Date: 22 May 2003 21:39:57 GMT From: lkrznopsamcom11o1al1 (LauraK) Subject: Re: Starting to shop
>Your opinion. No, it's not a Honda motor. Then again, Honda's don't >last as long or produce as much torque. The Saab motor is actually >fairly smooth when running correctly (i.e., is yours well tuned ?) >The also routinely go 300K miles. Show me a Honda with 300K miles >on it. I won't even mention Mazda. Actually, Mazdas, at least the base models, are pretty sturdy. I bought a Protege Hatchback in 1990, the first year they were out -- they called it the 323 -- and put 150,000 trouble-free miles on it even though I treated it awful. However, it was expensive to insure because body parts and repairs are very, very expensive. A good friend of mine, who owns a very large body shop, told me it was cheaper to fix a Mercedez than a Mazda. I had him fix some damage on mine and even with him giving me labor free and his cost on parts, it was $1,200 to fix light damage to the front quarterpanels and lights. When I traded the Mazda in on a Lincoln Mark VIII, my insurance dropped by half. Getting a Saab in place of the Lincoln dropped the cost again. Compare the insurance cost on a Saab to a similar size Honda or Nisaan or Mazda and add that to the cost of ownership. lauraknopsamousergraphics.com http://www.madmousergraphics.com web design, print design, photography