Damn you, UKSaabs classifieds!! 99t buys another £350 Saab!!
Discussion
Have to say the ventilated seats are awesome!
Had to pop out at lunchtime, car closed up all morning in the full sun, 26 degrees.
Open all windows to let worst heat out. Then set off with air con on cold and seats on max. Close windows once moving and it's comfortable literally within thirty seconds. No leather burns at all!!
I'll be commuting in it all week this week to see what's what. Zero issues so far, it hasn't marked its territory in the work car park and per the OBC I'm getting around 31-32 average, which is as good as I dared hope.
I lost some fuel to the leak when the tank was brimmed, so I'm sure the actual consumption fill to fill will be slightly disappointing until I resolve that (seal is on its way).
Otherwise, I've not yet found anything that doesn't work. Even the heated mirrors burned the condensation off quickly at 6am this morning.
Still waiting to find the massive issue that makes me go "so that's why he only wanted £350...." Surely there must be something??
Had to pop out at lunchtime, car closed up all morning in the full sun, 26 degrees.
Open all windows to let worst heat out. Then set off with air con on cold and seats on max. Close windows once moving and it's comfortable literally within thirty seconds. No leather burns at all!!
I'll be commuting in it all week this week to see what's what. Zero issues so far, it hasn't marked its territory in the work car park and per the OBC I'm getting around 31-32 average, which is as good as I dared hope.
I lost some fuel to the leak when the tank was brimmed, so I'm sure the actual consumption fill to fill will be slightly disappointing until I resolve that (seal is on its way).
Otherwise, I've not yet found anything that doesn't work. Even the heated mirrors burned the condensation off quickly at 6am this morning.
Still waiting to find the massive issue that makes me go "so that's why he only wanted £350...." Surely there must be something??
Shaw Tarse said:
What would happen if the heated & ventilated seats were switched on at the same time?
Might be a bit like the statistician with his head in the oven and feet in the freezer? *
Sensible answer - I guess since the seats "suck" rather than "blow" that the warmth would just be ejected into the cabin from under the seat?
Less sensible answer - ventilated seats must result in faster trump distribution too!!
- C. Bruce Grossman 1960
Connected to Tech 2 at the weekend and ran full diagnostics.
Two faults only, one for the variable intermittent wipe switch being "out of range" which I already suspected was making no difference to the interval, and second one was no communication at all with the parking sensors.
I'll have the rear bumper off soon to fit a towbar, so will check the connections then.
Also turned the annoying seat belt chime off and tweaked a couple of settings relating to the climate control - made it single sided when no passenger (as my ocd can't cope with different temps left and right!!) and turned the compressor off by default below 18c.
The fuel pump seal and pump retaining ring tool arrived so set to.
Access is fairly comfortable at least
Pump retaining ring should have been a struggle but was barely finger tight so suspected this to be the cause of the leak but since I'd got a seal thought I might as well fit it.
Old ring wasn't really seated properly and much larger than replacement when compared
New seal fitted and the retaining ring properly tightened down, went for a spirited test drive to check for leaks. Petrolly smell soon returned. Bugger!
No leak around the pump now, but wet on top of the tank, near the pump, but far enough away to be tricky to access via the access hole
Looks like a cracked plastic weld around a blanking plug (for additional US market emissions guff) as the plug is certainly still in very solidly. I think the easiest solution given the access will be to try cleaning around it with a toothbrush and brake cleaner, and then a smear of two part expoxy around the seal with a fingertip, and hope for the best!
Otherwise it'll need the tank dropping to access better, unless I want to get creative with the tin snips!!
Two faults only, one for the variable intermittent wipe switch being "out of range" which I already suspected was making no difference to the interval, and second one was no communication at all with the parking sensors.
I'll have the rear bumper off soon to fit a towbar, so will check the connections then.
Also turned the annoying seat belt chime off and tweaked a couple of settings relating to the climate control - made it single sided when no passenger (as my ocd can't cope with different temps left and right!!) and turned the compressor off by default below 18c.
The fuel pump seal and pump retaining ring tool arrived so set to.
Access is fairly comfortable at least
Pump retaining ring should have been a struggle but was barely finger tight so suspected this to be the cause of the leak but since I'd got a seal thought I might as well fit it.
Old ring wasn't really seated properly and much larger than replacement when compared
New seal fitted and the retaining ring properly tightened down, went for a spirited test drive to check for leaks. Petrolly smell soon returned. Bugger!
No leak around the pump now, but wet on top of the tank, near the pump, but far enough away to be tricky to access via the access hole
Looks like a cracked plastic weld around a blanking plug (for additional US market emissions guff) as the plug is certainly still in very solidly. I think the easiest solution given the access will be to try cleaning around it with a toothbrush and brake cleaner, and then a smear of two part expoxy around the seal with a fingertip, and hope for the best!
Otherwise it'll need the tank dropping to access better, unless I want to get creative with the tin snips!!
That was a nasty fiddly job. Keyhole surgery is definitely not on my career options as I think I would have killed the patient!
Not pretty but fingers crossed may do the trick?
Note - opening to work through is about the same height as phone camera lens, so of course access looks fine when shoving the end of my phone into the gap!!
Not pretty but fingers crossed may do the trick?
Note - opening to work through is about the same height as phone camera lens, so of course access looks fine when shoving the end of my phone into the gap!!
stewjohnst said:
You'll of course be jealous to know that both my headlight wipers return to their correct positions 
I've used the lights and wipers more the last couple of days and normal headlight wiper parking has now been resumed
Went t'mill to get chicken food last night and on getting out of the car thought I heard something drop on the floor, but simultaneously clattered the sill trim with the seatbelt buckle so couldn't be sure and couldn't see anything on the floor. Untangled the seatbelt and got on with things.
Later I went to fit a replacement wiper stalk to fix the non-variable intermittent wipe, and whilst crouching down to undo the column shroud realised that the large seat adjuster button, the one that controls fore and aft / height and tilt, was entirely missing. Balls!
Replaced the wiper stalk and it was immediately obvious why the old one was faulty
Then drove back to the mill in hope rather than expectation (in the rain, tested variable intermittent, all good
) and lo and behold, sitting untouched in the now empty car park was one perfect, undamaged seat button! 
Little update - 1,500 miles now covered.
We're not quite in Autumn yet but this morning was the coldest summer morning so far, just three degrees. This gave the opportunity to confirm that the heated driver's seat and heating elements in the mirrors all still function correctly, which they do.
I've not encountered any problems so far. Under bonnet levels appear static (or at least any movement is minimal) and the old bus hasn't missed a beat.
That said, over poor surfaces, lumps, bumps and changes of camber, it is obvious that some rubbery bits underneath are past their best. I've not had a look yet but I would guess subframe bushes, maybe an engine mount or two and some suspension bushes will be pretty tired.
The only symptoms are a very occasional clunk from the rear over certain bumps (although need to rule out exhaust mountings on this one), a tiny bit of a wobble / rear steer over changes of camber and a touch more vibration in the cabin when stationary in drive than there would have been when new.
All of the above are me being quite particular, passengers have commented on what a quiet and comfortable car it is, so it obviously it doesn't feel and sound like it's on its last legs!
So the issues are sufficiently minor that they could easily be ignored if one were to adopt a bangernomics mindset, but the temptation to spend and improve is growing. I find myself liking this car very much and it seems to be a good'un so I'll probably get spendy in due course. Maybe wait until the MOT in November and see what the fails and advises are, and go from there.
Of course, spend on the rubber bits and then then it easily becomes a slippery slope and where to stop? Remap and 3" downpipe? Eibach springs and Bilsteins? Few hundred quid of smart repairs to bring the bodywork up to scratch. Suspect it would be easy to add a zero to the purchase price...
We're not quite in Autumn yet but this morning was the coldest summer morning so far, just three degrees. This gave the opportunity to confirm that the heated driver's seat and heating elements in the mirrors all still function correctly, which they do.
I've not encountered any problems so far. Under bonnet levels appear static (or at least any movement is minimal) and the old bus hasn't missed a beat.
That said, over poor surfaces, lumps, bumps and changes of camber, it is obvious that some rubbery bits underneath are past their best. I've not had a look yet but I would guess subframe bushes, maybe an engine mount or two and some suspension bushes will be pretty tired.
The only symptoms are a very occasional clunk from the rear over certain bumps (although need to rule out exhaust mountings on this one), a tiny bit of a wobble / rear steer over changes of camber and a touch more vibration in the cabin when stationary in drive than there would have been when new.
All of the above are me being quite particular, passengers have commented on what a quiet and comfortable car it is, so it obviously it doesn't feel and sound like it's on its last legs!
So the issues are sufficiently minor that they could easily be ignored if one were to adopt a bangernomics mindset, but the temptation to spend and improve is growing. I find myself liking this car very much and it seems to be a good'un so I'll probably get spendy in due course. Maybe wait until the MOT in November and see what the fails and advises are, and go from there.
Of course, spend on the rubber bits and then then it easily becomes a slippery slope and where to stop? Remap and 3" downpipe? Eibach springs and Bilsteins? Few hundred quid of smart repairs to bring the bodywork up to scratch. Suspect it would be easy to add a zero to the purchase price...
Edited by 99t on Tuesday 19th September 09:28
This is just epic, £350 you can't go wrong!
Love the look of the phase 1 9-5 especially in estate form.
My advice would be to buy a 9-5 that is already modified and save yourself thousands, but then again there is something satisfying about having fresh parts on your car.
Bilstein B12s are fantastic.
Love the look of the phase 1 9-5 especially in estate form.
My advice would be to buy a 9-5 that is already modified and save yourself thousands, but then again there is something satisfying about having fresh parts on your car.
Bilstein B12s are fantastic.
HybridAero said:
My advice would be to buy a 9-5 that is already modified and save yourself thousands....
This is totally sound advice. If I had even one shred of common sense I would either run it as-is, without spending a bean on it until it dies, or sell it whilst it is all working and put the proceeds towards a good pre-tuned one.
I should heed the above. I really, really should!
99t said:
This is totally sound advice.
If I had even one shred of common sense I would either run it as-is, without spending a bean on it until it dies, or sell it whilst it is all working and put the proceeds towards a good pre-tuned one.
I should heed the above. I really, really should!
A good compromise would be £1500ish on a well cared for stage 3.If I had even one shred of common sense I would either run it as-is, without spending a bean on it until it dies, or sell it whilst it is all working and put the proceeds towards a good pre-tuned one.
I should heed the above. I really, really should!
I remember a 400 bhp Abbott tuned GT28rs 9-5 for sale for £5000 a couple of years back. I've spent about £7k on mine and still only 340 bhp! You have been warned
99t said:
So the issues are sufficiently minor that they could easily be ignored if one were to adopt a bangernomics mindset, but the temptation to spend and improve is growing. I find myself liking this car very much and it seems to be a good'un so I'll probably get spendy in due course. Maybe wait until the MOT in November and see what the fails and advises are, and go from there.
Very foolish words which I've muttered myself. Bought my 9-5 as a train station hack as I was sick of my other car getting damaged in the car park. It's an 03 plate which I bought for £1700. It's done 80k miles with only 2 careful owners from new. Few dings in the body but generally tidy and the interior is immaculate. Since I bought it 2.5 years ago it's cost me £3300 in servicing/repairs and parts including new clutch, sub frame bushes, tyres, turbo, driveshafts, fluid changes including the gear box and some tyres. I even changed the SID as it had a few missing pixels.
Now it's as it should be, I'm thinking of getting the paint done and I've spent so much on it, it needs to stay for about another 50 years! Nice, comfy car though and what do you do if you like something?
99t said:
Cheers all
Yes, heated and ventilated seats
Having cool air sucked past ones gentleman's area is a slightly odd sensation, it has to be said. Not unpleasant per se, just odd.
Great thread and deserves a reader's car of the week nomination for that comment alone. Yes, heated and ventilated seats
Having cool air sucked past ones gentleman's area is a slightly odd sensation, it has to be said. Not unpleasant per se, just odd.
Love the original three spoke alloys.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Great thread and deserves a reader's car of the week nomination for that comment alone.
Love the original three spoke alloys.
Love the original three spoke alloys.
A 230 mile round trip was completed at the weekend without incident, four up and very comfortable. Mainly motorway and returned 35mpg at a nice steady seventy and a bit!
The MOT is due mid-November but my insurance is due at the end of October, so I plan to put it in for an early test later this month, just to check that the jobs I think need doing aren't the tip of a huge rustberg.
A pass would, of course, be a bonus, but I would be genuinely surprised.
I've mentioned previously that the suspension is feeling rather tired. The front in particular seems to have worsened the last month or so, probably due to my enthusiastic cornering style combined with some pretty shocking surfaces on my commute. I fully expect a moderate fail on a handful of semi-consumable items (to include but certainly not limited to bushes, brake hoses etc.) Also the front tyres are pretty much on the wear indicators now (and the wheels are desperate for a refurb) so probably add those to the fail list.
Assuming an "acceptable" fail is obtained, I'll revert back to my trusty Octavia for estate duties when I renew my insurance - might as well save on admin fees by not having to change vehicles a couple of weeks into the new policy and put that money towards parts instead!
This will then give me the opportunity to drop the front and rear suspension (and probably the subframe) on the 9-5 and replace / re-bush as necessary. Plus do any other bits the MOT has unearthed. I have the space to do this in the barn so at least I can undertake the work under cover and in a methodical and relaxed (read as leisurely) manner once it is SORN and out of Mrs 99t's eyeline!
Of course, should it fail comprehensively and catastrophically, then I'll have to have a re-think about the car's future, but hopefully that won't be a bridge I'll need to cross just yet...
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