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Posted by Todd Remsburg (more from Todd Remsburg) on Mon, 15 Apr 2002 10:47:28
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00

My dad brought home a '74 99, and I loved the car from the git-go. My
dad had always been quirky when it came to cars, and can be proven by the
fact that for most of my childhood, we had 2 Peugeots (2 403's, then a 504).
Ack. But he also was ahead of the curve, as he's only driven on steel-betled
radials since the early 60's, and all of his cars have had rack-and-pinion
steering. The first thing that struck me was the velour seats - damn, they
were comfy, not freezing in the winter, and non-sticky in the summer.
(Remember when vinyl was standard? Ugh.) The FWD made it great in the snow,
although it took some time to re-learn how to drive in the white stuff. But
not having to worry about getting stuck more than made up for that.

Then Saab came out with the turbo in '78, and that was the clincher.
Finally in 1983 I could afford it, and bought a new 900 turbo 3-door, black
of course. My first (and probably last) new car, especially with prices now.
Put a sunroof deflector on it, and the mottled-black Shelby wheels, and made
it my own. That car was a rock overall, and I'd still be driving it as my
winter beater if I hadn't pulled out in front of someone from behind 10-foot
snow embankments. Oh well, it was a good ride while it lasted . . .

Laid off in the early 90's, so I bought the used lumber from a 3-million
gallon water tower and built my house. Only reason to mention that is
because I put a 4-car garage (double-deep) on it, to hold the (future) Saab
stable. 24' X 40' : now that's a garage (no drooling, out there<insert
ToolMan grunting sounds here>). When I got back to work, I found an '88
9000t from Texas to take over the commuting duties. Bought her with 100K,
and she now has a second 100K, and will continue as the winter beater until
she buys the farm.

Back in 1998, the wife wanted a new Saab : I said no, not paying more
than $20K for a car that will be worth squat in 5 years. I told her if she
can find a new one for under $20K, we'll buy it. I'll be gol(-danged, the
very next week in the Boston Globe is the ad - brand new 3-door turbo 'S'
coupe for $19,995.00 delivered. Well, she rubbed my nose in it, and the next
thing I know I'm at the dealership. We found out the special was for a 900 S
turbo coupe, which was kinda 'stripped' compared to the way most were being
bought : cloth seats (still my preference), no ACC, plain cassette stereo -
but what surprised me was no sunroof. It was an 'S' model, as well as a
turbo - but now no sunroof? My first thought? Blame GM. Changing Saab's
traditional badging and standard equipment - gee, must be about stripping
options out, and charging for them one at a time to build profit. But she
HAD to have the sunroof - er, excuse me, MOONroof - so we didn't quite make
it under the $20K mark. We still have her rose-quartz '86 turbo, so her new
'98 never saw salt.

Last year, she got a new job, and cut her commute 35 miles EACH way.
Combine that with her raise, and she got the new-car itch again. This time
she brings up a Viggen (yes, I trained her well). I've been lusting after
that 2.3 turbo engine ever since Saab brought it out, so this was somewhat
of an easier sell for her this time. But I balked at $40K : heck, I just
gave in to $20K 3 years before, and now she wants to DOUBLE that. I said no,
ain't happenin'. She persisted, so I agreed to look for a slightly used one.
We had driven a 3-door steel-grey at Gary Blake's in Exeter, NH (as good a
dealer as I've found), and liked the color. So here on old Saabnet
classifieds, we found another 3-door in the same color, w/6700 miles for
$30K - and it was a 2001. I had already conceded I would have to buy a '99
or 2000. So we bought it. Hadn't even sold the '98 yet. I then spent a
couple hundred bucks on newspaper ads - not one call. A week later, we get a
call, from a couple looking to buy a used 900 turbo coupe. They had been
referred to us by the salesman at Gary Blake, the very salesman who showed
us (but DIDN'T get to sell us) a new Viggen, since we bought used. But the
couple wanted a 3-door 900 turbo, and Blake's had none to show them, so he
remembered us and gave them our phone number. I'd call that service
above-and-beyond the call of duty, especially since they got nothing out of
it except our good will - and that's kind of why I mention it whenever I
can. The couple came right over to check it out. They were driving an '85
3-door 900 S - heck, not even 16 valves. When we uncovered it in the garage
and they saw how immaculate it was, I knew they'd buy it after they drove
it. We didn't even ride along with them, just told them to take it up the
by-pass and let her rip. The next day they called, and asked if our price
($14K, w/46K) was firm. We said yes, and they said sold. Her '98 had not
seen salt - and it showed.

So now we are the happy owners of a Viggen. I do love the ooomph that car
has, but the torque- and camber-steer (as I have learned to call it, from
here and the BB) are considerable. It takes some getting used to, and one
better have a firm grip on the wheel - and with both hands. From here, I
learned of the Viggen Rescue Pack, and may do that in the future. I am a
little pissed that a $38K car needs a $1K modification. I will probably put
on 225-wide tires next time, and see if that helps a bit. I have learned
quite a bit from here on that car, and the sharing of others' experiences
has benefitted me greatly. As we bought the Viggen used, we did notice some
vibrations, but they were very subtle, and inconsistent, and not associated
with specific speeds. As it turned 10K just before we put it away for the
winter, we had the dealership give it the 10K service, rotate the tires, and
check for the vibrations we were noticing. As soon as they rotated the
tires, the source of the vibrations became obvious : 3 of the 4 rims were
out-of-round, 2 badly. When we picked it up, it was almost un-driveable.
Obviously, someone had worked hard to hide that fact, as the one good one
and best-of-the-rest were on the front, and the 2 worst on the back. I'd bet
they even tried to balance them more while on the car, to make it as
unnoticeable as possible. And on top of the vibration, we noticed some
peeling of the finish, silver stuff that flaked off. So over this winter, I
read the BB archives, and learned of the Viggen wheel problems. I'd bet none
of the car manufacturers are too fond of this Internet thang, as it allows
us (the 'rabble') to share information that previously only they (the
'elite') had. And let's face it, in knowledge there is power. I want to
thank those of you who 'ran the gauntlet' before me, and who laid the
groundwork with Saab to address this problem. My experience was pleasant
because of your diligence and persistence. I called Saab Customer Service,
got a service number, and had my dealer (Blake) check my wheels. All 4 were
replaced under warranty, and one even had curb rash from a poor
parallel-parking job. No arguments, no hassles. Oh, they didn't have any in
stock (well, 2), and it was a Friday, so they kept it and let us have the
'02 9-3 for the weekend. I'll give my impressions of it sometime in the
future, if I haven't worn out my welcome here . . . I still worry that I
have soft wheels (another reason for the 225's), but the wife wanted to keep
the standard Viggen look. I'd have been happy getting different style
wheels, but not if I was gonna have to pay out of my own pocket.

Sorry for the length here - I can ramble, eh? But with the low volume, I
thought the time might be right. Glad to meet all of you regulars here, and
look forward to learning more and discussing all things Saab. I live in
Derry, NH and belong to NESA, so maybe I'll get to actually meet some of you
through them.

Todd R.
'86 Saab 900t coupe, 178K
'88 Saab 9000t, 205K
'01 Viggen, 10K
[the following are a product of my Automotive Mid-life Crisis ... <shrug>]
'92 Taurus SHO, 72K, K&N, 2.5 ' exhaust w/hi-flo cats, K&N, chip
'95 Taurus SHO, 46K, no mods, no options
'94 Eagle Talon AWD turbo, 71K (what's torque-steer?)
[I drove nothin' but Saabs for 15 years . . . I kinda went loco for a while
. . . but I'm feeling MUCH better now . . .;)]
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