[Closed] Buying a Saab - Am I Mad?

Yes - you are mad. I've driven a few and they're generally quite dull, although they do waft along. They share GM parts, but I think it may get harder to source specific items in the future.

JP

No but might not be as easy to buy or keep as others but the the effort make make the car extra worthwhile.

You're mad if you think a 9-5 will be exciting, but you're not mad to buy one.
Mines been pretty damn solid, just heavy on suspension components.
It's an uninspiring one trick (having an ok turn of speed) pony but it's only broken down once in nearly 4 years, and that was my fault for putting off replacing something.
And it's vast inside.

Finding parts isn't an issue. Is mostly Vauxhall underneath, and most other things are available from breakers and as pattern parts.

hmm - I've owned a couple of quick ones (Carlsson's) and I would never have described them as dull...

Each to their own I suppose. In fairness mine were pre-GM.

Have a look here: https://www.abbottsaab.com

I’ve owned a couple of Saab 9-3’s and found them excellent.

They are the same chassis and share many suspension and brake components with vectra therefore are extremely cheap to replace general service items.

Don’t worry about the fact they don’t make them anymore. Almost everything is available new still online.

I like there quirkiness.

Hated mine , went back to a V70 D5 very quickly.
mine was the 2.2 Tid model and that engine is agricultural .
Nothing else was good about it , comfy seats , eaasy on the eye , but thats subjective

I really liked my 93 until a series of emissions related problems cropped up. They would have been solved a lot quicker had I gone straight to a Saab specialist as they had the right equipment to find exactly what was up.

I didn't find it any more dull to drive than the alternatives, all modern cars are pretty good.

I replaced it with a van and don't miss having a car at all.

My 900 classic Aero was by far the best car I've ever owned. Only sold due to baby seat not fitting in the back properly and no rear doors. Great to drive, reliable and cheap when it needed fixing.

Unfortunately my 2005 9.5 Aero estate bought many years later as a effort to relive my youth was almost the worst. Drove ok'ish but was comedy unreliable. Eg Abs collars corroded at 2 years old. Sorry sir that's not a warranty item as it's wear and tear...
Total headlight failure at 3 years and 2 months - that will be a new unit sir at 700 plus vat plus labour...and so it went on

Awful car. Shame really as they were great in the early years but the 9-5 was not Thier finest hour

Loved my 93.

It's sat on my drive with 160k on it. Got a mazda 6 to replace it. It's a 30k one owner car but I prefer driving the Saab.....

Stealth add 300 quid and the saabs yours

They share GM parts

Not entirely. My mate had a 9-3 a while back and really struggled to source parts for it as alot of the parts are not shared with other GM models. His power steering pipe was a proper issue, completely bespoke and only available from Sweden direct from the manufacturer at ridiculous money and parts from broken cars were rare as hens teeth for that reason so really struggled to source a second hand part. He ended up botching a repair and ditching the car. Shame, was nice car, but don't make the mistake in thinking that most parts are GM parts.

Got a 9-5 3l tdi estate. It's the comfiest car I've ever been in and fairly nippy despite being the size of a tank. Inside it's absolutely vast. Can get 2 bikes in boot without the seats down.

It's not exciting in any shape or form however.

As for reliability..bought mine for peanuts and had to spend about 700 quid on a part for the fuel pump and a couple of other bits and bobs. But given its done 140k it's to be expected and it's still drives well, no rattling or signs of imminent failure.

There's a low mileage 9-5 in our immediate family.

Lovely car to spend hours in, very comfy and great ergonomics, I did a 500 mile drive in it and got out feeling surprisingly fresh.

I would only buy at the "I can afford to scrap it" price point due to risk of occasional economically irreplaceable bits and I'd have a 2.0 or 2.3 LPT petrol based on driving them and liking petrol.

Not mad buying a 9-3 or 9-5, just probably underwhelmed. Get a proper one like the 900 or even better get an Alfa!

Quite liked my 9-5 estate, was comfy but never was exciting. Was reasonably reliable. Some quirky stuff like night mode which turns all illuminated components off other than speedo (not sure what that’s for) and the most over engineered air vents ever. Traded in for a 3 year old E-Class estate which is also not exciting but has been bullet proof for 10 years since and 200k miles and shows no sign of falling to bits or dying yet despite years of kids and being a rubble/waste carrier to the tip as well as the MTB wagon.

even better get an Alfa!

The OP may not share your excitement about regular electrical and mechanical maintenance on the age of Alfa he will be buying!

There's an NG900 1998 vintage sitting on the drive that's my daily driver and dog transport.It failed once as the crank sensor died otherwise it's been wearable parts only and fuel. It's a disreputable looking beast that gets lots of space in carparks.

This thread inspired me to have a look on eBay - found a really nice green aero convertible not far from me for just £2k. Then I checked the mot history and realised it’s got a list of fails as long as your arm!

Watch out for cracked bulkheads on the 9-3 (not only on the convertible either).

ones (Carlsson’s) and I would never have described them as dull…

Each to their own I suppose. In fairness mine were pre-GM.

I have no experience of the pre GM ones, only the later ones. Mine just drives like a big estate really. There's nothing wrong with it, it's probably just that I came from a string of cheap performance cars. And a Volvo v40. But it's definitely better than that. I had use of a friend's e39 530d wagon for a while, and it's definitely not better than that.

Ironically, as above the only part I've had an issue finding is the PS pipe! That's what caused my RAC call-out (pipe leaked onto the accessory belt and caused it to slip off). Was also a total PITA to fit so is the only work I've got a garage to do in the last 15 years! Other than the clutch on a Clio 172. Because bugger that on axle stands.
If getting a 95 check the sump has been cleaned out and the breathers done, although I believe post Dame Ednas this isn't an issue. It wasn't on mine.
Also check the condition of the front subframe bushes, they're a bit of a pain to do. And look for PS leaks. Mine went on the driver's side by the subframe. Best part of £500 to sort!
Also front and rear bushes go quite regularly, especially drop links.

Seem to remember when I had a 95 for a while you could watch the fuel gauge going down...

The ability to turn off all the instruments bar the Speedo on the dark came from feedback from Swedish Fighter pilots in Saab aeroplanes. Being able to dim their cockpit displays made it easier to spot Soviet submarines in the Baltic.

If the dials need to display something vital, such as you're running out of fuel or overheating then it turns the relevant dial back on.

Seem to remember when I had a 95 for a while you could watch the fuel gauge going down…

Mine averages about 27mpg on the display. Pre Dame Ednas are apparently a bit better for some reason. Also not as hysterically ugly.
I guess it depends what you're used to. I've never had anything diesel or new petrol, so it seems fine tbh.

Oh yeah, the dials thing. It's one of the things that Saab insisted on doing 'because we also make aeroplanes you know, that's how good we are. Did you know we also make aeroplanes?'.
Like the seatbelt light being overhead and making gentle bing bongs.
And then there's the 'can't take the key it unless in reverse, make sure you tell The garage or they might shaft the box trying to force it', because Saab.

I found the night mode quite easy on the eye when doing late night drives - was pretty good to have just the necessary info up on display. This was as owner of a NG900 (and a classic 900 before that).

I think the classic 900 took quite a bit of maintenance, some of the engine layouts weren't easy to get at -- although probably no worse than modern cars really. The NG900 was as above like Sandwich's, was a pretty tatty car by the end (missing hub caps caused a young policeman to stop my wife once when he became suspicious about the state of the car).

It finally grew a long list of MOT fails and advisories. I neglected it more than I should have done, and then started to look after it - it really was a bit of a stealth car, didn't look like much but had a solid feel, and as per above would take a mountain of stuff.

Not sure I'd rush out to get another now though.

Good golly. What a response. Thanks.

It just appears to be a bit of a lottery really, I have never bought a car in this country before. I started with a small list of possible makes/ models based on reliability and cheapness to run as the main concerns, but this was just totally uninspiring. What has happened to car design? All makes (with the exception of a few) appear to be morphing into the same ugly plastiky cheap chromey shiny monstrosity. Yes I am talking about you Honda Civic. A Japanese car would have been first choice but these look pretty vile to me now... I could maybe just about cope with a Toyota Avensis. Honda Accord is another possibility.

Budget is 8k max. I need to be able to get my mtb and snowboard in the back. Sure I'd love an Alfa or Beamer but the upkeep costs will likely be high. I wonder if a Volvo is the next best thing to a Saab? But again is maintenance not quite expensive? No SUV type things.

I've had a 9-3 and now have a boxy '99 V70, the Volvo is better at everything apart from making blue exhaust smoke and wheel spinz.

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Absolutely love my 93-X.

Cavernous boot, comfy seats and 180 bhp. Motorway driving is fab and the overtaking band 70 - 90 isexecuted smoothly and quickly.

It's on a 60 plate but has only done 65k.

£8k . I would find a 55 / 56 plate 163bhp manual V70 D5 with FSH and a cambelt at 90k / 5years .
Stick the renaining £6k in tha bank as running costs for the next 3 years .
Oh and change the aux belt and tensioner asap as they are the biggest killer of V70 D5's

I nearly went for a 9-3 aero 2.0T or 2.8 v6, but in the end I went for a subaru legacy spec b.

AWD was the clincher, 200+bhp going through the front wheels just didn't do it for me.

For 8k you'd have the choice between a UK spec H6 3.0 with 245bhp or a JDM twin scroll turbo 2.0 with 260-280bhp.

JDM [url] https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153343145248 [/url]

UK [url] https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223400538459 [/url]

Bloody hell, I didn't even realise you could still spend 8k on a Saab! That's depreciation suicide, no?
If I had that sort of budget I'd be buying a Legacy B4, or Forester STi and a good disguise.