2005 Saaburu 9-2X Aero
Discussion
So I wasn't quite sure if I should post this in the Saab or the Subaru section; however, judging by the percentage of the car that is Subaru I decided that this was were it belongs. Anyway, for a little back story...
Just over 1 year ago I moved from my sunny hometown of Essex to Canada. I moved pretty much on a whim after deciding I wasn't sure what to do next career wise and thought I may as well have a laugh whilst I am young-ish. I moved to a small (but actually the largest resort in its province) ski resort in Ontario, about 2 hours north of Toronto. Landed August last year, I worked in a hotel through the Fall (read: Autumn), Winter, Spring and through most of the Summer. About a month ago I got a job at a hotel at Toronto Airport and moved down to just outside the city.
Before moving to Canada (I decided to go about 2 weeks before I booked my flight), I was doing much research as to what car I would get, could I get a car, would I get a license, what about the snow etc. etc.. Cut a long story short: I arrived, exchanged my UK license for a Full Ontario G License, bought a 1998 Saab 900 and all was well. Insurance was $210 a month (about 6 times more expensive than my Clio 197 back home) but I wanted a car. So I paid it. About 4 weeks into ownership, I was rear ended in traffic - the Saab took a big hit but was drivable, insurance company wrote it off and paid me out pretty much what I had paid for the car and I bought it back off them for 150 bucks. Spent about $600 getting it repaired and kept on driving it. Chucked on a set of winter tyres and was carving through the snow no trouble at all - winter tyres are actually incredible, but that is a separate topic. Fast forward to early March of this year, the alternator went. Finding someone to work on it was a PITA as they are actually pretty rare over here and the best quote I got was a garage down in Toronto. I arranged for my CAA (Canadian AA) coverage to come and collect the car and take it down. During the moving process, the local towing company they used managed to put a hole in my sump - effectively writing the car off. I had a big fight with the CAA and eventually managed to get $1000 out of them as a 'goodwill' gesture. Car was scrapped and I was left a few hundred bucks down after 6 months of motoring - could be worse I guess.
I go out and buy a 2011 Hyundai Accent with 44,000 miles on it, something cost effective and reliable that shouldn't give me too much trouble. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago - having now got a new and better paying job, plus having to drive on the mental highways around Toronto I decided I wanted something with a bit more poke (vs the 1.6L 110bhp Accent), bit more size and ideally all wheel drive. I cannot stand SUVs or the such like; I hate being high up on the road so I was left with going for something more saloon-y. I was doing the usual searching around and pretty much had my heart set on a Subaru. The trouble is, all wheel drive cars over here hold their value like air cooled 911's and for my budget (around $6k) I was looking at leggy Impreza Hatchbacks with around 100,000 miles plus on them. Even worse, most of them were automatic!
I was doing a lot of searching and reading reviews and the 2.5i naturally aspirated hatchbacks, whilst having 170bhp, did not seem to be very spritely, especially with the automatic; however, I told myself that it would be a good upgrade from the Hyundai and get me something that was a) more powerful and b) automatic. So I was searching out decent examples to go and view and then I started to do some thinking and some man maths... I started to look at WRXs and was trying to figure out if I could afford one - if I could, it would certainly sort out the issue of not having much poke and moreover, if I was stuck with an automatic at least I would have a bucket load more torque to play around with. Anyway, I was searching around and had upped by budget as much as I could but I was looking at examples with around 120,000 miles plus on them. Hmmm, that sounds a lot of miles for a performance car. Commence deep research mode. Hmmm, lots of high mileage examples in the US and Canada and plenty of positive reviews for long term reliability if they are looked after property. Hmmm, perhaps I should go back and see if I can get a nicer 2.5i with less miles.
And then, a stroke of equal parts luck, equal parts genius. I somehow discovered this curious little car, a Saab 9-2X. Which transcended to basically be a slightly posher Impreza Wagon, sporting Subaru mechanicals with a Saab enhanced interior and best of all, because they are not very well known over here, they are much more affordable than their Subaru counterparts. I get on to searching and there are only three examples within 500 miles of me. All three are no good. Shucks. I go to bed. The following evening I have a little search and this time as opposed to just searching on AutoTrader I take my search a little further afield to the Canadian equivalent of GumTree. I stumble across a one day old advert for a 2005 Saab 9-2X Aero, 100,000 miles, one owner for the last 8 years, looks very smart in the photos, and only 20 minutes away.
What commenced was the exact opposite of how you should go about buying a car, let alone a performance car. I went. I saw. I bought. Pretty simple to be honest. I did the exact thing I have read about not doing - falling in love and letting your heart rule your head. Well f*ck. I guess now I have to sell the Hyundai. Thankfully the Hyundai is beautifully clean and the first person to come and see it bought it for the same price I paid six months back. Result. Agreed collection date for the Saaburu is 15th September so watch this space. I got it well under budget, which should give me some room for maintenance and improvements. Most importantly, the cambelt is due, and given the mileage I shall do the water pump as well. I am tempted to tackle it myself, but I have only previously changed the belts on MX5's - non interference and a lot less to go wrong if you do it incorrectly. I will be looking at saving around $600 if I do the work myself. The rear differential is misty, either a leaking gasket or perhaps overflow from the breather valve on top. There was also a misting of oil on the underside of the engine, mainly around the oil filter area that I shall have to locate the source of. Lastly, there is some nasty looking bubbling on both rear arches - no broken paint for now but I suspect some tin worm has been lurking down there for a while. Anyway, on to the car (pictures shall follow post collection, don't worry).
It is a 2005 model, nicely equipped with two tone leather interior, sun roof, cruise control, front heated seats, heated wiper blades, and the wonderful 4EAT automatic transmission. Not my first choice, and will be my very first automatic car after 10 or so different vehicles over the 8 years I have been driving. The one positive is I am told the automatics have some kind of torque sensing centre differential that performs much better in the snow versus the manual counterpart which I believe has a viscous coupling on this generation. The engine is the same as the 2005 WRX, EJ20, around 225bhp and from what I can gather less appetite for head gaskets. Suspension received some tweaks for a more 'Saab' like handling characteristic, along with 17 inch Enkei alloy wheels. Steering rack is apparently from a STi as well. Slightly different front and rear body panels, along with around 50kg of sound deadening in the interior. I shall have to run it on high quality fuel, however thankfully V Power is only 85p per litre over here (once converted for the currency exchange) so much more affordable than back home!
So yeah, that is where I am - eagerly awaiting the collection of my first turbo charged car and looking forward to learning to drive it. This is the first time I have bought a car with a large potential to financially ruin me, further exacerbated by the fact I have swapped out a new-ish low mileage budget hatchback with a fuel sipping engine and cheap repairs for something that is a very different kettle of fish. Something tells me that with 100,000 miles I should already start saving for a new turbo and head gasket...
Just over 1 year ago I moved from my sunny hometown of Essex to Canada. I moved pretty much on a whim after deciding I wasn't sure what to do next career wise and thought I may as well have a laugh whilst I am young-ish. I moved to a small (but actually the largest resort in its province) ski resort in Ontario, about 2 hours north of Toronto. Landed August last year, I worked in a hotel through the Fall (read: Autumn), Winter, Spring and through most of the Summer. About a month ago I got a job at a hotel at Toronto Airport and moved down to just outside the city.
Before moving to Canada (I decided to go about 2 weeks before I booked my flight), I was doing much research as to what car I would get, could I get a car, would I get a license, what about the snow etc. etc.. Cut a long story short: I arrived, exchanged my UK license for a Full Ontario G License, bought a 1998 Saab 900 and all was well. Insurance was $210 a month (about 6 times more expensive than my Clio 197 back home) but I wanted a car. So I paid it. About 4 weeks into ownership, I was rear ended in traffic - the Saab took a big hit but was drivable, insurance company wrote it off and paid me out pretty much what I had paid for the car and I bought it back off them for 150 bucks. Spent about $600 getting it repaired and kept on driving it. Chucked on a set of winter tyres and was carving through the snow no trouble at all - winter tyres are actually incredible, but that is a separate topic. Fast forward to early March of this year, the alternator went. Finding someone to work on it was a PITA as they are actually pretty rare over here and the best quote I got was a garage down in Toronto. I arranged for my CAA (Canadian AA) coverage to come and collect the car and take it down. During the moving process, the local towing company they used managed to put a hole in my sump - effectively writing the car off. I had a big fight with the CAA and eventually managed to get $1000 out of them as a 'goodwill' gesture. Car was scrapped and I was left a few hundred bucks down after 6 months of motoring - could be worse I guess.
I go out and buy a 2011 Hyundai Accent with 44,000 miles on it, something cost effective and reliable that shouldn't give me too much trouble. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago - having now got a new and better paying job, plus having to drive on the mental highways around Toronto I decided I wanted something with a bit more poke (vs the 1.6L 110bhp Accent), bit more size and ideally all wheel drive. I cannot stand SUVs or the such like; I hate being high up on the road so I was left with going for something more saloon-y. I was doing the usual searching around and pretty much had my heart set on a Subaru. The trouble is, all wheel drive cars over here hold their value like air cooled 911's and for my budget (around $6k) I was looking at leggy Impreza Hatchbacks with around 100,000 miles plus on them. Even worse, most of them were automatic!
I was doing a lot of searching and reading reviews and the 2.5i naturally aspirated hatchbacks, whilst having 170bhp, did not seem to be very spritely, especially with the automatic; however, I told myself that it would be a good upgrade from the Hyundai and get me something that was a) more powerful and b) automatic. So I was searching out decent examples to go and view and then I started to do some thinking and some man maths... I started to look at WRXs and was trying to figure out if I could afford one - if I could, it would certainly sort out the issue of not having much poke and moreover, if I was stuck with an automatic at least I would have a bucket load more torque to play around with. Anyway, I was searching around and had upped by budget as much as I could but I was looking at examples with around 120,000 miles plus on them. Hmmm, that sounds a lot of miles for a performance car. Commence deep research mode. Hmmm, lots of high mileage examples in the US and Canada and plenty of positive reviews for long term reliability if they are looked after property. Hmmm, perhaps I should go back and see if I can get a nicer 2.5i with less miles.
And then, a stroke of equal parts luck, equal parts genius. I somehow discovered this curious little car, a Saab 9-2X. Which transcended to basically be a slightly posher Impreza Wagon, sporting Subaru mechanicals with a Saab enhanced interior and best of all, because they are not very well known over here, they are much more affordable than their Subaru counterparts. I get on to searching and there are only three examples within 500 miles of me. All three are no good. Shucks. I go to bed. The following evening I have a little search and this time as opposed to just searching on AutoTrader I take my search a little further afield to the Canadian equivalent of GumTree. I stumble across a one day old advert for a 2005 Saab 9-2X Aero, 100,000 miles, one owner for the last 8 years, looks very smart in the photos, and only 20 minutes away.
What commenced was the exact opposite of how you should go about buying a car, let alone a performance car. I went. I saw. I bought. Pretty simple to be honest. I did the exact thing I have read about not doing - falling in love and letting your heart rule your head. Well f*ck. I guess now I have to sell the Hyundai. Thankfully the Hyundai is beautifully clean and the first person to come and see it bought it for the same price I paid six months back. Result. Agreed collection date for the Saaburu is 15th September so watch this space. I got it well under budget, which should give me some room for maintenance and improvements. Most importantly, the cambelt is due, and given the mileage I shall do the water pump as well. I am tempted to tackle it myself, but I have only previously changed the belts on MX5's - non interference and a lot less to go wrong if you do it incorrectly. I will be looking at saving around $600 if I do the work myself. The rear differential is misty, either a leaking gasket or perhaps overflow from the breather valve on top. There was also a misting of oil on the underside of the engine, mainly around the oil filter area that I shall have to locate the source of. Lastly, there is some nasty looking bubbling on both rear arches - no broken paint for now but I suspect some tin worm has been lurking down there for a while. Anyway, on to the car (pictures shall follow post collection, don't worry).
It is a 2005 model, nicely equipped with two tone leather interior, sun roof, cruise control, front heated seats, heated wiper blades, and the wonderful 4EAT automatic transmission. Not my first choice, and will be my very first automatic car after 10 or so different vehicles over the 8 years I have been driving. The one positive is I am told the automatics have some kind of torque sensing centre differential that performs much better in the snow versus the manual counterpart which I believe has a viscous coupling on this generation. The engine is the same as the 2005 WRX, EJ20, around 225bhp and from what I can gather less appetite for head gaskets. Suspension received some tweaks for a more 'Saab' like handling characteristic, along with 17 inch Enkei alloy wheels. Steering rack is apparently from a STi as well. Slightly different front and rear body panels, along with around 50kg of sound deadening in the interior. I shall have to run it on high quality fuel, however thankfully V Power is only 85p per litre over here (once converted for the currency exchange) so much more affordable than back home!
So yeah, that is where I am - eagerly awaiting the collection of my first turbo charged car and looking forward to learning to drive it. This is the first time I have bought a car with a large potential to financially ruin me, further exacerbated by the fact I have swapped out a new-ish low mileage budget hatchback with a fuel sipping engine and cheap repairs for something that is a very different kettle of fish. Something tells me that with 100,000 miles I should already start saving for a new turbo and head gasket...
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