Car Advice - Which to go for?

[jayvfr]

Now my cheapo Saab 900 has bitten the dust I'm looking at some motors in my area that are cheap as chips and will hopefully last me a while.
I've come up with a short list of 3 for the same price that are tempting:
1995 Mk3 Golf GTI 2.0
1998 Saab 9-5 2.0T
1999 Subaru Legacy estate 2.0

All have around 12months mot and are high milers but have full service histories.

Just wondered whether anyone had any experience of any of the above and any advice on possible problems I should be looking for? Any help?

Cheers

Jay
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A quater of a NC30 and a whole tatty ZX6R J2, that's plenty...
VFR bits for sale, PM me for details!
PSN ID: money85

[Angel105]

Hi

Had a word with our mechanic and he would go for the golf..

He said they can be thirsty on fuel, but the golf would be the cheapest to run... the saab would have probably been hammered and are very expensive for parts and servicing.

Apart from that he doesnt know that much about the legacy, although he he did ask if it was a turbo, as this is the impreza engine..

Hope that helps

[jayvfr]

Nice one cheers,
I'm leaning towards the Saab and Golf, the Legacy just leaves me a bit cold (unfortunately it's the non turbo) and doesn't have nearly the same kit as the other two.

Saab parts can be an utter ball-ache but this one has litterally just been done and everything I can think of that might need to be replaced has been (the owner was a bit fanatical about his service schedule apparently).

I still need to test drive all 3 but I'll be doing that over the weekend. Just after any particular things that are common faults maybe.
____________________
A quater of a NC30 and a whole tatty ZX6R J2, that's plenty...
VFR bits for sale, PM me for details!
PSN ID: money85

[Faldo]

Golf without a doubt for me.

Saab 2.0 Turbo 9-5s have all sorts of issues with turbos, engines, coils, instrumentation, all of which cost more to fix than the car is worth. They are a lovely car to drive though, and are a lot of car for the money.

To be honest, I think the Legacy would be quite reliable, if a little boring.

The Golf won't be particularly fast, but they're solid cars, and if something were to go wrong it will be cheap to rectify.
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Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850

[jayvfr]

Cheers for that chap.

I think the Saab has had pretty much everything that can go wrong fixed in it's time (new turbo last year, head gasket 2 yrs ago, suspension and driveshafts replaced at it's last service etc) so it might be past the worst of it. Gonna give it a test drive this afternoon and see what still works.

The golf is very tempting as parking at home isn't really easy for anything bigger than an astra tbh (victorian terraced street, no off street parking ). What are prices like for VW parts? I always thought they were more expensive than most?

I think the scoob is a no go as it'd just be too dull tbh
____________________
A quater of a NC30 and a whole tatty ZX6R J2, that's plenty...
VFR bits for sale, PM me for details!
PSN ID: money85

[Faldo]

[jayvfr]

Hmm, this does require some more thought...

This is the link to the Golf, high mileage but not as high as the Saab

Golf GTI

Very clean and original from the looks of it. Though from those pics the tyres are looking a bit thin...
____________________
A quater of a NC30 and a whole tatty ZX6R J2, that's plenty...
VFR bits for sale, PM me for details!
PSN ID: money85

[Nb]

Golf looks to be the wise choice. Just out of curiosity has your saab bulkhead started coming way yet? https://www.saab9-3bulkhead.com/
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[Misc]

I'd go with the Golf but i'd hang on until one with a lower mileage comes up for the same price.

[jayvfr]

Well the Golf wasn't as good as it seemed, some rust under one of the front arches (bubbling a lot under the paint) and there were a few electrical gremlins that were going to be a pain to fix. Didn't help that it had a sunroof which ate into the interior space a bit... my head was touching the roof pretty much constantly! (I'm 6'5" and I just didn't fit!)

So I've bought the Saab, full service, Mot, tax and 3 months warranty for £800. I really didn't want to run the bike through this weather and there's no public transport from my house to my work so I pretty much had to have it there and then. Hopefully it'll last at least a year if not more. The less I can spend on it the more I'll have for the bike

[Faldo]

If you need any parts for the 9-5 let me know as I've got one in for breaking.
____________________
Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850

[jayvfr]

Nice one cheers mate, what model is it?
____________________
A quater of a NC30 and a whole tatty ZX6R J2, that's plenty...
VFR bits for sale, PM me for details!
PSN ID: money85

[Faldo]

1998 Saab 9-5 2.0 Turbo in black. Suspected turbo/engine failure.
____________________
Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850