71...
, Sun, 10 May 2009 08:08:16
, Sun, 10 May 2009 20:18:54
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