Friday 6th January 2017

Shed Of The Week: Saab 9-5 Aero Estate

A January sale PH style as this recently reduced Saab tickles Shed's fancy

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Shed has been known to play away from time to time. If you saw Mrs Shed you would understand why.

Rather cruelly, Shed is hoping that she will get fed up with his antics and give him the elbow. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to be getting the message. Instead, she keeps giving him an extra chance, which is not really what Shed is looking for. As it is, he's running out of potential funtime partners in the village. He has been reduced to eyeing up a lady of uncertain age and hygiene who appears to be based in a skip behind the post office.

Well now this does seem nice

The reason for mentioning all this is the Nissan 300ZX T-Bar that was going to be this week's Shed. In honour of the ad which credits this thrusting example of Japanese rudery with immense bird-pulling power, the PH Management was going to issue Shed with a special pass that would allow him to bypass the 'must have a current MOT' rule. That was before it became clear that the vendor's concept of 'MOT'd last year' didn't quite tally with the more generally accepted definition of that phrase.

So it's goodbye to the Zed and hello to this tempting full-house Saab 9-5 Estate with 250hp and a fat spec, "most of which still works".

Right then, what have we got here? You might think you're looking at a black car, but look more closely: it's green. Many Swedish things seem to have an element of blackness about them. It's something to do with the climate. In Swedish rail stations you will often see a sign that says Ballonforbud. This means 'no balloons'. Swedish people also eat pate that is made from bears.

Our 9-5 failed its MOT last August on a bulb failure, but slight corrosion to the n/s rear structure has been mentioned as an advisory for the past two years. Of equal if not more concern is the mention of an "occasional hard change from 2nd to 3rd gear". As the lady in the skip may be about to discover, hard is not always a bad thing, but it's not really a word you want to see popping up in any spiel describing the operation of a high-power Saab's automatic gearbox.

Bet this is comfy

Then of course you have the famed DIC, or Direct Ignition Cassette, that sits atop the engine, nestling between the camboxes. In one way this is a brilliant idea, as it couldn't be any more accessible for replacement: see here. In another way it's a horrible idea because it's got a reputation for failing. Poor idling, black smoke or a misfire at higher rpm tells you that your one is on its way out. Most owners stash a spare DIC in the boot. A new one will sting you about £400, but tested secondhand ones are around on eBay for under £100.

The other main bugbear of '99-'03 B235-engined 9-5s is oil sludging. Carbon buildup on the sump's oil pickup screen killed off many a Saab four-pot from this era. Saab sorted it in 2004 by changing the PCV system. Our Shed is a 2003 car. You really need to use good quality synth oils.

SID LCD displays, crankshaft sensors and leaking head gaskets are other known problem areas. There's plenty of online info about minimising repair costs on things like the display, but an HG fix will be in the mid-hundreds even at your friendly local grease monkey's establishment.

There are many positives about the 9-5 Estate in general, however, and about this one in particular. For a start they are fantastically comfortable, very safe in crashes, and the cargo carrying system is impressive, especially if it has the slidey-out boot floor option.

Plenty of power, but how tough is that gearbox?

They are also pleasantly fast. The Aero HOT was a six-second 0-60 car when new and, as the vendor says, should still be a mighty overtaking tool. Running on petrol you could get low-30s mpg figures, but only if you were able to restrain your twitching right foot. Remapping potential is huge/legendary.

Your man here is saying it has an LPG conversion, which seems to be confirmed by the MOT history, so we assume the tank for that is under the boot floor. Saab did sell Bio-fuel 9-5s which ran on your choice of bio-ethanol or straight petrol, but that wasn't until the second half of the 2000s in the UK. The 'Bifuel' badge on the back of this one is presumably an aftermarket stick-on of some kind.

In addition to the lovely leather upholstery our shed has a meaty looking towbar and those rather nice Inca wheels.

Shedmen are always willing to take a gamble on a potentially exciting car if the money is right. For some, though, £1,000 may be a step too far for something that might not make it to the nearest workshop, let alone next August's MOT station. Are you brave enough?

If your answer to that is saker sak, here's the ad.

LPG Converted dark green estate. Owned since 2012. Usual Aero high spec, most of which still works. Recent tyre set on 18" refurbished Inca's. Occasional slightly hard change from 2nd to 3rd gear. Spacesaver spare in boot & other winter wheels available if required. Awesome overtaking machine. Towbar. Going diesel. Don't ask me why. Halifax Area. **January sale - now reduced to shed status.**

[Scottie - NW]

LPG conversion gives huge cause for concern...whenever I or my family has ever had an LPG car there are always problems with the running which are costly to repair.

Secondly, each LPG expert seems to use different systems, and always blame others for being crap. Most people will only touch the systems they install.

This car is a minefield when you add in gearbox issues and corrosion...where is the link to the 300zx please?

Edited by Scottie - NW on Friday 6th January 09:36