I need a cheap car to run into the ground. Motorway miles mainly back and too to work. The other half will have the ‘proper’ car every day

Going off one of my mates experiences older Saab’s seem to fit the bill. He’s had a few. They run forever and don’t seem to fall apart. So I’m thinking of a 9-5 or a 9-3. There seems to be a lot out there with full service histories and high mileage.

Any pointers from the STW petrolheads. And I do mean petrol. I’m not driving a diesel. I just can’t. So – what do i need to look out for?

Don’t – both of my 9-5s, which I loved, blew up

Or, get one and pay extra for a warranty

If your buying a cheap car to run into the ground why restrict yourself to one make. Set a budget and see what’s about. Suprising what you can pick up for under a grand…

Ok. I’ll revise the brief and throw it open. Recommend me a car to run into the ground please. Anything considered.

Old Passat TDi. My sister just got a 1999 ish one for £1300 or something and it’s amazingly good.

I had a last generation 900 (p reg) which was a gm base. It was bomb proof and the most comfortable car I’ve had.
2 lt petrol 16 v if memory serves. I’m tempted to buy another just for the sort of use you are suggesting.
Can be picked up for around 600 for an excellent spec and condition one.

mk1 Ford Focus – 1.6 or above

What jam bo said. Cheap and good is hard to find, so look at all models and brands.

And remember its the internet – one persons Focus shall have blown up after a week, anothers shall have lasted forever.

I hate car threads on this site.

I’m just looking for advice as every car I’ve bought previously has been new or as good as. ‘Proper’ car is an Octavia vRS estate, which is the holy grail on here isn’t it? 🙂

\Had a Focus 1.8 before which was a great car. Wonder if i can buy that one back?

Someone once said to me, when buying old cars never buy a car made by a company from a country that won the war.

Except that would mean Swedish cars would be unreliable and Italian ones reliable, which is clearly nonsense 🙂

Saabs…. check for regular oil changes in the 2.0 engines. Ideally needs doing every 6000/6months. They had a habit of sludging up which would in turn kill the engine. The light pressure turbos can also be a bit fragile if not looked after. Check for blue smoke when it starts.. can be a sign of the oil seals in the turbo going..its about £750-800 for a new one
Fuel consumption round town in a petrol isn’t great.. 22-25mpg. motorway is better, but 35-40 isn’t that great these days!!

The garage I use up in Hadfield also sells them on..have a look HERE

Generally all round solid cars.. there are good ‘uns and bad ‘uns, take a bit of time and you should be ok

Saab 900 turbo convertible, one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
Like this one:

First thing you have to realise about the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 is they’re just recycled Vauxhall Astra/Cavaliers and Vectras. So you’ll be paying for the Saab badge, but buying a Cavalier. Saab held on to their own petrol engines for as long as they could, but all later ones are GM engined. It does mean, if you go to the right places and do your homework, spares are Vauxhall prices and not Saab ones. I’ve got a good friend who works for a Saab/Vauxhall dealership, so if you’ve got any questions about a particular model (year,engine), drop me a message and I’ll see what I can find out for you.

I have a W reg 9-5 2.3 Turbo Aero. Ok not the cheapest on fuel but not that bad either. Bought it for £2500.00 with full service history and then discovered that the cam cover had a design fault which SAAB provided extra warranty on for seven years, but sadly was now finished. Cost £1300.00 for an engine rebuild but not should go on forever. Saabtech in Stevenage sometimes have some for sale, really nice guys and certainly know their stuff.

One last thing, on a sunny day there’s nothing better than planting your foot in the carpet and watching the countryside fly by 🙂

Mondeo Passat focus all easy to get parts and quite good runners.

With Saab check the electrics.

Saab 900 turbo convertible, one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

I think you need your eyes testing – it’s gopping!

older vw to run into the ground…………tdi very very very good/gtis if looked after especially by 40 somethings
toyotas worth a look

vw based skodas/seats
as said above newish saabs are GM based.

Ok, here we go. I’ve had a GM-900, 93 (same shape) and 95.

900 1995 vintage – bomb proof, nothing went wrong in over 100k miles. Very comfy, excellent engine, but handling and steering a bit woolly. Fully galvanised body, so rust shouldn’t be an issue. Sold in 1998 with >100k on the clock – engine and gearbox still perfect.

93 1999 – almost bomb proof, and much better ride and handling than the 900 that looked the same. Major issues are heater controls, air-con failure and display failure. Mine had all three fail (expensive), but once fixed, they’re fine. Sold in 2004 with >100k miles – engine and gearbox still perfect.

95 estate 2ltr light pressure turbo 2003 – really liked this car (fairly fast, spacious), but it was so much more fragile than the earlier Saabs. Lots of stuff started to go wrong – wheel bearings, auto gearbox, throttle body, pipes etc, so I got rid.

Bottom line – just checked the DVLA database and the 900 and 93 are still on the road, and the 95 is not. Read into that what you will.

Paul

900 SE (2.0L Turbo) ’98 R
been running it for about 5 years now, up to 140K on the clock.
great 90% of the time lovely to drive, huge bike space
downsides, servicing is pricey, fuel economy doesnt exist

probably getting rid of mine for a van in the near future as i commute by bike these days, will be really sad to see it go.

Good point actually – Saabs are not known for fuel economy. If you have a lot of motorway miles to do then if you don’t get a good economical diesel you may as well take money out of your wallet and throw it out of the window as you drive.

10 year old BMW 523. Last forever.

If you’re going for an old Saab then maybe a later model 9000 is a better bet? Bombproof, incredibly spacious and assembled with minimal GM parts.

The old shape 900 is an anachronism to some extent, but is deservedly popular and commands a higher premium than the bloated looking 9000.

My father ran two 900s and a 9000 between 1985 and 1997, all were turbo models and the first 900 suffered from cylinder head cracking. Otherwise, he swore by them and I certainly don’t recall much in the way of unreliability.

Mike’s selling this at the moment

It’s not given any trouble in the time he’s had it and looks to be in very good condition – it’s a lot of car for the money.

Good point actually – Saabs are not known for fuel economy. If you have a lot of motorway miles to do then if you don’t get a good economical diesel you may as well take money out of your wallet and throw it out of the window as you drive.

i disagree, the one I’ve got now – 2007 9-3 1.9diesel sportwagon – is marginally better for mpg than the 2004 BMW 320d I had before it, used on the same route to/from work.

And of course, in turn that was lots better than the Alfa 156 t-spark that I had before that, but you’d expect that…

Oh – and I’m with HairyChested. Always thought there was something inherently “right” about the old 900 convertible.

for a start, its MASSIVELY down to the car in question. once you get to 10yrs + cars and your just after a beater, don’t restrict to just one type, keep your eyes peeled for all sorts….

personally a WELL looked after 9-5 estate, T-02 reg with a 2.2dti engine shouldn’t cost you more than 1500 unless you live in london. get a manual, the auto’s they borrowed from opel/vaux/gm are ancient pieces of shit.

9-3 turbos bad on fuel hey? probably something wrong with it then. we have a 2002 (GM900 shaped, NOT 9-3SS) 2.0 16v hot aero (B205engine) + BSR stage 3, rolling roaded + fresh engine pipework (~265bhp, 230lb.ft). 0-60 probably 6-7second region. top end 150mph and been there.
fuel economy? if you drive it like I do (occasionally boot it, well, a few times a day TBH), journeys of 20miles+ in good conditions. I NEVER EVER EVER see less than 37mpg from it. best was 46mpg, that was driving from manchester to glasgow then to oban (3person+luggage+dog), after that it was outer hebrides and so obviously fell. to about 40mpg. this is running normal supermarket 95RON.
personally the economy always amazes me, especially when comapred to a 1.6 focus (40mpg if your lucky) or one of the normally aspirated models (thirsty as **** and no go in them).

with the saab brand, you get quirky styling, neat driving aids, extreme comfort for the price (look at an 8yr old 9-5 then compare to an 8yr old BM series5 or merc Eclass, yeah, cheap ain’t it), good range of engines. things that let them down and to be aware of…

naturally they spend their first 3yrs of life as rep mobiles or being thrashed from one end of the country to the other. I don’t think i’ve ever come across a modern era saab with ‘nromal miles’ (10k/.annum) they are almost always 3years old = 80-120k miles). they NEED ABSOLUTLY NEED to be serviced properly. proper milage, proper oil, properly cleaned out (de-sumped and physically raked out in some cases), and maintained religiously. in sweeden & norge, they do this with all their cars because of the harsh conditions, if your car fails in -40degrees, 150km from the nearest town at 4am on a sunday, your dead. IN this country people get lazy and just expect AN unserviced unmaintained car to perform perfectly. it won’t.

If it was me and tax/insure/fuel wasn’t an issue, go for it, get a 9-5 hot aero, 2.3t 250bhp, reliable if serviced right. or for less money for for any model with the 2.2dti with a manual box.

also wroth considering, B5.5 (facelift) Passat estate with any disesl engine (the 4pot petrols are thirsty, underpowered, rough and generally a waste of space), should go for 1500-2000.

less than that, 1999-2006 shape ford mondeo, any diesel or 2.0 petrol. they go for the price of half used fag packets. nothing wrong with them, but generally tatty and unloved.

happy hunting.

i disagree, the one I’ve got now – 2007 9-3 1.9diesel sportwagon – is marginally better for mpg than the 2004 BMW 320d I had before it,

Before Efficient Dynamics, BMWs were nothing special either.

What sort of economy do you get then?

Right, yellow ones are better:

don’t you live in manchester?

saab is the northside crims company car of choice…

my average milage for the 3 rover diesels i have owne is 133k, had to sell one at 40k because i owed 2.8k import tax on it. one was written off at 217k, still driving the 3rd

cheap, reliable and with decent performance.

this is handy for me, been looking for a car under £1500 for myself and pretty much got it down to a Mondeo/Focus or a VW

42mpg or thereabouts. not great for a diesel I admit, but that’s because my commute takes me through Leeds/Bradford during rush hour. If I lived at, say Wetherby, I could be straight down the motorway & probably get nearer 50mpg

youmay find thiss useful

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/saab/9-3-2002/?section=bad

you may find this useful

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/saab/9-3-2002/?section=bad

Buy an old Volvo V40 instead.
my bestest car ever.
163,000 miles and still running strong.

2.0petrol 33mpg.

still got my 14 yr old saab 9000 cse and it’s running great! 2.0 turbo 150 bhp and still goes like snot off a stick, i love it!

this pic was taken just over 1yr ago.

aren’t saab spares hideously expensive ?

mmb, I forgot how lovely they were, well, still are 🙂

mines great it looks lovely polished up and there are still so many around that second hand cheap spares are easily available, a friend has just picked up bonnet and front panel to repair his after a bump and the total cost was £40 for both ffs!

hairychested im with you mate,i love the look and the lines of these model of saab.i had a G reg gun metal grey 900i a few years back and its was a dream to drive,i was in a wee bump and i came out of it unscathed with the front bumper cover creased yet the ford escort that ran into me was totaly ****,whole front end was totaly wrecked.total right off.these cars are built to take any hit and still keep rolling,id love to buy anotheron but would need to go to a saab club to get a good one

Don’t buy a Saab!

They are a virtually a cottage industry brand which has limped along, nearly gone bust a few times and haven’t fully developed a car for decades!

The 900 was a dog of a car to drive, but what do you expect of 1970’s technology? I recall holding them in high regard when I was young, but that was when they were juxtaposed against cars like the Morris Minor, the Austin Maxi, the Datsun Cherry, Renaults.

The 9000’s were based on a Fiat Chroma which was a piece of unreliable crxp!

If you crash a Saab, or need spares for any other reason, you’ll get a shock and this will be after you have schlepped miles and miles to find your nearest dealer.

If you’re still determined to get a Saab, go for a 9-3, but why not buy a cheap workhorse like a Vectra? Afterall the Saab 9-3 is based on the Vectra.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch Saab’s.

My recommendation would be any VAG Group car.