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, Wed, 6 Oct 2004 12:24:04
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where do you live?? where you live or where you are willing to get a car from makes a difference. Connecticut is ideal, http://www.bargainnews.com.
i'm in a writing mood tonite, so here's my thoughts:
if you look around you can find any year saab with low miles, but that may not be the best thing. i found a beautiful 93 CSE turbo auto recently, for $3000 with 77K, here in FL, but passed it up because there were no maintenance records, and i feared that nothing might have been done, meaning, i would soon be facing $$ in repairs.
by far the best deal i've gotten was a 90 9000S standard for $1050 with only a couple bubbles of rust, that had a well-off owner who took it religiously to the saab authorized mech who replaced thousands of dollars in parts over the years he owned it. i bought it with 193K miles on it and it, by far, has been the best running car I've owned.
i read all the maintenance records, he'd bring it in for a 3000 mile oil change and it would leave with new motor mounts, etc., or he'd bring it in for a slight vibe in the shifter, and it would leave with $600 in parts + labor, and the vibe is still there, a slight vibe, but so far, fingers crossed, 10K later, the car is phenomenal, i'm very grateful...
the ma state inspection station said it's emission ratings were better than the new cars he tests. so, that for me was the big lesson to learn, that when buying a saab...
mileage can be meaningless, it is the condition of the vehicle in the present moment.
this is the zen of saab ownership, the present moment is where the saab lives. our job is to join the saab in the present moment...
a brand new saab can have a host of problems pop up in the first years of its life, and so can a 200K saab, so the trick is to get a used saab that has already had all of these little things replaced and taken care of, so you start out saab ownership with as low a cost as possible (plenty of money to save for repairs, or another saab), and as nice as possible (courtesy of previous owner).
where can you buy a saab, where do you live?
what i found getting my 92 9000S for my wife, who fell in love with my 90 9000 and didn't want her subaru anymore, was that southern connecticut was an ideal place to find saabs, because i could look at lots and lots of them, and being a wealthy area, the owners weren't charging much because they didn't need the money and were looking to give their car a good home for a good price, there were plenty that were well taken care of by the local saab dealership and the independent saab mechs.
a few years ago i got the 92, a highway commuter, with 130K miles for $2200 and it was perfect for at least 20K miles when a belt tensione started making noise, and then a coolant smell showed up with the heater on (heater core), and then most recently, exhaust, and then, master and slave cylinder (yet to be fixed) at 169K miles with original clutch which felt fine before the slave went.
if i were you, i'd test drive all the models, gauge how much image means to (whether you will keep looking at new 9-5's longingly if you are driving a 9000), and then like someone else said, look for a great maintenance history, which to me means a car that has had lots of little problems taken care of, not a car that has never had anything wrong with it.
$9000 could get you into a 9-5, cause i was looking, even a 9-5 wagon I found for $9500 here in FL, but then when things start breaking, you're heading up fast.
there's a guy in NH who advertises his saabs on cars.com and sells near wholesale. a friend of mine got a 97 900S a couple years ago for $4400 with maybe 60K on it. from what i recall, it just needed front pads. still, i've seen better deals.
identify your purchasing area, and research.
i talked to some saab mechs recently here in fl. one said, 93 and later auto trans were basically trouble free, said he'd never rebuilt a 93 auto. other one said beware 94-98, said 99 and after are good cars, and up to 93 are good cars, but in between, said to avoid them, especially 9000's, but i hear differently on this list, so who knows, all i know is, at his $80/hr labor rate, he seemed to be telling me he'd make a lot of $ if I bought a 94-98 model.
my last saab i bought off ebay and had it shipped, a risk, but here in Miami area there are hardly any older used saabs, so far seems good with just a couple minor glitches. 93 CSE with 147K for $2800 and a supposedly Erickson rebuilt auto at 121K (receipt wasn't in maintenance records, but owner is supposed to find and send).
the thing for me is the hatchback, i love some of the earlier 9-5's, but i like hatchbacks best for their versatility.
posted by 64.136.26...
, Wed, 6 Oct 2004 12:24:04
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