1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
in that the engine block was somewhat re-designed for the 1994 model year, and some components - particularly the Trionic engine management system - were unique to the '93s only. This isn't really a problem (unless you want to tune the car to make it go faster, in which case there are fewer options).
I used to own a '93 2.3 turbo and ran it up to about 150k miles before changing to my current 1997 car. Problems on my '93 included the following:
- Tensioner for "serpentine belt" fialed - belt drives water pump entc. so I overheated and had to be towed. This is mostly a maintenance issue but you could be unlucky.
- Fan wiring was corroded leading to overheating - towed again! Anecdotally, earlier cars seem more prone to corrosion causing electrical problems.
- Heater matrix leaked, needed a new one. I had some other cooling/heater hose failures so replaced the lot.
- Head gasket went at about 100k miles. Not unknown at this mileage.
- Auto transmission failed around the same time. Once again, as you know, not unknown but lots of them seem to last twice that mileage. I had a rebuilt one fitted and was happy to invest the money.
I also had to do the head gasket, heater matrix and auto transmission on a previous 1990 9000S non-turbo 2-litre car. In other words, there are various things on 9000s that could cause expense around 100,000 miles, and others that could go any time due to poor maintenance.
Should say here that I love the combination of the turbo engine and the automatic transmission so hope you will not by put off the idea of an auto!
On the other hand I find my 1997 car much better made than either of the earlier ones, and once again most contributors to this board (not all, of course!) seem to agree that the best cars are 1997-98. They're newer, which must help! Any thirteen-year old car - Saab, BMW, Mercedes, domestic tin or whatever, will be something of a time-bomb and I'd suggest the only approach is to look very carefully at service records, go for a low mileage example, and budget a sensible amount for repairs.
1997 2.3 fpt Anniversary automatic
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