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Car Forum / Saab Cars / July 2005

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I'm very tempted.

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Sleeker GT Phwoar - 14 Jul 2005 09:56 GMT
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4561529023

A train fair, a set of belts and maybe a headgasket.
Hmm, got to be worth it.
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Paul Halliday - 14 Jul 2005 10:07 GMT
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4561529023
>
> A train fair, a set of belts and maybe a headgasket.
> Hmm, got to be worth it.

Yeah, you could keep a lot of garden tools in it :)

Seriously, what's attracting you to it? The price? It's not a great looker
and sounds to be fraught with problems.

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/
Sleeker GT Phwoar - 14 Jul 2005 10:26 GMT
> Seriously, what's attracting you to it? The price? It's not a great looker
> and sounds to be fraught with problems.

With that length of MOT and the cost of a headgasket, you could get
something back.
eurocarparts belts appear to be under £10

And the best bit is, on the saabec list it was quoted as "For that
price, you could buy it if you needed a wing mirror".
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Carl Robson
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Charles C. - 14 Jul 2005 22:51 GMT
>>Seriously, what's attracting you to it? The price? It's not a great looker
>>and sounds to be fraught with problems.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> And the best bit is, on the saabec list it was quoted as "For that
> price, you could buy it if you needed a wing mirror".

Yes ... BUT you did not buy it.  Bravado?

You know that you now have to pay to have cars scraped?

So you think on a car that age/mileage it is a simple head gasket job.
You sound like a right cowboy that will botch a car up and then sell it
to some poor bugger.  If indeed you mean that the car was worth a botch
up job, say so.  Next time you need some help I will know to keep my
mouth shut.

;-)
Charles

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Sleeker GT Phwoar - 15 Jul 2005 10:18 GMT
> Yes ... BUT you did not buy it.  Bravado?
>
> You know that you now have to pay to have cars scraped?

Not any more.
Metal demands from China means that scrap cars are now worth money
again.
£100's of pounds now for ones that might vaguely get back on the road,
at least £100 for a decent size steel panelled saloon that can have it's
shell melted, parts re-used and interior sold on.
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Sleeker GT Phwoar - 15 Jul 2005 10:24 GMT
> Yes ... BUT you did not buy it.  Bravado?

SWMBO didn't pass judgement in time ;)
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Grunff - 14 Jul 2005 10:09 GMT
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4561529023
>
> A train fair, a set of belts and maybe a headgasket.
> Hmm, got to be worth it.

Could be a bargain if you're doing the work yourself (and largely 'for
fun'). Othewise not worth anything really - almost deff need head
gasket, which is £400 at any garage, plus belt, prob a pair of tyres, a
battery, who knows what else.

Of course at that mileage there'll be a whole load of things which have
either been done, or need doing (steering rack, wheel bearings, bushes
etc.).

I'd say if you fancy a play, and can get it for £100, go for it. If you
don't want to do a lot of work, don't bother.

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Grunff

Sleeker GT Phwoar - 14 Jul 2005 10:21 GMT
> I'd say if you fancy a play, and can get it for £100, go for it. If you
> don't want to do a lot of work, don't bother.

£41 in the end.
And I didn't ;)
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Dexter J - 14 Jul 2005 16:35 GMT
Salutations:

>> I'd say if you fancy a play, and can get it for £100, go for it. If you
>> don't want to do a lot of work, don't bother.
>>
> £41 in the end.
> And I didn't ;)

41 Quid!? Good lord man, if it came with a tank of fuel it should have  
been worth bidding on.

Re NG900, best reply to that paragraph ever.. Hats off to you sir..

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Sleeker GT Phwoar - 14 Jul 2005 21:11 GMT
>Re NG900, best reply to that paragraph ever.. Hats off to you sir..

If you mean the comedy rear seats? I swear, the gap between the front
and back headrests was little wider than my head. It really was that
tight in a Lexus LS430. Fantastic engine, magnificant metal folding
roof, but jaring suspension and comedy rear seats.
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Carl Robson
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James Sweet - 15 Jul 2005 03:58 GMT
> > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4561529023
> >
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> I'd say if you fancy a play, and can get it for £100, go for it. If you
> don't want to do a lot of work, don't bother.

Baffles me how cheap even projects can be, if that was left hand drive it'd
fetch $800-$1000 easy in my area, even in it's current condition. A car in
good cosmetic condition is worth that much even if the drivetrain is
completely shot.
Grunff - 15 Jul 2005 08:37 GMT
> Baffles me how cheap even projects can be, if that was left hand drive it'd
> fetch $800-$1000 easy in my area, even in it's current condition. A car in
> good cosmetic condition is worth that much even if the drivetrain is
> completely shot.

<rant>

This is a quite sad side-effect of the current attitudes to second hand
cars in the UK. Let me elaborate.

First off, used car prices are low - really low. You can pick up really
nice, well-running cars, with new MOTs (that's a roadworthyness
certificate) for only a few hundred pounds. You can buy most 2-3 year
old cars at 40-50% their initial sale price.

This has come about largely because of a strong economy, and because
everyone wants a new car. I am constantly amazed how much people spend
on cars. I love cars and driving, but I'd never want to spend more than
say 30% of my annual earnings on a car purchase. And yet I know many,
many people who choose to spend 100-200% of their earnings on a car
purchase (then complain about being broke).

What's more, working on your own car has become an anathema to most
people. In fact, most people are quite happy to admit that they would no
longer change a wheel if they had a puncture - they'd wait for the AA to
arrive and do it for them.

15 or 20 years ago, if you walked down the average suburban residential
street (the kind of place I grew up) on a Sunday, you'd see a good few
people working on their cars. You just don't get that today.

So when a car reaches a point of requiring a few hundred £'s work just
to get it back to being worth a few hundred £s, very few people would
bother with it.

</rant>

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Grunff

Craig's Saab C900 Site - 15 Jul 2005 10:33 GMT
>> Baffles me how cheap even projects can be, if that was left hand drive it'd
>> fetch $800-$1000 easy in my area, even in it's current condition. A car in
>> good cosmetic condition is worth that much even if the drivetrain is
>> completely shot.

><rant>

>This is a quite sad side-effect of the current attitudes to second hand
>cars in the UK. Let me elaborate.

>First off, used car prices are low - really low. You can pick up really
>nice, well-running cars, with new MOTs (that's a roadworthyness
>certificate) for only a few hundred pounds. You can buy most 2-3 year
>old cars at 40-50% their initial sale price.

>This has come about largely because of a strong economy, and because
>everyone wants a new car. I am constantly amazed how much people spend
>on cars. I love cars and driving, but I'd never want to spend more than
>say 30% of my annual earnings on a car purchase. And yet I know many,
>many people who choose to spend 100-200% of their earnings on a car
>purchase (then complain about being broke).

Hmmm, in Australia spending 30 percent or less of annual earnings (even if
you are referring to pre-tax not post-tax income), you'd be very limited in
the choice of vehicle. The cheapest car you can buy new here is around
A$15k, and the average income is around A$40k per year (gross - ie.
pre-tax).

I haven't priced new Saabs for a while but an average income won't even buy
the base model of what's currently available from Saab. With an average
mortgage around the A$250k to $300k mark, there isn't anything left to buy
new vehicles even though since the GST-based tax system replaced the old
wholesale sales tax system in 2000, car prices did fall.

The cost of new vehicles in the UK must be a lot less compared to average
income than here in Australia. I know that's already the case in the USA
compared to Australia (after all, retail fuel costs in the US are orders of
magnitude less than here and in other countries).

Regards,

Craig.
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Sleeker GT Phwoar - 15 Jul 2005 10:40 GMT
> > Baffles me how cheap even projects can be, if that was left hand drive it'd
> > fetch $800-$1000 easy in my area, even in it's current condition. A car in
> > good cosmetic condition is worth that much even if the drivetrain is
> > completely shot.
>
> <rant>
<Valid but snipped>
> So when a car reaches a point of requiring a few hundred £'s work just
> to get it back to being worth a few hundred £s, very few people would
> bother with it.
>
> </rant>

You aren't wrong, I think I'm just about the only person who does
anything more than top up the washer bottle round out way.

Our house is the only one with oily tarmac patch anyway (some leaks,
some spills while changing (cleaned up but left staining)).
I've done everything just about, on the various cars I've had, that can
be done of the outside of the engine/Interior of the car. I always get
comments, normally positive, from neighbours as they walk past "You can
do mine when you are done" (normally polishing), or "Or you do love that
car "(when upto my elbows in manky oil, crawling on the floor).

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Car PC Build starts again. http://smallr.com/rz
Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

Grunff - 15 Jul 2005 10:45 GMT
> You aren't wrong, I think I'm just about the only person who does
> anything more than top up the washer bottle round out way.

The oddest thing I find is the change in attitude over the past 20
years. 20 years ago, if you'd asked 100 people if they could change a
wheel, all of the men, and a good few of the women would have said yes -
even if they couldn't, they'd have been embarrassed to say so.

These days it seems to be that many people take pride in their inability
to do basic things. Doing anything with your hands is dirty, and
definitely best left to some greasy mechanic.

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Grunff

Pooh Bear - 15 Jul 2005 11:17 GMT
> > You aren't wrong, I think I'm just about the only person who does
> > anything more than top up the washer bottle round out way.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> to do basic things. Doing anything with your hands is dirty, and
> definitely best left to some greasy mechanic.

Have you heard of the term 'oily rag syndrome' ? Professional Engineers in
the UK are only too well aware of it. I don't know your line of work but it
goes like this.....

The 'suits' like to present themselves as being vital to a company despite
being simply an overhead and often worse than useless.

Part of their plan to achieve dominance involves denigrating anyone who
actually has to do real work with their hands !

Of course they had a great boost in the 80s when Margaret Thatcher's
government decreed that the UK could exist purely on a service economy and
simply lost interest in manufacturing. I'll leave you to draw your own
conclusions.

Graham
Sleeker GT Phwoar - 15 Jul 2005 12:10 GMT
> Have you heard of the term 'oily rag syndrome' ? Professional Engineers in
> the UK are only too well aware of it. I don't know your line of work but it
> goes like this.....

He is in the same line of work as me.
> The 'suits' like to present themselves as being vital to a company despite
> being simply an overhead and often worse than useless.

You mean like the sales drones here with "We pay your wages". Then we
explain, "without us, you wouldn't have anything to sell. And it has
good quality, you aren't that great a salesman"
> Part of their plan to achieve dominance involves denigrating anyone who
> actually has to do real work with their hands !

Very true.
> Of course they had a great boost in the 80s when Margaret Thatcher's
> government decreed that the UK could exist purely on a service economy and
> simply lost interest in manufacturing. I'll leave you to draw your own
> conclusions.

Yep, that is why my employers are gradually buying all the offices and
units of a formerly mixed use industrial park, for adding office
facilities, and server hosting centres, has trebled it's sales workforce
in 6 months, but taken on 2 extra programmers in 2 years.

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Car PC Build starts again. http://smallr.com/rz
Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

Grunff - 15 Jul 2005 12:47 GMT
> Have you heard of the term 'oily rag syndrome' ? Professional Engineers in
> the UK are only too well aware of it. I don't know your line of work but it
> goes like this.....

Oh yes, I'm very familiar with it.

I'm in IT (applications developer), but I trained as a research chemist.
After finishing my PhD, I realised that my earning potential would be
severely restricted if I pursued a career in science. So I opted for an
IT career.

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Grunff

James Sweet - 15 Jul 2005 18:45 GMT
> This is a quite sad side-effect of the current attitudes to second hand
> cars in the UK. Let me elaborate.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> certificate) for only a few hundred pounds. You can buy most 2-3 year
> old cars at 40-50% their initial sale price.

Which makes me wonder even further, if used cars in good condition are *so*
cheap why does *anyone* buy a brand new one? A 2 year old car is practically
brand new, whenever I see someone with a brand new car I think "sucker" they
just threw away a few grand driving it off the lot. It's one thing if a
person has more money than they know what to do with but half the time they
can just barely manage the monthly payments.
Laura K - 15 Jul 2005 20:13 GMT
> Which makes me wonder even further, if used cars in good condition are
> *so* cheap why does *anyone* buy a brand new one? A 2 year old car is
> practically brand new, whenever I see someone with a brand new car I
> think "sucker" they just threw away a few grand driving it off the lot.
> It's one thing if a person has more money than they know what to do with
> but half the time they can just barely manage the monthly payments.

Some people think buying used is buying other people's problems. They want
everything new. These are often the same people that trade in a car after two
to three years.
I stick with used. Used cars, refurbished electronics, older furniture from
estate auctions. I feel I'm letting other people put up with the headaches of
getting the bugs worked out. On furniture, why pay $150 for a cheaply made
particleboard piece when I can pick up solid walnut for $50?
 
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