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1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Hi, Friends.
As some of you know, my best friend has been in the market for a classic 900 for many months now. She's been patient, as you all suggested, looking for the "right" car in good shape. She has looked at many, but none were as clean as their ads suggested.
YEsterday we drove over 8 hours round trip to see/drive/buy a '92 900S which sounded and looked (on the exterior) fabulous. She had the money in hand, but had to walk away dejectedly because there were just too many unanswered questions regarding some really strange things going on with the car. If I may, I would like to list them here, and obtain the thoughts of the 900 experts on the board who can identify certain issues by their descriptions. (And yes, we know that any car has to be checked out by a good Saab mechanic prior to purchase.) But...that said...here's the deal...
1992 900S manual trans, with 86,000 miles. No rust. Has a new battery, new alternator, and a year ago a new master cylinder. Here's what we noticed when we drove it...
Steering: VERY noticeable "airy" sound whenever moving the steering wheel even slightly. EVERY turn of the wheel causes this "air coming from the column" sound...even 1/4 inch turn. The owner said the steering had started squealing, so he looked in the power steering fluid reservoir and it was very low so he added fluid. Steering has had that "airy" sound ever since.
Clutch: Clutch is tight, and when depressing it all the way to the floor it doesn't seem to make a noise. However, when beginning the "depression"...(i.e. when depressing the clutch about an inch+ down), it makes a real squeal. Every time.
AC does not work, and the heat does not work. (THese matters were not advertised, nor did they tell us this when we called. We did ask. They said the heat USED to work, but the AC wasn't blowing cold.) I did not hear the compressor clutch kicking in at all.
ELECTRICAL QUIRKS:
SRS light comes on...sometimes it blinks, sometimes it lights constantly, but it's always on. Even makes a noise (like a blinker's operational sound) AFTER the car is turned OFF, and the "ticking" lasts about a minute.
On this issue, we had conflicting responses from the owner, who basically told us that the SRS light had come on, and he went to a Saab mechanic who said it would cost "a fortune" to fix, so instead he went to "another guy" who charged him 100 bucks to "clip" the wire and turn off the SRS light. ??? HOWEVER, he said that he had recently had the alternator replaced, and when he did so, the SRS light came BACK on and has been on ever since.
Clock doesn't work, and apparently hasn't for some time, because they had placed a little "sticky" plastic digital clock on the dash as a replacement. I only mention the clock, because I suspect it might be caused by some larger electrical problem.
What they said when I mentioned that is that the clock DOES work (didn't while I was there), but that it wasn't working now ONLY BECAUSE...get this...they disconnect the battery every Sunday (the car is unregistered and uninspected and not on the road)...they disconnect the battery every week, and then every weekend they connect it and take the car for a short drive (down and around a dead-end street), and then later disconnect the battery again for the rest of the week. Hmmm...sheesh. My guess is that there's a major electrical reason behind their having to do this. Moving right along...
Alarm: The alarm light blinks, but they said they had had the alarm's wires cut (saying, "It just needs to be rewired"), yet the alarm's light stays blinking. They also at one point said that the "ticking" sound we heard when shutting the engine off was related to the alarm somehow. Very confusing.
Seat heaters do not work.
Again, they said the battery and alternator had been replaced recently, but frankly it caused me to suspect that they've been chasing down an electrical problem, and the replacement of the battery and alternator has obviously not addressed these issues successfully.
Antenna mast does not rise fully. They said they'd recently had this "fixed" by a Saab mechanic at a specialized Saab garage, but it has never fully risen since. (Can hear the motor try to raise it.)
Moonroof sounds as though it is CHUGGING back laboriously, choking itself back and forth two CHUGS at a time. It does ultimately get all the way back/forth, but there is a water leak at the top of the moonroof (a slight crack.) Their solution? "We park it on an uphill slope so that any water rolls down towards the back." :) Oh, boy.
Putting the car in reverse causing a grinding noise. The owner said "that's because in a Saab you have to put it back into first, wait a second or two, and THEN put it in reverse. Saabs don't like to go in reverse otherwise."
Now I've owned several Saabs and this has never been the case, so I offer it up here for your response to that explanation. :)
That's all I can think of at the moment. I would appreciate any thoughts on what any of the above can point toward, if only to better educate me regarding any future car I might be a part of examining. I'd like to know what causes that "airy" sound in the steering. I'd like to know about a clutch squeal on a 1-inch depression, and what the SRS lighting, etc. might mean. Etc, etc. etc.
For your entertainment pleasure, they were asking $6500 for the car, but brought it down to $5700.
We walked away anyway...I fear for the poor soul who buys the car on the mere thought that the exterior and the leather are in great condition!
Thanks so much for all thoughts...
Julia
posted by 142.167.3...
, Sun, 1 Sep 2002 10:00:00
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