RE: Shed Of The Week: Saab 9-5 Aero Estate
Discussion
My 04 Vector estate has just died.
Bought three years ago as a 'set of wheels to get to work' after a career change left me without a company van, it was only meant to be a short term car but having passed MOT's with little difficulty and not needing much work doing I kept it as it was just so comfortable, reliable and plain useful with a huge load area.
Over the last six months it has had an extremely random cold start issue, turning over but just not catching and then without changing procedure or doing anything it would start and run fine for weeks. Until last week! Wouldn't start and eventually ran battery pretty much flat, tried jumping too but still no good. Left it and went to work in missus car. Next day fired straight up, drove all day fine. Next morning - no start again. No codes showing, nothing obviously amiss under the bonnet, can hear fuel pump.
Alas I don't have the time to play with it so its got to go, a shame as its tested till October and drives great so would be ideal for someone who knows what they're doing / has a supply of spares they can throw at it.
I'd have another but the missus can't get on with the key/reverse malarky.
Bought three years ago as a 'set of wheels to get to work' after a career change left me without a company van, it was only meant to be a short term car but having passed MOT's with little difficulty and not needing much work doing I kept it as it was just so comfortable, reliable and plain useful with a huge load area.
Over the last six months it has had an extremely random cold start issue, turning over but just not catching and then without changing procedure or doing anything it would start and run fine for weeks. Until last week! Wouldn't start and eventually ran battery pretty much flat, tried jumping too but still no good. Left it and went to work in missus car. Next day fired straight up, drove all day fine. Next morning - no start again. No codes showing, nothing obviously amiss under the bonnet, can hear fuel pump.
Alas I don't have the time to play with it so its got to go, a shame as its tested till October and drives great so would be ideal for someone who knows what they're doing / has a supply of spares they can throw at it.
I'd have another but the missus can't get on with the key/reverse malarky.
Raramuri said:
Others said:
Stuff about 9-5s, blah, blah, blah....
The listing for that 300ZX is maybe the most 'special' thing I have ever seen in the classifieds. I think it warrants a PH article in its own right SOTW or not. For those who haven't had a look yet I strongly recommend doing so for a giggle... http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/n...The photos. Oh, the photos.
Also, it's been fitted with an "Incredible Bird Puller". I can only assume that's a typo for "pulley" because otherwise I can't imagine what he can possibly mean. So if that's an undershot bird puller (sorry, pulley) it should presumably add a few bhp.
I bought my current one off the back of the last time one of these appeared in SOTW in 2013. Mine cost 1100 and is an auto estate.
It's still going strong!!! It's getting to the point now where it needs new subframe & suspension bushes, which are a bit of a pig to do, so we will be replacing it over the next few months, sadly.
Over the 4 years we've had it's needed a new alternator, coil pack, a set of spark plugs, brake pads, tyres, oil & filters. Nothing else.
183K miles, 14 years old - but slip it into sport mode (which not only changes the gearbox, it brings the motor on boost much readily too) and it still produces max boost and goes very well. Even more so at the moment with the cold air temps - ya can feel it pull more strongly.
Good cars, shame they've gone.
It's still going strong!!! It's getting to the point now where it needs new subframe & suspension bushes, which are a bit of a pig to do, so we will be replacing it over the next few months, sadly.
Over the 4 years we've had it's needed a new alternator, coil pack, a set of spark plugs, brake pads, tyres, oil & filters. Nothing else.
183K miles, 14 years old - but slip it into sport mode (which not only changes the gearbox, it brings the motor on boost much readily too) and it still produces max boost and goes very well. Even more so at the moment with the cold air temps - ya can feel it pull more strongly.
Good cars, shame they've gone.
Mine in the Readers cars thread, a SOTW in December 2013.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Still going very strong, minor issues (new S/H turbo, new S/H exhaust, power steerting hose corroded)
Its still a bit smokey on start up, still has a bit of an oil leak, but still goes very well and is lovely to drive / be in...
Think its on 250,000, for a £500 car thats pretty good.
Contemplating taking it to Italy for the summer, if its form suggests it will be ok..
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Still going very strong, minor issues (new S/H turbo, new S/H exhaust, power steerting hose corroded)
Its still a bit smokey on start up, still has a bit of an oil leak, but still goes very well and is lovely to drive / be in...
Think its on 250,000, for a £500 car thats pretty good.
Contemplating taking it to Italy for the summer, if its form suggests it will be ok..
V8junkie said:
My 04 Vector estate has just died.
Bought three years ago as a 'set of wheels to get to work' after a career change left me without a company van, it was only meant to be a short term car but having passed MOT's with little difficulty and not needing much work doing I kept it as it was just so comfortable, reliable and plain useful with a huge load area.
Over the last six months it has had an extremely random cold start issue, turning over but just not catching and then without changing procedure or doing anything it would start and run fine for weeks. Until last week! Wouldn't start and eventually ran battery pretty much flat, tried jumping too but still no good. Left it and went to work in missus car. Next day fired straight up, drove all day fine. Next morning - no start again. No codes showing, nothing obviously amiss under the bonnet, can hear fuel pump.
Alas I don't have the time to play with it so its got to go, a shame as its tested till October and drives great so would be ideal for someone who knows what they're doing / has a supply of spares they can throw at it.
I'd have another but the missus can't get on with the key/reverse malarky.
This is a Crank Position Sensor. £20 part and ten minutes to swap and change out. Its location near the exhaust manifold must make it go faulty over time.Bought three years ago as a 'set of wheels to get to work' after a career change left me without a company van, it was only meant to be a short term car but having passed MOT's with little difficulty and not needing much work doing I kept it as it was just so comfortable, reliable and plain useful with a huge load area.
Over the last six months it has had an extremely random cold start issue, turning over but just not catching and then without changing procedure or doing anything it would start and run fine for weeks. Until last week! Wouldn't start and eventually ran battery pretty much flat, tried jumping too but still no good. Left it and went to work in missus car. Next day fired straight up, drove all day fine. Next morning - no start again. No codes showing, nothing obviously amiss under the bonnet, can hear fuel pump.
Alas I don't have the time to play with it so its got to go, a shame as its tested till October and drives great so would be ideal for someone who knows what they're doing / has a supply of spares they can throw at it.
I'd have another but the missus can't get on with the key/reverse malarky.
RobEB said:
30 mpg??? I would challenge anyone to get anywhere near that in this car in the real world..
I've seen the bog standard 2.0 4 cyl turbo use a 1/4 tank (according to the fuel gauge) to go 14 miles, and that was being driven gently, not above 3000rpm in any gear.
These things drink fuel like Concorde with all 4 engines on Reheat, with a hole in each of the fuel tanks and loose fuel lines.
I've seen the bog standard 2.0 4 cyl turbo use a 1/4 tank (according to the fuel gauge) to go 14 miles, and that was being driven gently, not above 3000rpm in any gear.
These things drink fuel like Concorde with all 4 engines on Reheat, with a hole in each of the fuel tanks and loose fuel lines.
Manual, though, the automatics are noticeably thirstier.
Changed it for a Mercedes E320 CDI. The soot chucker is doing low forties on runs there the Saab would do high thirties, albeit that the Mercedes is a heavier car, automatic and six cylinders. I think the economy of the Saab was pretty damn good for what it is. Of course it guzzles if you drive in lead boots. The Mercedes is quieter, more refined, better equipped, more comfortable in some respects but has inferior seats, is slower and is worth 10 times what the Saab was (and cost me more than double what I originally paid for the Saab at similar mileage).
I had the Saab for five years and about 40k miles. I had the sump dropped when I got it. I paid a fixed price at a Saab dealer, and was glad of it, because they had a nightmare doing it. It needed some suspension bushes, a brake servo, an ABS reluctor ring, a headlight relay, and a DIC (which as I remember cost closer to £200 than £400). Consumables - two sets of Goodyear F1As, the later of which is barely worn, and a set of part worn winters which are now down to the winter wear bars. My sister has it now.
I had the Griffin around 11 years ago with the 3.0 v6 turbo. Nice enough car (very comfy and pretty quick) but the v6 had a few issues. I'd get the Aero though, mega bargain these days. If they did one with my b284 fitted I'd have one tomorrow. Better car than the 9-3ss imo although the 9-3 does handle better out the box.
Sod the manky old Saab, had a few, they are alright, no need to ever have another, however, I need that Nissan in my life, it is cheesier than our fridge at the moment with all the festering Christmas cheese we opened but didnt finish.
Squeeze it and you will get essence of 80s from it, I bet the stereo picks up Bruno Brookes and Adrian Juste.
It is an "Incredible Bird Puller", do we still have "Birds", where do you find them, assume he means ladies/women/females but not sure there are any that would find this appealing if it pulled up with the full 80's West Coast Lounge Lizard ensemble driving it.
The 90s wheels need to go in favour of something era correct but the paint, the 4wd stance, the auto box and the velour are perfect for the provincial town pound shop Don Johnson look I aspire to.
Squeeze it and you will get essence of 80s from it, I bet the stereo picks up Bruno Brookes and Adrian Juste.
It is an "Incredible Bird Puller", do we still have "Birds", where do you find them, assume he means ladies/women/females but not sure there are any that would find this appealing if it pulled up with the full 80's West Coast Lounge Lizard ensemble driving it.
The 90s wheels need to go in favour of something era correct but the paint, the 4wd stance, the auto box and the velour are perfect for the provincial town pound shop Don Johnson look I aspire to.
We average 26 on ours, but it's an auto and lots of round town short distance stuff. On a run, over 30 is easy and I used to do it regularly when I used it for work.
Bit rich saying it drinks fuel like concorde!! Of the 5 cars I've got, this one is the 2nd most fuel efficient - only the MGTF does better.
My audi needs navigating point to point via fuel stations.
Bit rich saying it drinks fuel like concorde!! Of the 5 cars I've got, this one is the 2nd most fuel efficient - only the MGTF does better.
My audi needs navigating point to point via fuel stations.
RobEB said:
30 mpg??? I would challenge anyone to get anywhere near that in this car in the real world..
I've seen the bog standard 2.0 4 cyl turbo use a 1/4 tank (according to the fuel gauge) to go 14 miles, and that was being driven gently, not above 3000rpm in any gear.
These things drink fuel like Concorde with all 4 engines on Reheat, with a hole in each of the fuel tanks and loose fuel lines.
I've seen the bog standard 2.0 4 cyl turbo use a 1/4 tank (according to the fuel gauge) to go 14 miles, and that was being driven gently, not above 3000rpm in any gear.
These things drink fuel like Concorde with all 4 engines on Reheat, with a hole in each of the fuel tanks and loose fuel lines.
I only have a lowly LPT which I bought to go to the train station/airport, got sick of mongs bumping my other cars. It's only done 79k miles and is clean as a whistle inside and everything works. Very comfy car and I've grown to find the styling quite attractive. Shame there are are very few nice ones left.
On the daily commute, which comprises of b roads, slow a roads and around town (12 miles), my stage 5 gets 22 mpg when driven with lead feet, or 30 mpg when not. On a long run it'll touch 35 mpg. Pretty amazing for something which will out-accelerate F355s and DB9s in the mid ranges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKBcEpyvmPA
Huge fun if you can stomach the fuel when caning it, like anything I suppose.
Gearbox went after a run at Santa Pod last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KYccM2pEOo at 178k miles. I managed to source a 70k one for £40 and fitted for £200 labour. Here's to another 20,000 or so miles!
Huge fun if you can stomach the fuel when caning it, like anything I suppose.
Gearbox went after a run at Santa Pod last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KYccM2pEOo at 178k miles. I managed to source a 70k one for £40 and fitted for £200 labour. Here's to another 20,000 or so miles!
otolith said:
I think that's the V6 diesel, not the petrol.
Deleted my reply hoping no one would quote it in the few minutes it was up! Realised my idiot moment too late :-( I remembered there was something odd about the earlier V6s, then remembered something about Isuzu engines. It was actually the fact that they were assymetrically turbocharged that was the oddity. Stupid memory.
A family friend who died before Christmas had the first-ever registered 900 Turbo in Nottinghamshire, and then followed it with several more.
These subsequently gave way to a succession of 9-5 estates, usually the HOT model. He applied the 'no-expense spared' approach to serving and never, ever, had any sort of failure.
After he retired for the third time he decided to buy a 150k 95 HOT estate and it was monumental; I had a ride in it to his work Christmas 'do' and it drove, and looked, like a car with 50k under its wheels.
His love of the marque actually got me into owning a 9-5 Vector Sport, and then 2x 95 HOT estates, both picked up for less than £500. Both were driven for 6 months and other than tyres, (and a full service, undertaken by yours truly) they cost me nothing. In fact, after I gave each a full detail over a couple of days, I made 50% profit on the first and 100% on th second, both going to perennial Saab owners.
I found the trick was to avoid the auto at all costs, and get my friend to run a full diagnostic check prior to purchase. Two that I looked at, alledgedly with no faults, had several fault codes stored, which either turns you away or gives you some leverage on the price.
To be fair, between this and an early V70 T5 estate (of which I've had several), I don't think I would be able to choose.
A good shed, but like others have said, not for me.
Now, the skip lady does sound interesting.....
These subsequently gave way to a succession of 9-5 estates, usually the HOT model. He applied the 'no-expense spared' approach to serving and never, ever, had any sort of failure.
After he retired for the third time he decided to buy a 150k 95 HOT estate and it was monumental; I had a ride in it to his work Christmas 'do' and it drove, and looked, like a car with 50k under its wheels.
His love of the marque actually got me into owning a 9-5 Vector Sport, and then 2x 95 HOT estates, both picked up for less than £500. Both were driven for 6 months and other than tyres, (and a full service, undertaken by yours truly) they cost me nothing. In fact, after I gave each a full detail over a couple of days, I made 50% profit on the first and 100% on th second, both going to perennial Saab owners.
I found the trick was to avoid the auto at all costs, and get my friend to run a full diagnostic check prior to purchase. Two that I looked at, alledgedly with no faults, had several fault codes stored, which either turns you away or gives you some leverage on the price.
To be fair, between this and an early V70 T5 estate (of which I've had several), I don't think I would be able to choose.
A good shed, but like others have said, not for me.
Now, the skip lady does sound interesting.....
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