Thinking about a Saab

[D_Mike]

Hello

I'm in need of a cheapish (2k give or take say 100%) car mostly for motorway "cruising" and the occaisional "spirited" drive. I do like twisties. This sort of led me to think about Saabs, in particular the 900 and more specifically one with a turbo in it. Mostly through reading all sorts of interesting things about matt_t16s and 990T-Rs cars.

So... when I'm looking for one any tips? Does it sound like the right car for the job? What is ownership like and how much should i expect for things like parts (in general) and insurance.

thanks for the help

Mike

[NiceCupOfTea]

Well.....

Sounds like there's 3 different cars you should be considering :

1) classic 900 turbo (same that myself, Matt_t16 and Eric (900T-R) own). These are the old shape ones. Being older cars they do need some fettling, but if you pick a good 'un it should do well. Mine is a daily driver, and it is fine (although a bit noisy) on the motorway, and bags of fun on twisties. Pretty quick in standard form. On the downside it can be hard to find a good one, and the really good ones will be out of your budget. Mine cost 2600 and although it's in good shape it's not mint. I thought long and hard about it because I needed a reliable car. I took the plunge eventually and it's been fine, although it's not cheap to run.

2) ng900 turbo (new shape Cavalier-based car). Not as characterful as the old cars and not as much fun to drive, but they tend to be cheaper and they are much, much more modern. You would get a cracker for this money with air con and leather etc. Spend a bit more and they drive pretty well too.

3) 9000 turbo - fantastic motorway cars, and can be made to handle well too. Effortlessly quick, especially the 2.3 turbo. If I needed a motorway car I would find a cheap 2.3 light pressure turbo with a nice spec, and stage 1 it to full pressure turbo - chances are it's been ragged less than a full turbo to start with.

I love my T16S - although it's not the most practical car, it has so much character! Do some reading on the forums, drive a few, see what you think

[900T-R]

Echo that - but given the brief her that the car must be er, receptive to 'spirited' driveng, I'd forget about the NG900. As standard they are vague, wallowy and torque-steering animals and while they *can* be sorted to a large extent, *that* alone would cost you about your £2K bugdet - with the purchase price of the car on top of that! The Cavalier-based cars are excellent value as a 'classy' runabout or as a basis for a no-holds-barred project, but those who bought one thinking it would be a more modern version of the classic 900 Turbo's in spirit, without exception got disappointed.

For the budget, it would be either a 16 valve 900 Turbo or the low pressure version thereof (900S lpt) which can be relatively easily modified to the same output and beyond, when the occasional B-road blast is on the program.
If your game is devastating much newer and/or flasher cars on motorways, you could do worse than a 2.3 litre 9000 Turbo. Decent 9000 Aero's (the ultimate version of the 9000) might be available at the higher end of your budget.

[900T-R]

Some more points - the classic 900's can likely be insured on a classic policy - which also has the advantage of possible agreed value fully comprehensive cover. Which is nice when you start fettling your car and spending some cash on it (and believe me, you will!). Agreed value on mine has risen to a mildly staggering 15,000 euro (£10K+) now, and I still pay less than 500 euro a year based on 7,500 kms/year.

Service items are very reasonably priced IMO, and so are major components like exchange gearboxes, turbo's (compared to BMW, Audi et al) when looking outside the dealer network. There's a fair number of highly rated Saab specialists in the UK.

The '90-'93 model year Classic 900's are pretty much bulletproof, with the exception of gearboxes which won't take much abuse. Do check for rust on wheelarch flares, bonnet sides, lower inside doors and (tricky this one) the front undercarriage where the driveshafts pass through. Engines should be good for at least 200,000 miles if properly maintained, an even then a rebuild won't set you back a fortune. Hydraulic tappets can be noisy after start up when the car hasn't run for a while - check that the soft 'rattle' disappears within a few minutes, no more than a quarter of an hour at most. Timing chains can be rattly at high mileages, too - the proper way of rectifying this is unfortunately an engine out job.

Clutches, conversely, are a cinch: the flywheel side is at the front of the car (i.e. the engine is in 'backwards'). They are long lasting, anyways. Chack for exhaust manifold leaks - second hand repalcements are hard to get by (and nigh impossible in he case of the older 8 valve turbo's which always crack between 2nd and 3rd cylinders).

Even at high mileages, a good one should feel nice and tight - more 'grown up' GTI than exec barge. Don't expect the refinement of the latter, though.

As for modifications, a set of Abbott/(Trent Saab (now defunct, sadly) springs or similar with Koni dampers and a proper alignment should bring you most of the way there, provided decent rubber. For a more radical approach, remove the front torsion bar on top of this (or install a rear bar only on cars that were not equipped with anti-roll bars) - this will make properly set up cars feel like a rather more solidly built 205 GTI, but ones on worn standard suspension will become a bit, er, alarming.

[D_Mike]

Thanks 900T-R

After a bit of browsing this afternoon I was edging more towards a 900 for a couple of reasons - I had the impression that they were a bit less bargey and a bit more fun, and I was hoping that (at least initially) it would be slightly cheaper to purchase. In terms of the refinement <--> rawness scale I'm more towards the raw sort of side really... I can put up with a noisy engine for a few hours on a motorway no problem.

I will continue looking now

[matt_t16]

<Fashionaly late to a thread as always>

What they said A very very good C900 T16 will set you back around £3K, however spent a grand on it in upgrades and you have a car that very little will touch whilst still providing the ability to carry a chest of drawes and you family!

Non-Thrashed Carlssons or Mint Rubys won't depreciated ... ever, K or very rare L plate T16S (pref black with dark leather) will be worth the same in 3 years time as you pay today.

Best Regards
Matt