Looking to buy £1500 Saab 95 estate - mistake or not?
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm in need of some good old PH help and advice.
I've previuosly had a 2006 9-3 Aero cab which was a great car but now looking to get a cheap run around for a year or so and was thinking of looking at a Saab 95 Estate either 2.0t or 2.3t and would welcome help with some questions.
How reliable are the engines as I've read stories about problems if they've not been run on fully synthetic oil. Problem is the cars we would be looking at would have circa 100k+ so there's no gurantees on what previous owners have done. Is the safest thing to just get it changed straight away for fully synthetic.
Did the 2.3 Aero's suffer the same issues as the 2.0t and 2.3t? and in real world terms is the mpg on an Aero going to be that much different. The car will be driven by my wife so it'll be driven gently. Are we dreaming about getting 30mpg from an Aero or 2.0/2.3t, car would do 20 miles a day on country roads.
Is this a good way to spend £1500 pounds on a cheap runaround or am i lining myself up for a heap of problems. I know ideally you'd want a car wih full Saab history but at £1500 it's a bit hit and miss as to whether the service history is fantastic or not.
If the turbo has been replaced could this be a sign that there might have been further damage resulting in the blown turbo.
I guess what i want to know is that if I spend £1500 on a Saab 95 Estate is it going reliable and i know all cars have their issues but they seem to wear pretty big mileages. I can suffer any build quality issues but want something that is mechanically strong.
Thanks in advance.
I'm in need of some good old PH help and advice.
I've previuosly had a 2006 9-3 Aero cab which was a great car but now looking to get a cheap run around for a year or so and was thinking of looking at a Saab 95 Estate either 2.0t or 2.3t and would welcome help with some questions.
How reliable are the engines as I've read stories about problems if they've not been run on fully synthetic oil. Problem is the cars we would be looking at would have circa 100k+ so there's no gurantees on what previous owners have done. Is the safest thing to just get it changed straight away for fully synthetic.
Did the 2.3 Aero's suffer the same issues as the 2.0t and 2.3t? and in real world terms is the mpg on an Aero going to be that much different. The car will be driven by my wife so it'll be driven gently. Are we dreaming about getting 30mpg from an Aero or 2.0/2.3t, car would do 20 miles a day on country roads.
Is this a good way to spend £1500 pounds on a cheap runaround or am i lining myself up for a heap of problems. I know ideally you'd want a car wih full Saab history but at £1500 it's a bit hit and miss as to whether the service history is fantastic or not.
If the turbo has been replaced could this be a sign that there might have been further damage resulting in the blown turbo.
I guess what i want to know is that if I spend £1500 on a Saab 95 Estate is it going reliable and i know all cars have their issues but they seem to wear pretty big mileages. I can suffer any build quality issues but want something that is mechanically strong.
Thanks in advance.
Edited by Evo on Wednesday 1st December 10:44
Have a look on www.uksaabs.co.uk for more info, but the basics are that unless the car has documented history of a sump drop and pcv hose kit replacement, get it done straight away. Looking at about £250 from an indie, after this run only on fully synth oil and it will go on forever.
Aeros are less prone to "sludging" as they were specced to run on fully synth from day 1, but personally, I would say treat as above.
Turbos do tend to fail without sludging issues, but of course also as a result of them. Not much help I know.
Aeros are less prone to "sludging" as they were specced to run on fully synth from day 1, but personally, I would say treat as above.
Turbos do tend to fail without sludging issues, but of course also as a result of them. Not much help I know.
I've run three Aeros now, all of them manuals and all capable of 35mpg on a run, so your MPG idea isn't too far adrift.
The sump issues.... well it depends where you read - all the indies I have spoken to have said it's only the LPT engines that suffered, never the Aeros, but it's a cheap thing to do, so may be worth your while.
Other than that, they're pretty much unburstable, will go on for light years, and more to the point are chain driven so no nasty belt-change services like some of the other range.
The sump issues.... well it depends where you read - all the indies I have spoken to have said it's only the LPT engines that suffered, never the Aeros, but it's a cheap thing to do, so may be worth your while.
Other than that, they're pretty much unburstable, will go on for light years, and more to the point are chain driven so no nasty belt-change services like some of the other range.
Are te LPT's still chain driven then?
I really liked the Aero cab i had before being made redundant, couldn't believe how stiff the chassis was for a ragtop.
Is it really a big risk buying a 100k LPT Saab without having the sumped dropped as i may not be able to do this for a few months?
Cheers,
I really liked the Aero cab i had before being made redundant, couldn't believe how stiff the chassis was for a ragtop.
Is it really a big risk buying a 100k LPT Saab without having the sumped dropped as i may not be able to do this for a few months?
Cheers,
My 2.3 lpt has done 120k and I dropped the sump when I bot it 3yrs ago on 75k and it was clean as a whistle.
No probs (touch wood!) and yes they are chain driven so no cambelt worries.
ETA mines used daily for 15ml commute inc school run, if I drive like miss daisy (imo) with the aircon off I get 31/32 mpg, aircon on and driving normally 28/29. on a gentle run late 30's easily.
on a 2000 mile euro trip fully loaded and no horses spared it averaged 29mpg
No probs (touch wood!) and yes they are chain driven so no cambelt worries.
ETA mines used daily for 15ml commute inc school run, if I drive like miss daisy (imo) with the aircon off I get 31/32 mpg, aircon on and driving normally 28/29. on a gentle run late 30's easily.
on a 2000 mile euro trip fully loaded and no horses spared it averaged 29mpg
Edited by siwil1 on Wednesday 8th December 14:10
I have a 2003 aero and couldn't recommend one highly enough. I won't go over old ground but would be less concerned with the sludge issue running an aero as they were specced to run on synthetic oil.
The pcv issue also is well documented and I found a recall notice in the history file for mine to confirm that saab changed this early in the cars life so would be worthwhile checking when you goto look at one.
The pcv issue also is well documented and I found a recall notice in the history file for mine to confirm that saab changed this early in the cars life so would be worthwhile checking when you goto look at one.
It's positive crankcase ventilation. I'm no beardy expert but I believe there were a couple of issues that affected the 9-5. One being the potential for increased oil consumption with the 'old' design and secondly (more importantly for non aero models) was that the hoses actually degraded and clogged the oil pick-up in the sump (sludge) if the wrong grade oil was used.
Gassing Station | Saab | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff