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Re: seeking advice for buying a used 1990 saab 900s Posted by andy [Email]  (#759) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from andy) on Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:03:52
In Reply to: seeking advice for buying a used 1990 saab 900s, Sonja Moser, Fri, 12 Dec 2003 18:59:48 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Where are you? We can recommend a good mechanic depending where you are. My 92 900 S has 188,000 miles on it and whenever anybody asks why I still own it I tell them its almost paid for. The intrinsic quality of the car makes it look brand new. $2,000 may be slightly on th high side, make an offer for $1,500 and see if he bites, but the price isn't bad assuming good condition.
I would try to avoid an automatic at that mileage, unless its been replaced already. Assuming you have a manual gearbox that can go 200,000 miles, the clutch disc/slave and clutch master cylinder may need replacing, thats about $650-$700 but its usually done before that mileage. If the synchros are not grinding when you shift and you do not hear a high pitched whine from the gearbox, then you should be ok for a while in that department. Sloppy shifting can be attributed to a worn out shift coupler, about $200 to fix at an indie. The A/C systems on these cars are a weak spot, they can be made to work well but its cubic dollars. The engine can be an oil leaker, from the usual suspects its the oil pump seal behind the harmonic balancer/main pully, CV/inner driver seals, valve cover gasket or power steering pump connections. High speed vibrations can be attributed to inner cv joints or inner drivers(major $), low speed clunking/grinding in a turn can be outer CV joints. Have a mechanic check the rubber CV boots before you buy. Fuel pump is a run/doesn't run situation, if its been done within the last 50,000 miles you should be good for another 50,000. High pitched squealing when cold is probably a failing harmonic balancer/main pully, about $450 at an indie. Alternator bushings can fail after 150,000 miles, reasonably cheap to replace. Those are the big issues. The engine is generally reliable, and a non-turbo S model probably has probably not been run very hard. Minor issues are power window switches that get dirty and need to be cleaned to work well, the power sunroof motor can loosen from its attached gearbax and needs to be screwed back together to work and the power radio antennae can fail, all minor and fixable.
I find the car is sensitive to fresh spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, these are cheap and help the car to run well if replaced once a year.
Cosmetically, the cloth headliner may peel off from its foam plastic shell and droop down, mine has been stapled back in position for years now, I may never get around to replacing it. Other than than that, its a solid reliable car, I'm always on the lookout for another one, I just missed a blue over grey leather 900S for $2,500 (private sale, sold in one day, metro NYC area), dealer maintained since new, but my little niece spotted a citrin S model with a flat tire thats been sitting for several weeks near her school and I'm going to check it out tomorrow (she's real excited that I'm bringer her along). If you get the car we can get you through any problem, but be forewarned, sometimes its takes a good checkbook to keep theseold cars going. A manual transmission model should get 24-30 mpg on average.
Good luck and enjoy it! You will not see another one passing you very often and they are great in snow.
92 900 S 5 speed 188,000
97 9000CS 5 speed 80,000
posted by 216.179.1...
, Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:03:52 <-- Viewing This Message
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