£500 worth of 9-5 Aero - what can possibly go wrong?
Discussion
I've wanted a 9-5 Aero for ages. Something about the combination of comfy seats, epic overtaking ability and Swedish quirkiness really does it for me. And I love the cupholder design.
So when one was listed for £500 a mere three hour drive away, I was interested. It was an estate, which made me even more interested. The advert contained absolutely no details but a quick check of the MOT history showed it was due to expire in a week. Ho hum, can't be doing with the potential hassle and repair bills, never mind.
However - I kept an eye on it and lo and behold, one day I checked to find it had a fresh 12 month ticket!
So I got into a dialogue with the seller, who owns a Saab specialist (former main dealer). He told me the car had a full history with his garage and one owner from new. He told me it had a noisy alternator,a bit of rust around the back (non load bearing items) and a rotten fuel tank strap but was otherwise mechanically solid. He told me there was an issue with an ABS wheel ring as well. No biggie.
Most importantly, he told me it was a manual model and that it had always been serviced on time with top quality fully synthetic oil.
I had to see it. So I went over a couple of Sundays ago with a friend in his (non air conditioning working) Subaru for a look.
The alternator was the loudest thing I've ever heard on a car, but it drove fine. I was hooked - so much power and such a nice place to sit. The rot around the back wasn't bad. So I paid £500 (the seller wasn't to be haggled) and was on my way.
... Well, I got as far as another unit on the business park, where I parked up to sort my insurance and tax. Then the car simply refused to start. Cue a trip to a garage and fruitless attempt to jump from my mate's car.
So on the phone I went to my breakdown cover, whose system wasn't showing my car as covered as it had just been added to my insurance.
90 minutes of frustrating back and forth later while sitting in the baking sun, and the RAC man finally got sent. He did his diagnostics and found the battery was utterly shot. Great. £92 at Halfords later on a new one and I was finally ready to go home. My mate said he could hear the alternator from his car on the motorway.
On the bright side, the fuel economy on the journey back was pretty impressive! And the garage refunded the battery money - they said they had no idea. Mmmhmm.
Since getting it back I've got a new alternator fitted £280 all in), I've ordered a DI cassette and spark plugs (an intermittent engine light has started appearing and I want to be safe) and I've polished up the cataract inflicted headlights.
As another added bonus, the long front overhang means it fits into the parking spaces outside my flat.
What more could a man want? Well, it has a couple little rust patches on the bodywork to tidy up. The fuel cap is half rusted and needs replacing. One of the wheels is very scabby, and I want to swap them for 3 spoke items. And... £80 on a stage 1 remap is looking mighty tempting.
But overall, what a lot of car for not a lot of cash!
So when one was listed for £500 a mere three hour drive away, I was interested. It was an estate, which made me even more interested. The advert contained absolutely no details but a quick check of the MOT history showed it was due to expire in a week. Ho hum, can't be doing with the potential hassle and repair bills, never mind.
However - I kept an eye on it and lo and behold, one day I checked to find it had a fresh 12 month ticket!
So I got into a dialogue with the seller, who owns a Saab specialist (former main dealer). He told me the car had a full history with his garage and one owner from new. He told me it had a noisy alternator,a bit of rust around the back (non load bearing items) and a rotten fuel tank strap but was otherwise mechanically solid. He told me there was an issue with an ABS wheel ring as well. No biggie.
Most importantly, he told me it was a manual model and that it had always been serviced on time with top quality fully synthetic oil.
I had to see it. So I went over a couple of Sundays ago with a friend in his (non air conditioning working) Subaru for a look.
The alternator was the loudest thing I've ever heard on a car, but it drove fine. I was hooked - so much power and such a nice place to sit. The rot around the back wasn't bad. So I paid £500 (the seller wasn't to be haggled) and was on my way.
... Well, I got as far as another unit on the business park, where I parked up to sort my insurance and tax. Then the car simply refused to start. Cue a trip to a garage and fruitless attempt to jump from my mate's car.
So on the phone I went to my breakdown cover, whose system wasn't showing my car as covered as it had just been added to my insurance.
90 minutes of frustrating back and forth later while sitting in the baking sun, and the RAC man finally got sent. He did his diagnostics and found the battery was utterly shot. Great. £92 at Halfords later on a new one and I was finally ready to go home. My mate said he could hear the alternator from his car on the motorway.
On the bright side, the fuel economy on the journey back was pretty impressive! And the garage refunded the battery money - they said they had no idea. Mmmhmm.
Since getting it back I've got a new alternator fitted £280 all in), I've ordered a DI cassette and spark plugs (an intermittent engine light has started appearing and I want to be safe) and I've polished up the cataract inflicted headlights.
As another added bonus, the long front overhang means it fits into the parking spaces outside my flat.
What more could a man want? Well, it has a couple little rust patches on the bodywork to tidy up. The fuel cap is half rusted and needs replacing. One of the wheels is very scabby, and I want to swap them for 3 spoke items. And... £80 on a stage 1 remap is looking mighty tempting.
But overall, what a lot of car for not a lot of cash!
Edited by GeordieInExile on Tuesday 24th July 10:11
FoxtrotOscar1 said:
May I ask what products you used on the headlights and how long it took?
A job I've been putting off for a while....
I used this:-A job I've been putting off for a while....
3M 39073 Headlight Lens Restoration Kit to Restore Dull/Faded/Discoloured Headlights
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0078IHJ1K/ref=cm_sw_r...
It was £16 in the recent Prime Day sale. Well worth it. Even someone as practically useless as me managed it!
Half hour job but I was very slow and careful.
Edited by GeordieInExile on Tuesday 24th July 12:17
New DI cassette and plugs on this weekend. The check engine light is no longer illuminating my dashboard. I'll call that a victory.
...In worse news, I've also managed to half-remove my front bumper. Turns out when my mate said 'park on the road' he really did mean for me to park on the road, rather than in the exceptionally tight space between his car and the wall.
The bumper issue is probably related to the sudden increase in cabin noise... ah well. It needed to go in for a sump drop anyway, they can fix the bumper at the same time!
...In worse news, I've also managed to half-remove my front bumper. Turns out when my mate said 'park on the road' he really did mean for me to park on the road, rather than in the exceptionally tight space between his car and the wall.
The bumper issue is probably related to the sudden increase in cabin noise... ah well. It needed to go in for a sump drop anyway, they can fix the bumper at the same time!
It's worth considerably more than £500 surely in parts? Having had a 9-5 diesel estate and a 9-3 diesel estate, I found myself "mooching" around the web wondering if I could run an Aero estate as a daily? With my mileage being 25k a year or more, I sadly conceded I needed something I could run for a few years hopefully without big bills and would do 40 mpg and parked the idea...they're a lot of fun for the money 
MrC986 said:
It's worth considerably more than £500 surely in parts? Having had a 9-5 diesel estate and a 9-3 diesel estate, I found myself "mooching" around the web wondering if I could run an Aero estate as a daily? With my mileage being 25k a year or more, I sadly conceded I needed something I could run for a few years hopefully without big bills and would do 40 mpg and parked the idea...they're a lot of fun for the money
You can run it as a daily - I do 15k miles a year 
Mine's doing about 35mpg on my daily A road commute.
It also did about 15mpg on a hoon around the countryside the other day, mind.
Didn't realise you could find these so cheap, what's the tax bracket?
My Toyota avensis shed is due an MOT in October, I predict it will pass after a few little repairs are carried out, but if theres any surprises that will take the cost up I may end up looking elsewhere for another shed, Saab's will be top of my wish list!
My Toyota avensis shed is due an MOT in October, I predict it will pass after a few little repairs are carried out, but if theres any surprises that will take the cost up I may end up looking elsewhere for another shed, Saab's will be top of my wish list!
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