2001 Saab 9-5 - The Wagon
Discussion
I’ll start this by stressing this was a very unplanned purchase.
I knew I needed a car for winter, with the Boxster planned to go in for a bit of bodywork, so frequently caught myself browsing for candidates for winter abuse. Although my medium for this is predominantly Facebook marketplace, one Friday I stumbled onto gumtree whilst waiting for a meeting to begin.
Up popped a well written ad for this Saab. Description stated one owner from new, so I could sense it would be good. I messaged and arranged viewing as soon as possible. Saturday came, I viewed the car, and placed a deposit.
I collected it the next Thursday and found out even more about the car. The owner, an old gentleman named James, had every single document from new. Full Saab history at Adrian Smith Aberdeen until it was closed down, then a Saab specialist to date. Plus, a spare set of headlights, a set of winter wheels, and he even bought me a bottle of whisky as a thanks!!
The car was garaged it’s entire life, next to his Lotus Elise MK1. I quickly realized Hiw immaculate the car really is. The best sale experience I’ve ever had too.
It’s a 2.0 Petrol, Manual in Sun Green with 104,000 on the clock, and a beige interior. Delighted is an understatement.
Rather fitting as my chariot home from the hospital when my parents had me was a 9-5.
I knew I needed a car for winter, with the Boxster planned to go in for a bit of bodywork, so frequently caught myself browsing for candidates for winter abuse. Although my medium for this is predominantly Facebook marketplace, one Friday I stumbled onto gumtree whilst waiting for a meeting to begin.
Up popped a well written ad for this Saab. Description stated one owner from new, so I could sense it would be good. I messaged and arranged viewing as soon as possible. Saturday came, I viewed the car, and placed a deposit.
I collected it the next Thursday and found out even more about the car. The owner, an old gentleman named James, had every single document from new. Full Saab history at Adrian Smith Aberdeen until it was closed down, then a Saab specialist to date. Plus, a spare set of headlights, a set of winter wheels, and he even bought me a bottle of whisky as a thanks!!
The car was garaged it’s entire life, next to his Lotus Elise MK1. I quickly realized Hiw immaculate the car really is. The best sale experience I’ve ever had too.
It’s a 2.0 Petrol, Manual in Sun Green with 104,000 on the clock, and a beige interior. Delighted is an understatement.
Rather fitting as my chariot home from the hospital when my parents had me was a 9-5.
Enjoy, looks great. Lovely cars, I had one (2.3T) from 12K miles to 233K miles, they can certainly eat the mileage! I would recommend a couple of get you home spares, two things that can die without warning, the first being a spare DI Cassette, these have a habit of dying randomly (or working very erractically). I got through 3 in my ownship and carried a spare in the boot. The second being a CPS (Crank Position Sensor) - mine died (common issue) at a motorway service station leaving me stranded (AA recovery) - when these stop working, the car just won't start.
But a fantasically comfortable car, with decent ventillation/heating, a great place to be for long joutneys, I miss mine.
But a fantasically comfortable car, with decent ventillation/heating, a great place to be for long joutneys, I miss mine.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Looks like the holy grail of bargain motoring. Anything need doing to it?
Extremely late response, I know!Nothing now, to be honest! Bought a new set of tyres as the others were 2013 days marked! Other than that, a touch of bubbling on the drivers rear dog leg, for which I’ve already booked in to be rectified.
The rear springs look passed their best but I’m not rushing to replace them, will monitor and replace when necessary. I am though looking for a slightly nicer set of wheels, OEM of course.
Flew down the road to Edinburgh for a weekend, Saab handled it like a champ. Particularly the M90 between Perth and the start of the variable limit cameras closer to the Forth.
Was so relaxing to drive, particularly in comparison to the rest of the fleet. The more I drive it, the more I love it. Roof rack next on the wish list, along with a new set of alloys (OEM) and if I can find one, a sliding boot floor. Rare as rocking horse excrement though…
Also looking to potentially underseal as I plan to drive it through the winter. Never undersealed a car before though, anyone got any useful tips?
the-norseman said:
Looks decent that, I bought a 9-3 V6 as a stop gap and kept it for nearly 2 years, old sold as WFH now means couldn't justify the £615 tax.
suppose the big question, if your willing to share is how much did the wagon cost you?
Love a 9-3!suppose the big question, if your willing to share is how much did the wagon cost you?
Happy to share, it was just a touch over £1500, so by the time I taxed and insured, close to £2k all in.
That looks minty fresh. Re underseal, there is a great thread on PH in “Classic cars and yesterday heroes” page 2 “Waxoyl is it a good thing?”
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
daqinggregg said:
That looks minty fresh. Re underseal, there is a great thread on PH in “Classic cars and yesterday heroes” page 2 “Waxoyl is it a good thing?”
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Thank you! Looks like an easy enough task - though I have no access to a lift…https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Further to my comment above, there are two things that will stop this car that are fairly regular failures.
The first is the DI cassette, these can fail in multiple ways, the most common being putting the car into limp mode, with no boost available. They can though just fail causing the car to stop.
The second is the CPS (Crank Position Sensor), this almost certainly will fail when you try to restart the car with a hot engine, thus leaving you stranded.
Both of these are quite easy to fix (usually within roadside recovery capability!). After suffering failures in my car, I used to keep one of each in the boot.
I ran my 2.3 LPT 99 Estate from 12K miles to 233K miles, it was a fantastic car for long journeys, and I only sold it as a climate control flap had broken making the passenger side of the car hot all the time. Dashboard out job to fix! I suffered very few failures, and never had the dreaded sludge, possibly as due to my mileage the car was getting an oil change every 4-5 months!
I did go through a couple of DI cassettes (80K, 140K), a CPS (135K) and around 185K I replaced both the turbo (puffing blue smoke) followed by the head gasket (another common failure). Also had a couple of exhaust backboxes, due to the previously mentioned rotting through.
For comfort I wish I still had my Saab 9-5, its replacement a 9-3 wasn't as nice (written off when parked at 155K), though I have beaten my high mileage record with my current car - Volvo V50 - bought new, currently on 243K.
To the OP, enjoy the car, they are lovely things.
The first is the DI cassette, these can fail in multiple ways, the most common being putting the car into limp mode, with no boost available. They can though just fail causing the car to stop.
The second is the CPS (Crank Position Sensor), this almost certainly will fail when you try to restart the car with a hot engine, thus leaving you stranded.
Both of these are quite easy to fix (usually within roadside recovery capability!). After suffering failures in my car, I used to keep one of each in the boot.
I ran my 2.3 LPT 99 Estate from 12K miles to 233K miles, it was a fantastic car for long journeys, and I only sold it as a climate control flap had broken making the passenger side of the car hot all the time. Dashboard out job to fix! I suffered very few failures, and never had the dreaded sludge, possibly as due to my mileage the car was getting an oil change every 4-5 months!
I did go through a couple of DI cassettes (80K, 140K), a CPS (135K) and around 185K I replaced both the turbo (puffing blue smoke) followed by the head gasket (another common failure). Also had a couple of exhaust backboxes, due to the previously mentioned rotting through.
For comfort I wish I still had my Saab 9-5, its replacement a 9-3 wasn't as nice (written off when parked at 155K), though I have beaten my high mileage record with my current car - Volvo V50 - bought new, currently on 243K.
To the OP, enjoy the car, they are lovely things.
Edited by DavidY on Friday 28th October 10:46
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