24th Oct 2008, 10:56

Geez . . . guns & beer, and you owned a Saab?

What happened to your pick-up truck?

29th Oct 2008, 18:22

I'm Dominican! We usually drive Honda's and Toyota's. I just thought I'd change the tradition a little.

But to answer your question on the pick up truck, it's in the garage, right next to my GT3, M6, R63 and my wife's Santa Fe (Hyundai? At least it runs with no problems). The Saab was just to have something a little more fuel friendly, and what a mistake this was. By the way, I also had changed the catalytic converter right before we shot the thing. I hate to admit what that cost.

31st Oct 2008, 12:41

So far after posting my comments on the 23rd and 24th of September, I have still been money drained about $350.00 Changing this and that. But not a major issue. Coolant, transmission, and oil change to avoid the sludge. One thing I noticed though it that even after changing the oil, it still shows dirty oil after a day or two. Wonder what's the deal!

I wish I had enough guts to shoot my car too, but so far it's behaving good!

4th Dec 2008, 16:03

I guess I was lucky with my MR2000 9-5 SE (4 cyl Airflow) Estate (=wagon). Bought it from a dealer 2 years old with 26K miles on the clock. I didn't have too many problems with it and it is a delight to drive.

We are amazed how little it costs us to get to our boat on the south coast of England (around 150 miles round trip). It is very economical when driven 60 - 70 MPH on a fast, good road. A weekend's travel costs next to nothing.

It also tows occasionally my boat with no problems. That's 1300Kg of boat, plus maybe 300Kg trailer and I could tow faster than I am allowed with brilliant economy (but prefer to stick to the speed limits - that makes it even more economical!).

I had crank case breather modification done by the dealer for free. After the warranty period I said stop to scheduled services. The car actually doesn't really need so much servicing! And I am saving hundreds of pounds per year for the next car!

This is the first car which I don't have serviced in line with the dealer schedule with the exception of the 6K mile fully synthetic oil change. I always get a free safety & brake/brake pads check when they change oil. This way it is incredibly cheap to run. It is good for the environment too! I have my own schedule. I am aware what may need to be changed and don't change it too often. I cover under 10K miles per year.

Over the years I did have two problems with the aircon - air too warm. One garage said - nothing wrong with it. They were wrong - there was some pressure but not enough and it needed re-gassing. Dealer did that for free as they failed to give me the right advice the first time. Advice: use your aircon in winter from time to time to keep it oiled. That makes it gas tight. Will work longer between re-gassing.

Avoid buying 6 cyl SAABs. Avoid 2.3litre. Buy a 2.0, 4 cyl one. It seems that lots of people have problems with SAABs which have auto transmission. Maybe you should avoid it too? I have manual and love it. Zero problems.

I had SID missing pxels problems, but fixed it myself as per website - not a penny spent. I had small coolant leak near the turbo after scheduled coolant change. I just waited a few months topping it up now and than. Until it stopped leaking. It did stop. It was 3 years ago. No problems since. Not a penny spent (it could potentially cost hundreds of £££).

DI cassette blew when the car had 47K on the clock (the hottest day of the year!). Had the new DI fitted in 30 minutes by an AA patrol. It cost me to unnecessarily subscribe to AA for a year plus the new part. Since than there was a recall and I turned up at a dealer with all the paperwork. Got a new generation DI cassette fitted for free and a refund for the one fitted by AA.

Otherwise the car is FANTASTIC and impossibly cheap to run. Hope it will stay that way for the next 100K+ miles. Happy motoring! :)

9th Jan 2009, 12:19

I own a Saab 95, bought it brand new and it has been a money pit. When under warranty, I took it to the dealership, but stopped because the cost of fixing it after that were astronomical. I live in the MA, and in the past two months with three snow storms I have been stuck four times on the highway because my alternator went. The car is at the mechanic with the same problems... every time it snows the alternator goes... I can't figure this out. Anyone out there with this problem?

I will never recommend a Saab to anyone, it is a crap car...

29th Jan 2009, 20:15

To the Saab die-hard that accused those with bad Saab stories of being poor maintainers of their vehicles let me say this. I regretfully own a 2000 V6 9-5 with 101,000 miles. The car has always received the best of care at or before all recommended intervals. Oil always changed at 2k. After 50,000 miles it started falling apart. I won't spend the time listing the countless repairs of countless engine parts. But I roughly calculated the car has cost me about 8-9k beyond regular wear/tear type items. SAAB should be ashamed of these pieces of crap. I would like to trade it at a Saab dealer for a box of windshield washer fluid but cannot get it running long enough to make it to the lot. NEVER, EVER buy a SAAB until GM gets their grimy hands off the company.