Faults:

Week one both back brake line blew.

Week two I noticed that my marker lights stayed on constantly draining the battery one night I went out to grab something from the car and noticed that the radio, heater and dashboard clock were all on without the key in the ignition.

Week three the exhaust system cracks making the car a real attention grabber.

The back wiper motors shot.

The handle to open the back hatch broke in the cold weather

Rust holes where the snow builds up behind the tires.

General Comments:

The car is great in the snow real fun.

I'll have to replace the CV joints and wheel bearings if I want it to last.

I'm interested to see what a set of beefy tires, bush bars and a nice roof rack would do to the car.

And so far I've already bought another one in better condition for $150 that had a blown rad

The best part of the car has to be the heater.

Faults:

Automatic trans @ 120k miles.

CV Joints @ 130k miles.

Timing belts.

A/C @ 125k miles.

New exhaust and brakes @133k miles.

General Comments:

Despite some problems, the car has been wonderful.

Comfort is good enough, 4wd is great, and the wagon has been able to haul furniture, an oven and a washing machine.

Slow w/automatic, but I manage.

There are some internal engine oil leaks, but I just keep feeding it 10w30 and it runs reliably.

22mpg.

Great snow vehicle!

Faults:

Exhaust broke at header.

Oil pump required a reseal.

Engine blew up (rod knock).

Clutch failed.

Fuel pump failed.

Car hit a tree.

General Comments:

Basically, the appeal of the car came from the price. My friend originally paid a few hundred for it, when it was in nice shape, but had rod knock. Fortunately the previous owner pointed us to a free parts car, which had sat for 6 years and started after 2 cans of carburetor cleaner and a new battery -- which we then drove 150 miles. Perhaps this is testament to their manufacturing quality. Animals were living in the vehicle.

During the engine replacement, we installed a new clutch as the previous had ironically started slipping around the time of the knocking. The car subsequently hit a tree in a snow storm at 35 mph with my friend at the helm. He pulled the front clip straight by tying the car to a tree and reversing violently and beating on the fenders with a hammer. I traded a Sony DAT machine for the vehicle, probably should have kept the deck.

I've owned lots of fast cars, such as 944 and 9000 Turbos, so when I hopped into this dainty creature I soon realized how boring driving could be. I felt buying a "practical" car would be more intelligent. The car is very slow, it rolls over like a whale in corners, and the brakes overheat after a few aggressive stops. "Dropping" the clutch was required on more than numerous instances to propel the car up to the speed limit in a timely fashion. I was looking into a turbo Loyale model, but then found another 1987 9000 Turbo for a thousand dollars and sold this car. The Saab has never broken or hit a tree.