9-5 Aero Estate - Want to buy, am I being picky or....

[NickM450]

.... do you guys not sell?

Finally settled on a 9-5 Estate as my next car, I've narrowed it down to the 2.3 Auto, between '04 (sludge issue sorted) and late '05 maybe early '06 (pre-Dame Edna and still has maximum £285 tax).

Problem is I can't seem to find one without higher mileage or anything close to me, in the South West. Perhaps you SAAB experts of PH could answer a few questions?

Ideally I'd like the HOT with all the toys apart from SatNav and have around £2,500 to spend. Am I being unrealistic or does my car exist?

Is the sludge issue of pre-2004 really such a big deal, are there any advantages of buying the earlier cars?

Is higher mileage an issue with the 2.3 Turbo engines and what power outputs did they come in?

I've seen these few cars which look good:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=1...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Unless of course any of you are thinking of selling?

Cheers folks

Edited by NickM450 on Sunday 22 February 11:20

[FraMac]

I paid much less than your starting budget for a 95 2.3 on 55 plate vector auto estate five years ago, with a raft of extras on it. Higher than average mileage, and it's a really nice place to be.

Had the turbo unit replaced last year (found one on fleabay that had done 5k, paid about £80 for it).

Can't fault it value for money wise. Taken us to Le Mans with a shedload of camping kit four times, hasn't missed a beat.

[Spanglepants]

Not sure if you realise the first and last link are the same car
Personally, even if i bought an 04 onwards I'd still at some point drop the sump and clean just for piece of mind.
As long as you check and double check any Saab/Aero and it all seems ok and seems like its been looked after during its life theres no more to worry about than any other car. My current 02 Aero 9 5 has given me less problems than any other car i've owned but I went over it when i bought it , knew what to look for and all was ok plus the service history showed plenty of maintenance and not many big bills . I took this correctly to show it was a good'un, unlike my previous 9 5 which being new to Saabs and not checking it thoroughly ended up with a money pit.
Yes, If I was you, go for the Aero. You may as well get one with as many options - Lux pack, Harmon Kardon AS3 stereo, etc as they're no worse on fuel than 2.0 LPT (in my experience).
I get 36- 42+ on the motorway especially if i use the cruise control - some Aeros are good on mpg others not- just the luck of the draw for some reason.
02 onwards are 250 bhp (with an extra 10 bhp on over boost for, i think, 20 seconds.

[moustache]

The sludging issue is dependent on whether it was run on fully or semi synthetic oil coupled with the poor PCV system on earlier cars. Even early Aeros were specced to run on fully synthetic, whereas lesser models werent. The semi synthetic oil would break down and cause sludging with the broken down rubber from the PCV hoses.

Don't be scared by an earlier 9-5, but be sure to check if it was serviced regularly with fully synthetic oil. I've just bought a 52 Aero manual estate, and it has covered 117k, always serviced on fully synthetic and the previous owner dropped the sump, changed the o rings and gave it the all clear. Keep looking, they are awesome cars, I'm totally smitten with mine!

[NickM450]

Thanks chaps

I didn't realise they were the same car, I am slightly obsessed with that particular car. Is there any way to tell if it has the 'dealer pack' or 'Aero Lux pack'? I know it was standard on '02 until late '03 cars but optional on '04 onwards.

[Disco_Biscuit]

They are out there, I recently bought a 54 plate Aero wagon 80k full SAAB history, not fully loaded but has everything bar sat nav, £2200, but did need a few cosmetic bits doing, badges faded, wheels refurbished etc. Superb car, £80 noob tune remap and its flying

[NickM450]

Disco_Biscuit said:

They are out there, I recently bought a 54 plate Aero wagon 80k full SAAB history, not fully loaded but has everything bar sat nav, £2200, but did need a few cosmetic bits doing, badges faded, wheels refurbished etc. Superb car, £80 noob tune remap and its flying

Fancy selling it?

Makes this one seem pretty good value at £2500

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=1...

Anyone used one of those independent vehicle check things? Are they worth £200?

[Disco_Biscuit]

NickM450 said:

Fancy selling it?

Makes this one seem pretty good value at £2500

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=1...

Anyone used one of those independent vehicle check things? Are they worth £200?

No I'm hanging on to this one, That one looks same spec as mine, I wouldn't spend £200 for a check on a £2k car tbh, Its from a dealer so he will have to give it a 90 day warranty anyway.

[NickM450]

Well that's just rude, guess I will just have to keep looking for myself.

It's annoying as there are 3 on eBay right now, all Aero, all fully specced and all sold! I'm about a week late.

[Master Bean]

I'm not selling mine I'll drive it until it dies.

[NickM450]

You're all so mean

[bakerstreet]

NickM450 said:

.... do you guys not sell?

Finally settled on a 9-5 Estate as my next car, I've narrowed it down to the 2.3 Auto, between '04 (sludge issue sorted) and late '05 maybe early '06 (pre-Dame Edna and still has maximum £285 tax).

Problem is I can't seem to find one without higher mileage or anything close to me, in the South West. Perhaps you SAAB experts of PH could answer a few questions?

Ideally I'd like the HOT with all the toys apart from SatNav and have around £2,500 to spend. Am I being unrealistic or does my car exist?

Is the sludge issue of pre-2004 really such a big deal, are there any advantages of buying the earlier cars?

Is higher mileage an issue with the 2.3 Turbo engines and what power outputs did they come in?

I've seen these few cars which look good:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=1...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Unless of course any of you are thinking of selling?

Cheers folks

Edited by NickM450 on Sunday 22 February 11:20

Right, I think I'm in a pretty good position to comment as I have driven both of those cars in the last week.

The Black One:

Its really tatty on the outside and has bugger all history apart from a few receipts. Interior is pretty good and if memory serves, everything worked apart from one of the xenon lights which wasn't levelling properly. There was a crack on the windscreen which I am pretty sure would fail an MOT. Tyres were good and matching goodyears. Discs and pads looked pretty shot. Comments on the trader will be done over PM.

The silver Motor Studios car:

Clean car, but half the heated seat element on the drivers side doesn't work. My guess is that will be a pita to fix. Unfortunately, I can't remember much more than that. It did drive ok though. Comments on trader over PM only.

I don't think either car had the load bay cover and best of luck finding that on Ebay.

In my opinion the 9-5 aero is becoming the BMW 328i touring. IE shed priced fast practical motoring at a cheap price. E36 328i estates are getting very hard to find now.

I have just bought a 9-5 Estate Aero Auto and will be posting up a thread tonight. One of the few cars that I am genuinely thrilled with my purchase

Edited by bakerstreet on Friday 27th February 22:37

[dorset_clive]

bakerstreet said:

I have just bought a 9-5 Estate Aero Auto and will be posting up a thread tonight. One of the few cars that I am genuinely thrilled with my purchase

Edited by bakerstreet on Friday 27th February 22:37

Did you buy the one in Hemel Hempstead? I just 'lost' that as the owner sold off eBay, but then didnt close the auction. I was getting all excited until he texted me to say he'd previously sold it

If it was you, fair play and good luck...it looked really nice!

[NickM450]

Thanks for the heads up

The silver one is now sold and I had excluded the black one after taking a closer look at the pictures.

There was one more at simplysaab.co.uk but I discounted it due to mileage, over 160k, that's also now sold. Guess I should start broadening my search criteria.

What others did you view, did this one feature on your shortlist:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Edited by NickM450 on Saturday 28th February 15:20

[bakerstreet]

NickM450 said:

Thanks for the heads up

The silver one is now sold and I had excluded the black one after taking a closer look at the pictures.

There was one more at simplysaab.co.uk but I discounted it due to mileage, over 160k, that's also now sold. Guess I should start broadening my search criteria.

What others did you view, did this one feature on your shortlist:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Edited by NickM450 on Saturday 28th February 15:20

I called up about that one and I was told it was sold. Typical low volume trader. Can't be bothered to remove it from autotrader or their own web site. There is also a £995 car on there, which I Iooked at , but i was garbage. The £1495 one with 160k and roof bars is actually a good car. I test drove that one too.

How can you judge cars purely on milage? At 160k and 10 years old, its only 16k a year, which quite frankly isn't very much. Also, come and look at my car which is better condition than the black car and has considerable more miles The engines are pretty low tech and actually very over engineered (Forged internals). The suspension is worth double checking as its a common failure point. Brakes are also pretty big up front at 330mm and not the cheapest thing to replace.

I didn't buy the one in Hemel and I wasn't even aware there was one for sale in Hemel. Annoying as thats just round the corner from me. I bought mine from a guy in Newark.

[NickM450]

bakerstreet said:

I called up about that one and I was told it was sold. Typical low volume trader. Can't be bothered to remove it from autotrader or their own web site. There is also a £995 car on there, which I Iooked at , but i was garbage. The £1495 one with 160k and roof bars is actually a good car. I test drove that one too.

How can you judge cars purely on milage? At 160k and 10 years old, its only 16k a year, which quite frankly isn't very much. Also, come and look at my car which is better condition than the black car and has considerable more miles The engines are pretty low tech and actually very over engineered (Forged internals). The suspension is worth double checking as its a common failure point. Brakes are also pretty big up front at 330mm and not the cheapest thing to replace.

I didn't buy the one in Hemel and I wasn't even aware there was one for sale in Hemel. Annoying as thats just round the corner from me. I bought mine from a guy in Newark.

The mileage is a mental thing, it's strange because just over the 100k or thereabouts and I'm not too worried, considerably more and I start to get jittery. Completely stupid I know I should really get over it.

What I need is a personal shopper, for cars. I don't have the knowledge to find a good 'un from the pile of available cars and get nervous.

Edited by NickM450 on Sunday 1st March 14:00