 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Saab Cars / February 2006Should I buy? Your thoughts
My 91 9000 has died - transmission and other problems do not make it a viable project dollar-wise to justify the repairs. (193,000 miles and technically a salvage from an accident 3 years ago - front end cosmetic damage that exceeded the insurance company's limit) I'm looking at a couple of cars locally and would like any feeedback I can get on them: 1999 9-3 S Convertible, 96000 miles, $8991 asking price, free car fax here: http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_DisplayHistoryRpt.cfm?partner=CDM_0&vin=YS3DD75N1X 7002062 The other is: 1995 900 SE 107,000 miles, but is has a new engine installed by the local dealer (busted timing chain blew the other engine) Car is in excellent shape. Also $8999 I drove the 900; it drives and feels like my 9000, only a bit peppier. I'll drive the 9-3 tomorrow. Drove a few 9-3s yesterday, so I have an idea of what the convertible will drive like. I also learned I do not want an automatic. I've never owned a convertible - anything I should look for? There are a lot of 9-3s out there within my price range. Anything I should be leery of when looking at them? Oh, and my wife says I should be looking at cars only from this century, but the two I'm asking about seem to be acceptable. Any opinions and feedback are greatly accepted. Thanks, Vinton >1999 9-3 S Convertible, 96000 miles, $8991 asking price, free car fax >here: > >http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_DisplayHistoryRpt.cfm?partner=CDM_0&vin=YS3DD75N1X 7002062 I love my 'vert. Lots of folks will dis the partial GM factor, but they are nice vehicles. By '99 they had all the issues worked out and it's a good buy. >The other is: > >1995 900 SE 107,000 miles, but is has a new engine installed by the local >dealer (busted timing chain blew the other engine) Car is in excellent >shape. Also $8999 Sounds like a V6 (?) Stay away if it is. Also, the '95 was the first year for this model - there were a fair number of TSB's since then fixing a lot of accessory and other issues. I'd avoid it, even if it is a turbo. MHO. >I drove the 900; it drives and feels like my 9000, only a bit peppier. >I'll drive the 9-3 tomorrow. Drove a few 9-3s yesterday, so I have an >idea of what the convertible will drive like. I also learned I do not want >an automatic. I've never owned a convertible - anything I should look for? Convertibles will hop a little on rough corners and have a little cowl shake n=here and there - but otherwise they are roughly the same as the same non-vert model. The payback is in warm weather when they are unbeatable. The '99 will have a hydraulic clutch vs. the mechanical in the ;95 so you will feel that difference. Otherwise they are very similar (unless the '95 is a non-turbo). >>1999 9-3 S Convertible, 96000 miles, $8991 asking price, free car fax >>here: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > fixing a lot of accessory and other issues. I'd avoid it, even if it > is a turbo. Saab did market a 4 cylinder turbo as a 2 door SE model hatchback and convertible. The fact that he mentions timing chain indicates the I4. However, the AC system, ignition system, interior lights, electric seats, basically any GM electrical component is suspect - I know because I owned one :-( If you do buy this car make sure you get an extended warranty to cover these repairs. > MHO. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > the ;95 so you will feel that difference. Otherwise they are very > similar (unless the '95 is a non-turbo). >Saab did market a 4 cylinder turbo as a 2 door SE model hatchback and >convertible. The fact that he mentions timing chain indicates the I4. >However, the AC system, ignition system, interior lights, electric >seats, basically any GM electrical component is suspect - I know because >I owned one :-( If you do buy this car make sure you get an extended >warranty to cover these repairs. Yes... but since he said "busted timing chain blew the engine" I had a feeling it was really a belt and a V6. I've never heard of an I4 busting a chain - although anything is possible - and it is very common with the GM V6 motor. I've seen A/C evaporator problems, the expansion valves go, the upper hose wears out at some point. With the exception of the evap, the other problems are not too expensive. Aside from the DI - a problem that applies to all Saab turbos in recent years, I am not aware of any ignition problems. Likewise I do not know of systemic interior light problems and the only seat issue I've seen is that the relay(s) fall out occasionally and have to be put back in their sockets. They do need an idler pulley and belt every 45K to be safe but that is cheap. There are a whole bunch of issues that TSB's were issued from '95 to '98 that they fixed with each year of production but by 1999 those had been resolved... that's why I'd lean towards the newer car. >>Saab did market a 4 cylinder turbo as a 2 door SE model hatchback and >>convertible. The fact that he mentions timing chain indicates the I4. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > busting a chain - although anything is possible - and it is very > common with the GM V6 motor. I know about the timing belt problems - I owned a V6 GM Saab once. > I've seen A/C evaporator problems, the expansion valves go, the upper > hose wears out at some point. With the exception of the evap, the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > out occasionally and have to be put back in their sockets. They do > need an idler pulley and belt every 45K to be safe but that is cheap. The air flow control motor for the ventilation system can fail - it did on mine. The interior lights don't work because of a faulty design dimming switch. The Saab shop know exactly what the problem the interior lights was and even quoted a price. The ignition switch failed. If the key wiggled a bit, it was like turning the car off - at highway speed and at night! This happened to me a few times - kept me on my toes!! > There are a whole bunch of issues that TSB's were issued from '95 to > '98 that they fixed with each year of production but by 1999 those had > been resolved... that's why I'd lean towards the newer car. The 900 is indeed a V6. After talking to a local Saab repair shop, I'll pass on the V6. Sounds like a bad choice. (No offense to those who own them.) I looked at the convertible last night, but didn't drive it. I didn't have that much time and didn't want to do it in the dark, necessarily. It looks good, and is cleaned up for sale as you would expect. Of course, the little I know about Saabs is way more than the salesman even has an inkling of. Interestingly, I've found both cars on the internet via the dealers and cars.com and autotrader.com They are listed at $8990 online, but when you talk to the salesman on the lot, the price goes up $2000 in the case of the convertible and either $1000 or $3500 for the 900 depending on which salesman you talk to. I know there are a lot of Saabs out there and I think I'll just keep looking until the right one comes my way. I can figure out something for my immediate transportation problems. Thanks for the feedback! >the price goes up $2000 in the case of the >convertible and either $1000 or $3500 for the 900 depending on which >salesman you talk to. Just mention the other listing and tell them you will work from there. Obviously they are still making money at that price or the would not let them be listed at that price. They probably figured you were a guy off the street so they took their chances. >I know there are a lot of Saabs out there and I think I'll just keep >looking until the right one comes my way. I can figure out something for >my immediate transportation problems. Is there some reason that you don't want the 'vert? It's hard to give a 'vert a fair trial in the Winter - but there is nothing like it. I would not trade mine for anything (well, any other car :-). I actually look for places/excuses to go drive in the Summer. Sorry it took so long to get back here - the computer died! It's been one of those months already. I didn't drive the convertible becaue of the timing - It was late on a Monday night and already dark. The more my wife and I talked about it, it seemed that this particular car wasn't the one I wanted. I decided to continue looking. One thing about the convertible that bothered me was the lack of rear seat leg room. There are times we will have to haul 5 people, and it looks really cramped back there, plus there didn't appear to be a 3rd seat belt back there. Am I wrong? It was the convertible - it was this car. Thanks for all the input. I'm now looking at a 99 9-3 hatch with only 57,000 miles on it. It's in Seattle and I'm 5 hours away, so I plan to go there next weekend for the 3 day weekend and take a look at it. Vinton > Sorry it took so long to get back here - the computer died! It's been one > of those months already. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Vinton You are quite right. The coupe and convertible models are quite a bit ighter in the back seat. But if this is a major concern, you might consider going for either a 9000 or 9-5 as they are considerably bigger and not much more money used.  Signature-Fred W >You are quite right. The coupe and convertible models are quite a bit >ighter in the back seat. But if this is a major concern, you might >consider going for either a 9000 or 9-5 as they are considerably bigger >and not much more money used. Yes, see my other post in the thread directly addressing this. The Convertible is the smallest in the rear due to some of the mechanisms taking up space in the side panels. > The 900 is indeed a V6. After talking to a local Saab repair shop, I'll > pass on the V6. Sounds like a bad choice. (No offense to those who own > them.) > > Good move! You saved yourself alot of money and trouble! First, if a dealer is asking more for a car than the asking price listed on cars.com, point it out to him and iinsist on the listed price - or less. Anything more is robbery. You'd probably be better off to buy one privately. I just bought a 1999 9-5 wagon with 120K miles for $5200. It's in perfect condition. They're out there if you look. A private sale should yield more info about the service history, ownership history, etc and meeting the owner will give you a good idea of how the car was treated. Plus, meticulous maintainance is more important than the mileage, not to mention that a higher mileage car will cost less. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.