RE: Saab 900 S | Shed of the Week
Discussion
parabolica said:
egor110 said:
parabolica said:
We're a Saab family through and through; a few 99s, earlier gen 900, 9000 CD, 9-5, my dad still has my old 9-3 Aero on life support. Never liked the look of this gen of 900, especially in 5-door, automatic guise, but each to their own.
What's up with your dads aero ?ETA just for clarity it's a 2005 9-3, not the first gen 9-3.
For the price they ( 9-3 aero) go for now there a absolute bargain, the straight line speed is ridiculous.
grumpy52 said:
I was a serial Saab owner ,9000,93,95 and 900's .
Over the years I found that you either had to service them properly or don't touch them at all.
Got several very cheap over the years that had been bodged but were very easy to fix .
Not the quickest thing down a twisty back road but a great long distance mile muncher . Very comfortable especially with a leather interior .
I would jump on a decent turbo auto at the right price.
Completely agree with all or nothing servicing on these. I did 75k miles in just over a year in my 1997 900 turbo and absolutely nothing broke. Amazing really as I was in my early 20’s and thrashed it everywhere and missed most services. Got through lots of front tyres though. Over the years I found that you either had to service them properly or don't touch them at all.
Got several very cheap over the years that had been bodged but were very easy to fix .
Not the quickest thing down a twisty back road but a great long distance mile muncher . Very comfortable especially with a leather interior .
I would jump on a decent turbo auto at the right price.
The later Saabs got progressively worse.
Wynn Duffy said:
Have a good friend of mine, runs a Bus Company they used to buy Easystart by the case load to help start their old Leyland Nationals, he said it was cocaine for engines, they end up getting dependent on it.
Has that not been proved to be a bit of an urban legend, and the reason they get "addicted" to it is that the engines themselves are so shagged to start with, and miraculously don't fix themselves? /buzzkillington. My Saab ownership consisted of 9-5s (2.0 LPT Auto, 2.2TiD Linear Sport and Aero). The Aero was my favourite by a country mile, but it was also the most mechanically fettled - LSD, Polybushed, Mapped, JamSaab shifter etc. My recommendation to anyone buying a Saab is to buy a manual petrol with a turbo. The bigger the turbo, the better.
A colleague had a Y-reg 9-3 3-door (not a coupe as pointed out above) in Aero guise. That had 400bhp when he'd finished with it; an amazing drive. He ended up stripping it out and using it once as a track car, then it sat there for various reasons on his drive doing nothing. Not sure where it ended up.
Worst Saab drive for me was a N-reg 9000 LPT, being sold at a local Saab specialist when I lived in Beckenham. Although it was only 5 years old at the time, it was very disappointing - and I really wanted to like it as a big fan of the other Type 4 cars. Just felt too... wallowy / creaky. Ended up with an E36 Touring instead (320i) which was a great car.
This week's shed... too low end for a Saab. And too automatic.
A colleague had a Y-reg 9-3 3-door (not a coupe as pointed out above) in Aero guise. That had 400bhp when he'd finished with it; an amazing drive. He ended up stripping it out and using it once as a track car, then it sat there for various reasons on his drive doing nothing. Not sure where it ended up.
Worst Saab drive for me was a N-reg 9000 LPT, being sold at a local Saab specialist when I lived in Beckenham. Although it was only 5 years old at the time, it was very disappointing - and I really wanted to like it as a big fan of the other Type 4 cars. Just felt too... wallowy / creaky. Ended up with an E36 Touring instead (320i) which was a great car.
This week's shed... too low end for a Saab. And too automatic.
Earthdweller said:
Lovely old thing
I had a 900S 3 door in Scarabe green, great comfortable long distance car then an SE 3 door in silver
Really loved the “black panel” button that turned off the dashboard apart from the speedometer
Something modern cars could do well to emulate
That was a truly great function. One of of the reasons I sold an S5 Audi was because I could not turn the central screen off or even down, it was exceedingly annoying on long night time motorway trips. Whenever I buy a car now I purposely seek out something without a screen, its getting very, very difficult to do now. Even cars from 20 years ago had optional screens popping out of the top of the dash like a hideous wart in the interior. I have a 17 year old Subaru Forester now as a DD and it doesn't have the sat nav screen, instead it has a very handy storage cubby in the top of the dash. Why do cars have these anyway, everyone uses their phones for sat nav. £4.5k Porsche option that no-one uses and is out of date in 3-5 years. I had a 900S 3 door in Scarabe green, great comfortable long distance car then an SE 3 door in silver
Really loved the “black panel” button that turned off the dashboard apart from the speedometer
Something modern cars could do well to emulate
Bispal said:
One of of the reasons I sold an S5 Audi was because I could not turn the central screen off or even down, it was exceedingly annoying on long night time motorway trips.
I have a 2012 A4 in the fleet with MMI 3G, and I can turn off the display (Setup>Display>Turn Display Off). Not sure what vintage your S5 was, but I'd imagine it was an identical process. egor110 said:
parabolica said:
egor110 said:
parabolica said:
We're a Saab family through and through; a few 99s, earlier gen 900, 9000 CD, 9-5, my dad still has my old 9-3 Aero on life support. Never liked the look of this gen of 900, especially in 5-door, automatic guise, but each to their own.
What's up with your dads aero ?ETA just for clarity it's a 2005 9-3, not the first gen 9-3.
For the price they ( 9-3 aero) go for now there a absolute bargain, the straight line speed is ridiculous.
Great shed. I'm another long time Saab admirer, and have had twelve.
Had an N-reg one "like" this but red, manual, 2.0 SE - N911RBE. Followed by a P-reg V6 Auto (metallic red). The 2.0 was reasonably economical, but the V6 economy was abysmal! Nice sounding engine though.
NA 2.3 always did seem a bit of an odd-ball choice, but hey-ho.
Had an N-reg one "like" this but red, manual, 2.0 SE - N911RBE. Followed by a P-reg V6 Auto (metallic red). The 2.0 was reasonably economical, but the V6 economy was abysmal! Nice sounding engine though.
NA 2.3 always did seem a bit of an odd-ball choice, but hey-ho.
Ive had 3 Saab's and the best for build quality was definitely an R Reg 900 se Turbo convertible it must have been 1 of the last 900s made , I inherited it at about 4 years old as my mum bought it brand new from Robert Bowett Saab Hunslet Leeds
I got rid of it at about 12years old and it use to sale through.Mots every year , regarding the panel light if you're low on juice it doesn't work that's how well they were made .
Since I got rid of 900 convertible I've had 2 93s an 05 93 vector convertible and an 08 vector sportwagon and quality is no were like.the same, so if this 900 is anything like my 900 it's a brilliant old barge.
The world is not the same without Saab .
I got rid of it at about 12years old and it use to sale through.Mots every year , regarding the panel light if you're low on juice it doesn't work that's how well they were made .
Since I got rid of 900 convertible I've had 2 93s an 05 93 vector convertible and an 08 vector sportwagon and quality is no were like.the same, so if this 900 is anything like my 900 it's a brilliant old barge.
The world is not the same without Saab .
Giulia Jon said:
No thanks , this model only lasted 5 years of production ,the replacement 9-3 lasted much longer .
I wonder why
Maybe because GM weren't making a bean from Saab, so brand slap projects such as the 9-2x and the 9-7x were given the green light rather than an expensive re-engineering of the Insignia.I wonder why
humphra said:
MarvinTPA said:
Halmyre said:
griffsomething said:
Nsuro80 said:
Loving the cinnamon buns on that tarantula
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