1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
...I did it anyway. Bought my '95 Aero with 66k miles after my freshman year. I have to say, I've been very lucky. Three years, one graduation, and 40k miles later, I've had some nuisance problems but almost nothing serious. Aside from replacing brake pads and discs and doing regular tuneups, I haven't had to do any necessary work myself. I've made some audio and performace upgrades, replaced some bushings/mounts for better drivability, but I could've gone for years without them. The only work that I've had done was:
-a major tuneup right after I bought the car, ~$400. Replaced all fluids, retorqued cyl heads, replaced belt/pulleys, checked for worn items, etc.
-exhaust system repairs, ~$100. Middle muffler and pipe rusted out (thanks, road salt!). Just had Midas fabricate a straight pipe to replace it rather than spend hundreds on a new muffler.
-CV boots. These are a wear item and mine were looking worn when I bought the car. Cost about ~$180 to have both replaced. Would've done it myself but I was too busy with exams and the weather was terrible.
Keep in mind that I've been really lucky. There are plenty of people on this board who spend hundreds (or thousands) a month repairing their Saabs. My brother just sold off his '96 900 and switched to a Subaru because he was ending up spending $3000 a year on the car and just knew something else was going to go wrong.
Obviously, if I were in your position, I'd get the 9000. I was, I did, and would do it again. If you don't have any prior experience repairing cars (or know someone with a garage and tools who can help you out) you shouldn't expect to be able to repair big stuff like a head gasket, timing chain, clutch, etc, unless you have a serious desire to learn how to do so (and plenty of time on your hands).
However, you can definately do the regular maintenance and 'little' fixes that these cars tend to need. Sites from Saabnet members quasimotors and BillJ cover many such procedures with good explanations and illustrations. That and postings on this site are pretty much all the information I needed to learn from, although I recently bought the Haynes manual (not the best resource, but still probably worth it).
posted by 24.248.56...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
