9000 aero buying advice

[irish boy]

hey all i currently run a 9-5 2.0lpt and am considering a change.....i was going to go for a 9-5 aero but while on the lookout have came across a lovely 94 9000 aero with 95k and a fssh!

im very tempted as it drives absolutely beautifully......

whats peoples experiences with these cars? good for everyday use? if a gearbox goes pop for example is it a case of scrapping the car due to no parts available?

thanks in advance

simon

[Prof Beard]

irish boy said:

hey all i currently run a 9-5 2.0lpt and am considering a change.....i was going to go for a 9-5 aero but while on the lookout have came across a lovely 94 9000 aero with 95k and a fssh!

im very tempted as it drives absolutely beautifully......

whats peoples experiences with these cars? good for everyday use? if a gearbox goes pop for example is it a case of scrapping the car due to no parts available?

thanks in advance

simon

I'm not aware of parts issues for 9000s at all - like all Saab parts they are not cheap! 9000 engines are pretty unburstable - assuming they are maintained. Have a look here to get a view on the gearbox:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t...

and here

http://www.saabcentral.com/features/9000_index.php

for general info and guides

[Apache]

Lovely, fast and underrated. I had a 2.3 fpt for a couple of years, the handling is more suited to a cruiser and it needs fettling courtesy of Messrs Abbott, a LSD would calm the hysterical giggles caused by the torque steer, but otherwise a car to enjoy with great mid range power

[Boosted LS1]

I've has several. Great cars, practical and easy to maintain. look to see if there's an apc guage top right of the speedo. If there is then it's FPT car. Even without the guage it's easy to convert it to FPT.

[aeropilot]

irish boy said:

hey all i currently run a 9-5 2.0lpt and am considering a change.....i was going to go for a 9-5 aero but while on the lookout have came across a lovely 94 9000 aero with 95k and a fssh!

im very tempted as it drives absolutely beautifully......

whats peoples experiences with these cars? good for everyday use? if a gearbox goes pop for example is it a case of scrapping the car due to no parts available?

I had a 9000 Aero, and now have a 9-5 Aero.

I wouldn't go backwards

Gearboxes availability isn't a problem with the 9k's, as they break so often

A '94 9k Aero could have TCS in which case I'd avoid it like the plague, as it's very expensive to either fix or remove.

The B234R en gines in the 9k are very strong and relative easy to gain lots of grunt compared to the lighter spining bits in the B235R of the 9-5 Aero, however the 9k suspension and steering are woeful compared to the 9-5.

Nice unabused standard 9k Aero's are getting very rare, but as an everyday car, I'd have a 9-5 Aero over a 9k Aero without question.

[irish boy]

mmm decisions decisions! head says 9-5 heart says 9000!

i thiught i read somewhere the tcs system can be removed if it gives problems?

going for a longer drive tonight!

thanks

simon

[aeropilot]

irish boy said:

mmm decisions decisions! head says 9-5 heart says 9000!

It would be heart and head for 9-5 with me

irish boy said:

i thiught i read somewhere the tcs system can be removed if it gives problems?

It's not just an easy case of just removing it from what I remember, you have to replace lots of bits with stuff from a non-TCS car, so not straightforward, but it can be done.
Also, a 94 car maybe an early 93.5 car with the early 5.2 version of Trionic which again can leave you with certain issues.

Not to mention, it's a 15 year old car now.

Edited by aeropilot on Wednesday 28th January 15:23

[Nick_F]

9000s aren't galvanised, are they?

[aeropilot]

Nick_F said:

9000s aren't galvanised, are they?

Not sure, probably not, as they can have a bit of a corrosion problem now at the age some of them are.

[Boosted LS1]

Nick_F said:

9000s aren't galvanised, are they?

Don't know but I've never had to have one welded come mot time. The under floor is always puurfect In fact mot failures are rare, maybe a new wiper blade or driveshaft gaitor. That's about it. I do need an arch repair one day but that was probably due to scratch damage by a previous owner. These are such easy cars to look after if you buy a decent one.

[ylee coyote]

they do rust ,the more miles, the more rust

places to watch are the front wings (both of mine have been replaced) the rear panel ,behind the rear bumper and the rear arches
also the windscreen aperture ...this could be a killer if it has been left and under the aero side skirts at the door apertures as well as the bottom of the doors

I have had my car completely resprayed and this is all the problem areas that they found

they do rust in other places but these are the common places

but they do rust less than cars of the same age

[irish boy]

quick update.......head ruled and went for a 9-5.....shes an 04 aero, black, full lux pack, 55k miles!
very happy with it..........now if the snow would clear out id be able to try her out!!!

[aeropilot]

irish boy said:

quick update.......head ruled and went for a 9-5.....shes an 04 aero, black, full lux pack, 55k miles!

Good choice....

[slippery]

irish boy said:

quick update.......head ruled and went for a 9-5.....shes an 04 aero, black, full lux pack, 55k miles!
very happy with it..........now if the snow would clear out id be able to try her out!!!

Sounds like a nice car! Did you go private? Roughly what did you have to spend if you don't mind me asking?

[irish boy]

slippery said:

irish boy said:

quick update.......head ruled and went for a 9-5.....shes an 04 aero, black, full lux pack, 55k miles!
very happy with it..........now if the snow would clear out id be able to try her out!!!

Sounds like a nice car! Did you go private? Roughly what did you have to spend if you don't mind me asking?

paid 5k....prob top book but it was the exact spec i wanted, still under saab warranty till september, low miles and looks stunning in expresso black and came with a 2 digit reg no!

went private, usually the way forward in terms of finding out how the car was looked after....the chap was sensible, owned the car for 3 years and by his own admission was particularly anal when it came to warm up/cool down, servicing ahead of schedual etc! all that is worth paying a bit more to me rather than a bottom book car where you take your chances!

you also in the market for one? after a weekend i really cant recommend them highly enough, my bro drives an 06 530i sport and my mate a mgzt 4.6 v8, neither could quite believe the power of the aero...esp 4th gear which just keeps going!

Edited by irish boy on Monday 9th February 10:50

Edited by irish boy on Monday 9th February 10:50

Edited by irish boy on Monday 9th February 10:51

[slippery]

The Aero is on my list of possibles for when my trusty (?!!) 3.0 Tid gives up on me. She's on 140k at the moment and going up by 1k per week. The difference in price between petrol and diesel seems to mean that there wouldn't be much difference in the running costs of either car and the Aero is the mechanically stronger car, with better spec. Win win!

[aeropilot]

irish boy said:

paid 5k....prob top book but it was the exact spec i wanted, still under saab warranty till september

He must have taken out the Saab extended warranty for an extra two years.....not cheap!
I know, I did it for one extra year after the factory warranty expired.
Remember, that it's just a normal aftermarket 3rd party warrenty that's just sold through GM at a mark up.

Sounds like a nice car though, and Expresso is quite rare as a colour. Is it a MY04 car or an early MY05? Easiest way to tell is do you have a internal fuel filler release button on the inside of the drivers door next to the boot release button? If so it's a 04 car, if not, then it's an early 05 car.

[irish boy]

na still the internal buttons! yeah had never seen expresso before.....looking forward to some good weather to get it polished up!!