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Saab 900 / 9000
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Comments
carlady/host
Did your car suffer from systemic brakdowns? Was the Saab USA service unacceptable? Did you have engine, suspension, build quality, and transmission problems? Obviously, you have had an undesirable ownership experience, but how can any of us repsond to a general blanket indictment of the 97 Saab 900? Are you so angry that you remain incapable of articulating the basis for your anger and resentment? Please fill us in.
It only has 28k miles and is just over 2 years old.
900se year 1995. it has 63,000 miles and i am
tying to get a response from anyone who has had
one, what kind of gas mileage did it get,
troubleshooting, maintenance, anything. believe it
or not, I need to decide between this car and an
SUV. The reason is i live near new york city and
parking is a problem. I just loved this car's look
and thought it might be more affordable and easier
to have in city. the cost is 12,900. Thank you
Also, see if the power antenna has been replaced. If not, budget to do that yourself soon.
Is it a 6-cylinder or turbo 4? If it's the 6, be sure to change the timing belt regularly.
I love the car. It handles great, accelerates awesome and is the most comfortable car under 3500 lbs on the road (I am 6'4" 220 lbs).
The best thing that ever happened to people like us who are after used cars is Saab's questionable reputation in the early nineties. Apparently, the car was pretty lousy with respect to frequency of repairs in the 94 and 95 models. Also, I guess people are terrified of paying the price to repair Saabs. This is why you are looking to purchase a car which five years ago retailed for around $31,000 for under $13,000. If you were looking at a maxima, camry or accord, all of which by the way originally sold for less than 30K and are far inferior to any Saab, the used price today would be about $16,000! What a rip off. As a used Saab seeker, you need not worry about its reputation any more. More than likely all the quirky repairs (if any were needed at all) were already completed. As far as drivetrain and hardware are concerned, you have little to worry about...
I also own an 88 900 turbo coupe that just hit 200,000 miles on all original parts less the clutch (repaired at 179,000) and tires and brakes. Oh, I should mention the car turned 200k when it was @ 100mph! Something few car makers can boast.
Before I purchased my car, I asked the owner to let me take it to the dealer and have it checked over. It costs about $60. Well worth it as with any car manufacturer.
If you are concerned about its resale value, don't be. The car depreciation schedule is very flat after 80,000 miles. This means the price difference for a 900 with 90k miles and 120k miles is small. I think it might have something to do with the car's ability to last 300,000 miles!
The bottom line is: if you purchased a new Saab in 94-96 and are looking to sell it, you're probably not happy. But if you are looking to purchase one....YAHOOOO!
-Chris
THanks,
MG
What do our knowledgeable lurkers think?
carlady/host
WITH 44K IN MINT CONDITION.THE PROBLEM IS THAT I
HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF SAABS,EXCEPT THAT I SEE MANY
OF THEM ON THE ROADS.I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE
RAG TOP.I HAVE NEVER OWNED A CONVERTABLE.
due to return to the lessor later this month. Over
the weekend, she ran over a pot hole and one of the
wheels got bent so much so that it has affected
the driving performance.
The car has the standard wheels that came with the
car and she is looking to replace the damaged
wheel. She has been quoted a price of $240 by the
dealership just for the wheel.
Can anyone suggest a way to acquire the wheel at a
lower price? Thanks.
I am planning to buy a SAAB 900SE. It has 38K miles on it and still has 1 month of original warranty left on it. The dealer is asking 19,500. But carmax has one in black (not the color I like) with 38K for 18,000.
How do you all feel about the car? Is it great? Is it fun? and Is it eye catcher - I desperately need that??
Moreover is it worth spending $1200 to get additional 50K miles warranty. Please respong.
This sounds strange - anyone heard of something like this happening - does the mechanic's explanation seem legitimate? It does not make sense to me, especially given the car is a 94' with less than 60K miles and has ran great up until now. Any other possible explanations?
Thanks
Mary
Also, place a free ad in Edmunds' used vehicle MarketPlace. You'll find the link to that in their Used Vehicle guide.
Good luck. ;-)
Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks Message Board
For people looking to buy one all i can say is test drive one extensively and remember that you are buying one of the last truly unique makes of cars available to the average joe.
and as for this being a sign of things to come. all i can offer is that a friend of mine has owned something like 4 - 6 saabs and he bought them all after 100,000 miles. he says they drove great right up till the day he sold them! Rock solid cars in his opinion. I happen to agree. a company so based on building up an already existing design as opposed to redesigning it must have some kind of advantage when it comes to build quality.
The only time I've heard of potential corrosion due to anti-freeze is with 100K mile anti-freeze (ones you change at 100K mile).
Did he remove the head, and measured the block to be no longer flat? It just doesn't sound right.
Thanks. Pat
On clutches, this Saab has a flawed manual transmission design IMO:
My first transmission died of a seized throw out bearing at 36K miles.
The second one manifested irregular clutch force last month at 47K miles (11K miles after the first one) and has been rebuild. The claim was loss of gearbox lubrication, but because its a dry clutch system design, I don't really see how it could not again be the same throw out bearing problem...it was a clutch problem, not a shifting problem.
BTW, I recommend that we all go read the fine print in our warranty. You'll find that Saab has an escape clause: clutch plates are considered "wear items" like brake pads & wiperblades and are only warrantied for 1 year or 16K miles.
However, per their most recent email to me, Saab also classifies release bearings to also be exempt as "wear" items, even though they're not listed in my warranty.
I'm a Mechanical Engineer and IMNSHO, anyone claiming that a bearing is a "wear" item is full of "it".
I've also noted that my rebuilds have gotten different part#'s each time it has been rebuilt, which is evidence that they're changing the design. The only time you change the design on an old product because there have been problems.
In any event, the moral is to complain. Firmly.
Each rebuild ran around $1000 at the Dealer.
My Dealer used 'goodwill' to cover parts on my first one ($400) and Saab USA paid for 100% of the second one, although in both circumstances they only paid because I specifically challenged the validity of me having to incur the entire cost on something that should last far, far longer than 36K (or 11K) miles.
Moving on, the wonderful motor.
Experiencing metallic noise under the hood means one of two things: (a) trade-in the car for something else TODAY, or (b) prepare for a $2600 repair bill. Unfortunately, I didn't think of option (a) last year.
For some reason, the 2.3 4-cylinder suffers from loss of lubrication of the timing chains for the counter-rotating shafts, etc, and it eats the chain alive, along with the gear sprockets. I never had a loss of lubricant, never failed to change the oil on schedule and never had the oil pressure light come on.
Having looked at the motor while apart, it looks like its a splash lube system run through a dip (collection) tray...my guess is that a blockage occurrs in an area where the oil pressure gage is unable to detect it, so the oil never gets to the dip tray, so the chains run dry without lubrication. There's no leak, so the dipstick remains happy.
Insofar as the costs on this one, Dealer told me to get lost. It has been a long battle with Saab USA, but they've finally made good and agreed to pay for half of my out-of-pocket cost.
In the meantime, I no longer follow the book's 10K oil service interval, nor the modestly more frequent interval I had been following: for the remainder of this car's life in my garage, its going to get nothing less than a 5K interval with 100% synthetics.
In summary,
I've had 3 major repairs required to get from zero to 50k miles. I don't expect a car to always be trouble-free, but I feel that problems before 50K should be the rare exception: if I only were to have had one problem, I wouldn't have really been all that ticked off...bad luck, and all of that. And paying half was reasonable IMO. But I didn't have one anomoly: I had three. That's no longer simply "bad luck".
And in any event, I feel that 1 year warranties are a cop-out. The intent of "Bumper to Bumper" includes all the internal goodies and the only exceptions that I can honestly accept are those products that are ablative in design function, such a brake pads. Excepting a bearing is simply out of the quesion.
Looking at costs, the repairs topped $4500. Had I not complained, I would have had to pay all of that. Because I did speak up, sent faxes with service records, and most importantly, DID NOT accept "no" for an answer the first time they declined my requests, I'm out of pocket "only" ~$2K.
And when looking at this five year $4500 cost, I have to say that this exceeds my repair costs for my '84 VW Scirocco (11 years & 100K+ miles), my wife's '90 Audi 80 (10 years & 100K+ miles) and believe it or not, my toy car, a sixteen year old 1985 Porsche 911 (which I've owned for 8 years & 25K miles).
Would I buy another Saab? I'm borderline. They did eventually make good, more or less, on these costs that really should not have been incurred by me, but by the same token, I do feel that I had to fight tooth-and-nail in order for them to accept responsibility.
The one thing that I would definitely do is to amend the purchase contract to make the warranty terms far more customer-friendly. Specifically, I would make notation on what products are excempted from the 1-year loophole and mark that list as being 100% comprehensive. Similarly, because I only drive ~9K miles/year, I'd want longer duration coverage. If the dealer wants to do this through an extended warranty contract, that's fine...but it comes out of their pocket, not mine. The thing to remember is that a car purchase is nothing more than a contract and in a contract, *EVERYTHING* is negotiable.
-hh
And for those that weren't aware: Edmunds.com's Used Vehicle guide provides even more information now, than they previously did before with the old format. In addition to customized TMV pricing, reliability, specs, and safety ratings, you'll also find a list of standard features and options for any given year.
To Maw1982- One more thing, when looking at Std Features in Edmunds.com's Used Vehicle Guide, look for the term "keyless entry" instead of remote entry. I know the factory remotes did come standard with later 900 saabs... not sure about the 95's though. Good luck with your decision/purchase. ;-)
Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks/Station Wagons Message Boards
Barbara Davenport Under the hood there's just an empty space where the engine should be, and though the transmission and the oil pan are in place, I can see the cracked asphalt below. I open the driver's-side door. A layer of greasy dust films the instruments, thick dust that comes from sitting untouched for months. The odometer reads 184,340. There are no seats, front or back. The head liner is torn, and smells of mildew. I shut the door and step back. The navy-blue paint is oxidized an... (894 words)
The mystique is captured here at the Christian Science Monitor but it's cost you $1.50 to re-capture it.
Thanks!
David Guelich MD
I have linked this discussion into that folder, but it will always reside here in Sedans.
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
I've been trying for several weeks to find out what kind of airbags are in the various Saab models. I have a 5'2" wife, and we are looking for used 900 for her (I have a '97 9000). She is properly wary of airbags.
When we purchased the 9000, we were told by the dealer that it has second
generation bags, but I've not really been able to confirm that. Saab customer support
has not been able to answer my air bag questions, but the technicians at my dealer
say that second generation bags went into Saabs in '95 and dual-stage bags in '99. However, they are not 100% sure of this.
Anyone have a clue or two? If we can confirm that second generation bags are in 900s, then we'll get one. If not, we might have to go for a 9-3 (but we'll still have to find out what kind of bags they have).
http://shortdwarf.com/dwarf_products.htm
Obviously, a group of people interested in adaptive driving devices.
Good luck, safe driving.
Rick D.
Any REAL experiences would be appreicated, but opinions such as "I think all Saabs are...." will do me very little good in making a decision.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Joe
David
'89 900S
'02 9-3SE
In addition to Boonsboro's advice, you should also try contacting Saab customer service. With the VIN, they should be able to tell you all the factory features that were installed on your vehicle. Good luck. ;-)
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
You definitely do NOT have a turbo. The 'S' in '89 has an non-turbo 16v 4-cylinder, the base has an 8v non-turbo 4. All Turbos have sunroofs, most have leather, all have rear spoilers. There is no 'Turbo S', the S and Turbo are different models, similarly equipped but with different engines. You're mistaking the questions, 'do I have a Turbo or an S?' with 'do I have a 900S or a base 900?'
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards