Saabs are they worth a punt?

[sidewinder]

Due to the old mondeo having a few mechanical concerns ts time for a new car.my 2k bike fund is needed.i see a lot of saabs popping up for this amount.the 9-3 2.0t vector sports have taking our fancy.need a safe family Lugger which will take high miles.so the saabs seems the ideal choice.anybody owned or have any knowledge on them.might be swayed by a volvo s60/40 as well.
Cheers

[MarJay]

Parts are getting more expensive. They aren't exactly scarce, but obviously with the panic over parts availability places like GSF are cashing in. They are super safe, but can be expensive to maintain.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Nb]

In a word, NO. Go volvo.
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Cbr1100xx blackbird gone, mk4 golf gt tdi chav now
Colin1 wrote 'Im grateful for what i can get, which isnt all that much.'
Columbus travel insurance are crap!! Do not use!

[Tungtvann]

It's pretty much a Vauxhall Vectra. I've got the 2.8T, I like it. Not quite as nice as my old BMW, but it's super quiet on the motorway and gets better mpg than my BMW did despite actually being quicker.

[map]

[Matt B]

Wife had a 9-3 Sportwagon as her company car a few years back. Was an '08 plate I think.

In the 3 years we had it, it got towed away by the AA back to the Saab dealer 17 times. Faults included:

Recurring electrical faults where the car would just go totally dead, never conked out completely while driving but you could come back an hour later and nothing.

ABS and TCS stopped working on several occasions.

Power steering packed up pulling onto the Eurostar - nearly stacked it into the side of the train.

Slammed the boot and the entire trim inside the boot lid fell off.

Had to be recovered twice whilst we were in France on holiday.

Worst car we have ever had the misfortune of being saddled with and I would poke forks in my eyes before having another. GM rubbish

Volvo - we had two a V50 company car which was great and my old V40 estate that had done about 140k and is one of the only cars I regret getting rid of. Solid and reliable
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[sidewinder]

I think by now looking at parts prices etc the volvo might be the better option.the 2.0t s60 looks ideal .one thing would like traction cruise and leather also climate control is this standard ?

[_Will_]

Was looking at Saabs a few months ago with that kind of budget, was put off in the end by the tatty state when went to view one, finish seemed to be a bit poor - seals and rubber parts perishing and paintwork & plastics on the interior poor. In the end I picked up a nice X type sport, build overall feels much better/solid same mileage as the Saabs I was looking at, helped that this one in particular had a very good history and a genuine seller.
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[BenR]

Go for the earlier 9-5s I've had mine now since last October no issues & has never let me down, although I've got to replace a level sensor as the headlights keep adjusting themselves for no reason. Parts are plentiful especially as Saab has started manufacturing again. For parts I use Neo Brothers who are a Saab specialist they can be found on eBay & google. Mine's not the cheapest of cars to run as it's the 2.3 aero HOT version (250bhp) but it's very good on the motorway as much 36mpg & there is no other car with as comfortable seats as saab seats were orthopeadically designed & tested.

[kramdra]

Best car Ive had was a 1992 J reg 2.3L saab 9000, cost me £350 with 82k on the clock. Saab went downhill after gm took over. Still plenty ofthese about in great condition, but go for the turbo.


+1 for the seats. When car was scrapped due to an accident, I took out drivers eleccy seat as I needed something comfy by computer

[Ed Case]

I had a 900I 'fastback', a 'proper' SAAB' not a tarted-up Vectra, build quality like Mercs of that era, best car I ever owned. Frankly I'd go for a Ford meself now, common as muck, cheap parts everybody knows how to fix 'em.

[angryjonny]

Yeah, not very exotic but for motoring on a budget you can't do better than a Ford really.

Pretty reliable, readily available parts, scrappies are full of them and you'd got faasands to choose from when you buy the thing in the first place.

[Wonko The Sane]

[DieselASFC]

Boss has one, and my colleague used to have one. The Boss' went into limp mode a few times, took it to the mechanics, hooked it up to diagnostics, and offered no explanation for it, complete mystery. The wok colleagues had a few electrical faults, plus when he needed a new headlight bulb, he had to take it to the garage for a bodge job as Saab used different bulbs for some bizarre reason. They're nice cars, but I wouldn't fancy a punt on them tbh.

[angryjonny]

[69chris]

we have a 1999 9-3 turbo, bought it as a cheap temp 400 quid back up car a couple of years ago, still got it

its been (almost) faultless, the highbeams stopped working, fixed for free by a bit of soldering in one of the relays,

and the airbag light comes on sometimes, usually if you have had people in the back seats so assuming its the connectors under the front seats being 'disturbed' whilst tipping em forward

its been up and down and all around the country and never let us down, its fast enough, doesnt drink too much fuel......id have another

[Polarbear]

I had an S reg 9-5 3 litre jobby from the auctions a good few years back. Crazily fast for a big car and felt really safe. My wife loved driving it.

Had it for a couple of years then it started drinking coolant so I chucked it back into the auctions and got pretty much what I paid for it (£800)

Mind you it was cheap then as big engined autos weren't popular.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[sidewinder]

Well an update then.just had a cracking deal on a volvo we could not turn down..we will next week will own a 2005 v70 d5 s geartronic.103,000mls full volvo history recent major service all for £1700

[sidewinder]

Well an update then.just had a cracking deal on a volvo we could not turn down..we will next week will own a 2005 v70 d5 s geartronic.103,000mls full volvo history recent major service all for £1700

[map]

[Matt B]

[sidewinder]

It's was my boss's . Got talking to him today and mentioned he was buying a new car next week and was I interested.only thing needed is s tow ball for the hitch

[janner_10]

Bought mine 2 years ago - a '55 plate 95 Aero with full dealer SH for £1600. Milaeage was at 105k

So far ive spent £18 on new pads for the front and replaced the gearshift jalousie. Parts are widely available and seem quite reasonable - I get the odd engine light for a coil pack fault on cyl 1 - new coil pack about £80

I don't do many miles a year - around 5k but have kept up with the service schedule.

Mines a 2.5L so fuel is about 25mpg to work and back and 30+ on the motorway.

Its been a solid reliable car, well built and comfy - I cant complain - I would certainly look at a big engined exec car again.
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