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Re: Thinking of buying a 1988 9000 Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:23:48
In Reply to: Thinking of buying a 1988 9000, Barry, Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:30:50 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
There are no real known reliability problems with the 1988. That said, we are talking about a 21 year old car - it's old enough to drink in all states, and started voting 3 years ago. ANY 21 year old car that doesn't say TONKA on the side will have maintenance needs. And having done an 80 mile a day commute, you'll be racking up over 400 miles a week, or 20K miles a year, assuming you don't take the car anywhere else.
I would say that unless you do a lot of the work yourself, don't by a 20 year old car for high mileage duty and expect not to end up paying for stuff. Stuff will break, Saab or Toyota or Honda. Older Saabs are reliable, but that has to be taken in context. If the car has been well maintained, then you'll have to deal with the usual things that start to wear after a couple of decades - bushings, CV joints, etc. And of course, keeping up that level of maintenance. If the car hasn't been well maintained, then all bets are off. The car is mint, but has the owner been keeping up on the internal bits? Regular (and frequent) oil changes? Coolant changes every 3 years? Brake fluid flush every 2-3 years? Have they replaced the pulleys? When was the serpentine belt last replaced?
Not meant to scare, but I've owned a couple of '88s, and still have a '92 and a '97. I absolutely love these cars. The '88's were cool (both turbos) - fast and less 'subtle' than the '97. Somewhat easier to work on than the newer cars. But I could afford to keep them because I do my own work. It's not clear how much work you will do yourself. The normal maintenance of new pulleys and belts is a couple of hundred bucks and a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. But if you're going to pay a dealer, you're looking at $500 easy. Chasing down a seat heater problem is an hour and 0$, but a dealer will run you a few hundred, because he'll just replace the seat pad.
I wouldn't recommend a 21 year old car of an make for the combination of a long commute and low upkeep. Sorry.
posted by 192.249....
, Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:23:48 <-- Viewing This Message
, Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:08:00
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