Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 08:14:13 GMT From: seangod <seangodnopsamail.com> Subject: Re: 1999 Viggen Questions
I have a 2000 Viggen with only 10k miles on it if you can believe that. I do believe in babying a car, changing the oil more frequently than recommended, hand washing ONLY, etc, etc... However, the Viggen seems to play "ruff" just fine. I wouldn't consider myself a speedy driver, but I have been known to let her stretch her legs on known cop-free sections of highway here in the Seattle area... She does just fine running hot or cold. >I've got a few questions for you Viggen owners. I have the >opportunity >to pick up a 99 viggen from a private seller with 26K miles on it. >I've had an 92 900 turbo and an 89 9000 turbo, but the viggen is >quite a different beast (test drove it today). > >The clutch felt really stiff and heavy, is that normal? Actually, I would say the clutch is fairly light on my car. But not as light as a Japanese auto (as someone else already pointed out). It's infinity lighter to the touch than the Porsche I used to drive... >The seller knew less about his car than I did, and that scares me. Would scare me too... Why is he selling it? >I would have figured that someone who owned a viggen would have >been more of a saab enthusiast. So, I'm afraid that he didn't take >care of this car as well as a it should have been. He has all the >service records though, so if this car was maintained according to >schedule should it be OK? Or do you really have to baby these cars >due to the extreme tuning? > >It seemed that 2nd and 4th were not quite the smoothest gears to >shift into. Does this get easier after a while (I don't mean does >the car get easier, I mean do I learn to adapt), or do I just have >to live with that? The first time I unwound her (after the 10k break-in period of course), I had a hell of a time getting into 5th gear. After numerous attempts and frustration, I realized it just needed more finesse. Don't "throw" or try to force the gears. The harder you try, the less likely you are to succeed. I will say the gearbox on the Viggen is not my favorite, but after several weeks of practice my brother did make a comment that still sticks in my mind today: "You're the smoothest shifter I know. Usually, I get whip in 5 minutes." Of course, he loves me and may be biased... > >Seems to be in good physical condition, except for a door ding he's >fixing next week. He wants $25K, what's a fair price to offer him? >Thanks all! $25k is pretty fair from what I've seen around here. It is a tough car to sell as the market for such a relatively unknown beast is quite limited, so you may be able to squeeze him down a bit on the price. I've seen them go for as much as $29k and as little as $20k. Of course, I'd hate to sell mine for anything less than $100,000... :) Make sure that door ding is g.o.n.e... Sean.
