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Grex Cars Item 128: Saab stories
Entered by gull on Fri Jul 18 14:00:59 UTC 2003:

I'm sort of casually looking for a used car to replace my '94 Honda
Civic Si.  It's a fun little car, but I've decided I'd like something a
bit roomier and more comfortable.  I'm 6' tall and that doesn't make me
well suited to compact cars.

Anyway, to get to the point, I've noticed that mid-90's Saab 900's are
in my price range.  I've always liked the styling of the Saab 900, but I
know very little about Saabs.  No one I know has ever owned one.  So,
I'd like comments from people who have owned Saab cars in the past, or
own them now.  Are they reliable?  Are parts ridiculously expensive? 
Any common weak points I should look out for?

9 responses total.

#1 of 9 by jmsaul on Sat Jul 19 04:44:48 2003:

There are some reliability issues.  The non-turbo ones are pretty slow, too,
though the reliability issues crop up mainly in the turbos, so...

Here in Ann Arbor, there's a *very* good Saab garage:  K & N Auto, on Jewett.
Give them a call.  They'll probably have a line on some good used ones.

#2 of 9 by gull on Sun Jul 20 19:37:23 2003:

Slow doesn't bother me too much.  My other car, the one I'm keeping, is 
an '82 diesel Vanagon camper, so anything I buy will seem peppy by 
comparison. ;>

#3 of 9 by davel on Mon Jul 21 19:29:06 2003:

A few years back I was told that Saabs routinely leaked oil.  No experience
of my own.

#4 of 9 by slynne on Mon Jul 21 20:26:03 2003:

I have a friend who bitches about her SAAB all the time. You have to 
admit though, they sure are good looking cars!

#5 of 9 by gull on Wed Jul 23 15:44:52 2003:

Is there any specific problem area that's the cause of the bitching? :>

#6 of 9 by jmsaul on Wed Jul 30 02:07:02 2003:

Re #3:  Wasn't true when we had a Saab 9000.  If it's true for other models,
        it isn't a problem as long as you check the level every couple weeks.

#7 of 9 by gull on Fri Aug 8 20:30:50 2003:

I realize this is terribly environmentally incorrect of me, but I'll 
gladly feed a minor oil leak habit in an otherwise decent car.  The only 
ones that really worry me are rear main seal leaks on manual 
transmission cars.

#8 of 9 by jmsaul on Sat Aug 9 04:20:58 2003:

I don't have a big problem with a minor oil leak habit either.  Burning a
certain amount of oil is normal in performance cars.

#9 of 9 by mdw on Tue Sep 23 07:27:31 2003:

It's a swedish car.  Parts will probably be expensive.  They're not
particularly reliable.  There are neat things too.  They've been
front-wheel drive for quite some time; so there's some history there.
Saab was one of the last ones to adopt the steering wheel lock -- so on
older cars, the ignition switch is located on the tranmission hump and
actually locks the transmission.  For a long while, Saabs dominated
european road rallies, don't know if that's still true.  Honda civics
can be fairly peppy too, so you may not find a Saab to be as interesting
to drive as they presumably once were.  Turbos in general are more
finicky -- at 20,000 rpm routine maintenance becomes a lot more
critical.

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