Went to start the Saab this morning, it fired for a second then made a clanking sound as it turned over, no sign of life. Called the mechanic I usually use who was good enough to call round this afternoon - no compression at all on one cylinder; diagnosis is blown piston / ring / something expensive. His verdict is it's probably caused by oil starvation due to a blocked pick up, and just isn't worth repairing.
I've been running round in the Espace today for the first time in a while, and I've suddenly realized how just how civilized the Saab was.
Anyhow, time to source a replacement - while I want another 9-5 Mrs Ash, perhaps understandably, isn't keen and is making new Espace suggestions.
I'm going to drown my sorrows with a bottle or two of Cotes du Rhone and a play on ebay - as usual suggestions for replacement are welcome, as are reasons not to buy a newer Espace (actually I've got those all off pat already). Budget between £700 and £900, depending on the scrap value of the Saab.
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Any size / type needs or wants Ash?
Don't buy another Espace...
:-)
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Something a reasonable size and comfortable Humph, fuel consumption's not an issue as hopefully I won't be doing too many miles (said that before I got the Saab, but a death in the family just before Christmas that I've had to sort out has meant I've been up and down the M5 so many times over the last few months I could do it blindfold now). Automatic for preference, the Saab was the first auto I've owned and I'm sold on it now.
Not considering an Espace - think I've been lucky with the two I've had. While we've needed a 7 seater in the past our oldest two are of an age now when they don't want to do family outings any longer. Just seen a Vel Satis on ebay that looks interesting through a red wine haze though...
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If e'e were mine, I'd be a'whipping its head orf as it may be a valve problem.
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Friend of mine just picked himself up a very tidy MG ZT estate on a 53 plate with knackered clutch but 11 months MOT for £250. Another £600 to get it back on the road and it looks a fine thing indeed.
Looks like your budget mat not quit stretch to a ZT, but gives you a few 75's to chose from.
Do you need people carrier capabilities?
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There's a Honda Legend not to far away
tinyurl.com/c6p5vcb
Lot of car for £750
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Thanks for that Mikey - going to be out looking this weekend and I'll add it to the list. We've got four kids so a 7 seater is needed occasionally, albeit less frequently as they're growing up. We've got an old Mk2 Espace that fills that need, the Saab was my work hack.
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How much do early Y/51 plate Volvo S60s sell for these days? Worth a look. Pretty bulletproof as a few forum members will attest to. WdB might be offloading his soon to fund his German taxi running costs..?! ;-)
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I'd recommend an S60 to anyone.
I let my tidy but high mileage and FSH'd 51 plate 2.0T go 18 months ago for £1700. If you can live with 28 mpg (I couldn't, personally), they are cracking cars. Mine was the "poverty spec" 2.0 T S and even that had 180 bhp, electric windows and mirrors, ABS, dual zone air-con, cruise control, better seating than most living rooms, and one of the best standard fit stereo systems I've ever known. Utterly reliable, and still felt tight as a drum even with 150k on the clock. The 5 pot engine is super smooth and sounds wonderful.
There's a beauty on Autotrader at the moment - Y plate with leather, climate, 92,000 miles and full main dealer history for £1200. Haggle a bit, and you could probably get it for a grand. A ridiculous amount of solid engineering for the money.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 2 May 12 at 22:50
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In three months I reach the half-way point on the BMW finance package and it will be going back to be replaced with a new 9-5. Assuming, of course, that there are any left in Saab central stock at that point.
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Eh? Bit of a bold move FF? What about spares, repairs, etc? Did any of the new 9-5s even make it to UK shores before the company went belly-up anyway?!
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>> In three months I reach the half-way point on the BMW finance package and it
>> will be going back to be replaced with a new 9-5. Assuming, of course, that
>> there are any left in Saab central stock at that point.
Given that they wouldn't have been building them for nearly a year at that point, I doubt the stock centre will be extant, let alone full of cars.
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Still showing some on Saab's "used car" finder from what they call Central Stock. Obviously not "new" new, but 5 - 20000 miles counts as new to me. A year ago these were 30-40k.
Not especially fussed about spares; my dad ran a Rover 75 until 3 months ago with no issue. Ebay is the way forward!
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Thu 3 May 12 at 16:59
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I know you're into planes and stuff FF, but Saabs aren't really jet fighters you know ! Handling will feel like a sack of spuds after your BMW.
:-)
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>> I know you're into planes and stuff FF, but Saabs aren't really jet fighters you
>> know ! Handling will feel like a sack of spuds after your BMW.
>>
>> :-)
>>
I'm willing to swap the handing for not knowing whether the white lines on the road are painted in gloss or emulsion paint. Many more motorway miles now so want a comfortable, gadget-filled, fairly economical mile-muncher.
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Just the thing for you - a very nice Alpine White X1, 2 more free services, 2.5 years warranty, leather, set of Winters on steel, spare set of alloys. Really nice motor !
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No can do unfortunately Dog - don't have the room or time here and if I get someone to do it for me it's going to be a £500 plus bill. For a car that only cost £400 it's not worth spending the money. Shame though, engine apart it's a tremendous solid car and everything works on it.
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...WdB might be offloading his [S60] soon...
Not just yet, he won't - it's got to do at least another year. 'Work hacks' don't come any better or more comfortable - it's done nearly five of its ten years in that mode - but I'd be a little wary of one at a three-digit price, simply because it would be too easy to find yourself with a four-digit bill for a DMF, turbo or intercooler. Mine's had two of those three, so it'll be a good buy for someone eventually. Even then, I think I'll be asking four digits for it.
Best of luck, Ash. I've nothing useful to add about that end of the market, I'm afraid.
I have seen a couple of new 9-5 saloons, Nick. I imagine there might be a few dozen in the country, but I'd need to be very confident about unique parts before committing my money to one. Could I get a headlamp lens, or even a replacement windscreen? Even with that assurance, it would have to be very cheap. I really liked the old 9-5, especially as an estate; thought hard about buying one in 2005 - but a new one would be a leap too far for me.
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I saw one of the new 9-5s a couple of weeks ago (none since !) - painfully pretty it was a very striking car...lovely machine.
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I though someone did a deal to supply Saab parts to the UK, and bought a qty of the unsold stock - 1000 units rings a bell?
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Thanks for the feedback WillDB - unfortunately there are no S60s locally within budget although I'd certainly consider one if I could stretch the money a bit further.
There's an S70 though well inside budget not far from us so I'm going to add it to the list for the weekend. Anything I should look out for on it? tinyurl.com/c7e4nes
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>>Anything I should look out for on it?
Yeah, cameras when driving it, they go like stink !
Very nice cars Ash. Solid too. I had a couple of 850s back along. Very pleasing they were ( especially the T5 )
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If you want a bit of class (?) try an Austin Allegro Vanden Plas. This one is only £900 and something of a bargain I think:
www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C300551
Plenty of wood on the dash and door cappings,and also fold down polished wood trays for rear seat passengers. Only 34,000 miles.
A bit of an image problem for some though.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Thu 3 May 12 at 17:55
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>>
>> A bit of an image problem for some though.
>>
For some inexplicable reason I am attracted to this car, fortunately I cannot in all practicality run it in HK so am saved the embarrassment of giving in to my urge to purchase it, maybe the heat and humidity is getting to me.....
On a separate note, peculiar hues of brown and green seem popular once more on cars - like flares and stack-heels they are best left to history imho.
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>>There's an S70 though well inside budget not far from us so I'm going to add it to the list for the weekend. Anything I should look out for on it? tinyurl.com/c7e4nes<<
Check out what the running costs would be before you buy, Ash.
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Not that much worse than the Saab, Dog. Normally I don't do many miles, up to Avonmouth a few times each week, and dropping our youngest two at school occasionally. Big improvement on my previous commute, 70 miles a day, 5 days a week. As I said above though I've found myself looking after an elderly relative in Torbay at the moment which is adding to the miles. Unfortunately it's one of those cases where the family turns up for the funeral then loses interest. Right now my brother and I are the only ones visiting her, and he lives in Brighton and can't get there more than once or twice a month.
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Usual left field suggestion from me - Lexus LS400. There's a handful on autotrader at the price level, a couple with about 125K on them, which on those is barely run in.
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>>Unfortunately it's one of those cases where the family turns up for the funeral then loses interest. Right now my brother and I are the only ones visiting her, and he lives in Brighton and can't get there more than once or twice a month<<
Yep! - same with us and my wife's 88 year old dad, he's in Essex and we're in Cornwall :(
We did suggest a council exchange to Cornwall, but he'd be like a fish out of water down here.
"He gets by with a little help from his friends".
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You have my sympathy Dog - Weston to Torbay isn't too bad but Bodmin to Essex is an awful long drag. No chance of persuading Auntie to move here either unfortunately.
Anyhow, Saab was replaced yesterday - with another 9-5. It's a slightly newer one, a 2.3 Aero. Initial impression are very good, mechanically all appears sound although there are a few dings and scuffs on the bodywork. Only electrical bit that doesn't work is the SiD, and I know a local breaker who's got a good one now.
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Interesting bit here from HJ about using a vacuum type oil extractor pump instead of carrying out an oil change in the proper way like I do:
"Check the mileage carefully. Clean oil essential on all SAAB 4 cylinder chain-cam engines: needs changing ever 5,000 - 6,000 miles. Listen for timing chain rattle on four cylinder SAAB engines. Reports of a sludge problem in 4 cylinder engines that led SAAB to issue an 8 year engine warranty in early 2005. Essential to change the oil and filter every 5k miles, to flush the old oil, and to drain from the sump plug. Do not siphon the old oil out or you will leave sludge in the sump".
Good luck with the car Ash, a better choice than that Volvo S70 IMO.
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>> Interesting bit here from HJ about using a vacuum type oil extractor pump instead of
>> carrying out an oil change in the proper way like I do:
Like YOU do?
You cheeky pup. You take your car into a garage, where they probably sucked it*
Now ME on the other hand, I do do it properly, and drop it.
*they probably did drop it, as its faster and easy on the Lancer, no undertray in the way.
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I used to 'do' my Almera once a year via the drip method and I will do the same in between pain dealer services with El Lancer, me ole fruit.
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>> Essential to change the oil and filter
>> every 5k miles, to flush the old oil, and to drain from the sump plug.
>> Do not siphon the old oil out or you will leave sludge in the sump".
If I had a 95, I'd go one further. Drop the sump, clean out, and clean or replace oil strainer. These can get blocked if the oil hasn't been changed regularly with fully synthetic. This is the biggest issue with them. Probably best left to a specialist or decent mechanic as the exhaust needs to be dropped - the studs can shear off when doing this. Not a nice thing to happen when you're lying under the car on the drive. Some owners on the forums couldn't believe that the engine was still getting oil when they were shown the blocked strainers.
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>> bit that doesn't work is the SiD...
Is it hissing?
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no it's definitely innocent
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I'm assuming you know about the SaabTechTalk forum, for self-help on your 9-5.
As an Aero, it SHOULD have been run on synthetic oil from the start, so the sludging issue should be less of a risk than on lesser models that may have been run on semi-synth. My Aero estate has been run on synthetic all its life, with oil & filter religiously changed every 6,000 miles. It's now on 175,000 miles and runs sweet as a nut! Sump never dropped, but the advice to do so is sound if you don't know the history. I gather it is likely to cost around £120 at an independent Saab specialist.
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Thanks all - car's been to Torbay and back without problems now. Oddly, fuel consumption appears to be better than the 2.0 it replaced.
There's some service history and the previous owner had it serviced and MOT'd at Astley Saab in January; it's done less than 4000 miles since. That said though there's nothing in all the receipts etc that came with it about the sump being dropped so it's going in next week to have that done, especially in light of what happened to the previous one.
MikeH - thanks for the link, very useful. Found a link for a SiD repair, requiring the use of a domestic iron of all things. I'll try it this weekend, nothing to lose as the LCD's completely illegible.
Nyx2k - you beat me to it :)
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Nice choice, Ash. Hope it serves you well. The 9-5 has the most elegantly over-engineered cupholder I've ever seen. Useless, of course, like all cupholders, but great fun to watch it unfold itself.
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Saab is no more - Runfer D'Hills
