I was just talking with my buddy who has been a Saab tech for the past 25 years. He said his dealer, who also sells Volvo, M-B, and GMC trucks, is purging their vehicle inventory of all Saabs, new and used, due to a dramatic decrease in parts availability. Of course those are OEM parts, so the aftermarket won't likely be effected the same way, but I thought I'd pass on the info anyways.
Can you give me the location? I know someone who lives around Chesterfield, MI who wants a 9-3 Convertible
I would clearly stay away from the freshly designed 9-5 that came out in in 2011. Also, in no way would I touch a 9-4x. Both of these will be limited production, unsupported vehicles.
On the other hand, I am highly interested in a 10 yr old 9-5 which was made for at least 10 years and should be supported via aftermarket pretty well. I especially like how they are depreciating rapidly.
What else did you learn from the Saab guy?
Any discussion of what to specifically avoid or common failure points? I am slowly trying to learn to speak Saab.
In reply to jrw1621:
Didn't really talk about any of that, but if you have specific questions I can ask. The whole discussion came about because I saw a 9-5 on Autotrader that was on their used car lot. It's about an hour away, so I emailed him about it. He discouraged me from buying one because of anticipated parts shortages, but I didn't think until later that the aftermarket should still support them. BTW, he used to have a turbo 99. I think it was a late 70's model, pretty rare if I remember correctly. Anyway, he had that thing making huge HP, all with mods he developed himself. Pretty cool.
Well, being at a dealership, he likely rarely sees aftermarket parts so he might not have a good grip on the real flow of aftermarket parts.
I did find this on Saabnet:
My body shop has told me that the06-09 saabs get totaled with minor front end damage... the xenon headlight assmebleys were not available ( 2 months ago)... and were going for 3K each he told me.. which has pushed cars over the limit as totaled in cases... just saying.. be careful... frond end 06-09 9-5 parts are notoriously scarce.... a xenon headlight at 1,500 is a good price I am told.
Edit: www.car-parts.com does show very few xenon headlights available but prices each at $600-700.
Older styles like an '02 seem plentiful at $300 or less.
My guess is the $1,500 is for "new"
Sabbnet does not seem like the best saab board. Does anyone have suggestions for better boards?
I hang out on saabcentral.com - Saabnet used to be the best board years ago (when they were the ONLY board) but Saabcentral is a lot friendlier and has better classifieds and a bigger user base...
I love my '99 9-5. From my experience, I wouldn't worry about parts availability at all until you get to the really recent stuff (06-up 9-5, etc). Saabcentral has some great FAQs in the 9-5 forum and I would also be happy to answer any Saab-related questions you have (this is my third Saab, but my first 9-5).
bravenrace wrote: In reply to jrw1621: Didn't really talk about any of that, but if you have specific questions I can ask. The whole discussion came about because I saw a 9-5 on Autotrader that was on their used car lot. It's about an hour away, so I emailed him about it. He discouraged me from buying one because of anticipated parts shortages, but I didn't think until later that the aftermarket should still support them. BTW, he used to have a turbo 99. I think it was a late 70's model, pretty rare if I remember correctly. Anyway, he had that thing making huge HP, all with mods he developed himself. Pretty cool.
Yep, pretty rare: 99 Turbo was '78 only. Big (laggy) turbo at the time, external wastegate, dealer-installed water injection available by '79 or '80.
Meanwhile, go here and scroll down to the bottom for more info on Saab OE parts supply:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/saab-9-3/49027/page1/
I would not really be worried about getting a OG 9-5. They were made from 98 until what, 2010 or so, lots and lots of cars.
It looks like the parts side of SAAB is working on setting up a new company in the US to distribute parts so the situation should be getting better.
On the other hand, I have put about 100K miles on my 03 9-5 and have only had to get a set of the window rollers outside of the normal maint stuff.
Like Slick said, there are a couple of us on here that have 9-5s so post up any questions you have.
Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: On the other hand, I have put about 100K miles on my 03 9-5 and have only had to get a set of the window rollers outside of the normal maint stuff.
Those you can buy at your local Volvo dealer. 850's used the same rollers. Green, If I recall.
Got a 9-3 at the shop just now. Needs an air pump...they are kinda like Volvo ones as well, but not close enough.
Streetwiseguy wrote:Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: On the other hand, I have put about 100K miles on my 03 9-5 and have only had to get a set of the window rollers outside of the normal maint stuff.Those you can buy at your local Volvo dealer. 850's used the same rollers. Green, If I recall. Got a 9-3 at the shop just now. Needs an air pump...they are kinda like Volvo ones as well, but not close enough.
Good to know, thanks.
jrw1621 wrote: On the other hand, I am highly interested in a 10 yr old 9-5 which was made for at least 10 years and should be supported via aftermarket pretty well. I especially like how they are depreciating rapidly.
Heh.
We FINALLY got our hands on a genuine SAAB ignition cassette for one of these. (There's currently a 235-unit backorder in the US!) The aftermarket ones would last about 1000, 2000 miles before letting the smoke out, if they even worked properly right out of the box. The car owner, at least, is understanding.
The Trionic "cassette" uses an MSD-style ignition system to drive the coils, Saturn-style determination of "cam" position, and they also bias something like 80v across the spark plug to sense knock, in lieu of a knock sensor. Lotta electronics in that thing.
To be honest, I think I'd rather have a Saturn L300, or an L200 if manual shift was a priority.
This shouldn't be a problem with the 9-2X seeing as how it's mostly Impreza right?!
jere wrote: This shouldn't be a problem with the 9-2X seeing as how it's mostly Impreza right?!
The 9-2X is mechanically an Impreza, yes.
IMO, DI cassette issues with the 9-5 are overblown. If you change your plugs frequently, gap them correctly, and give the boots a healthy coat of dielectric grease every time - the unit will function well indefinitely. There are a lot of guys out there (myself included) running original cassettes on 200k+ cars.
Plus, good used ones sell on Saabcentral for $100-300 twice a week. There are a lot of guys out there crashing their cars or blowing motors from sludge, so the market is pretty ripe at the moment.
They also have a code on the outside that lets you date them, which is probably helpful when searching used.
Saab = the new Daewoo.
ddavidv wrote: Saab = the new Daewoo.
Never.
Yeah, daewoo still exists.
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