Funny how some cars fight you.. and some want to live

My first foray into saabhood was not a pretty one. An abused NG900 that just refused to be reliable. Everything I did to the car seemed to require moving the subframe under the engine, and it was really only good at going fast in a straight line, it did not care to turn at all. In all honesty, I have never owned a car that fought me as much as my NG did.. and I doubt I ever will again.

A month ago, I gave up and purchased a loved but tired classic 900. With over twice the number of miles that the NG has, it needed/needs a little work, but so far has proven to be very reliable and very good about letting me know something is going wrong. So far, it has been a joy to work on.

When I got the car, the hardest thing was getting the hood open. It simply did not want to "pop" and up until yesterday, still refused to pop without help. Yesterday I had a hard time keeping it closed. Every big bump would pop it up and force me to pull over to close it.

On the way home last night, It popped and when I went to close it.. I heard an odd hissing noise. I traced it do the vacuume line that supplies suck to move the vents on the dash. No biggie, I stopped on the way home from work today to pick one up. When I popped the hood to check the size.. I heard another odd noise.. I would say I was 10 miles from blowing a radiator hose as the top one was leaking and spitting around the clamp. Nice of the car to let me know I had a bigger problem brewing.

Anybody else have a car that is helpful and just wants to live? Seeing as I saved my Classic 900 from the scrap pile.. I guess it feels quite attached to me now.

Are you sure it's a Saab?

And maybe not a VW:

careful...

I had a 9000 that was like that. It was given to me for free. It belong to a friends daughter. They had replaced it with something newer. It had sat dormant for several months in a snowy tomb. That thing just responded to anything I did, seemingly fixing other minor issues that I had not addressed yet. I had intended to give it a death by field racing, but by the time I had less than 8 hours into it, it was a good car. Ending up passing it on to another friend who had hard luck case in his parish to give it to. As far as I know a year later, the car still runs strong. It was good K(c)harma.

4cylndrfury wrote: careful...

Just ask Buddy Repperton.

My 945 turbo has an odd issue. When it breaks (and it has happened often) it tries to pay me back. Literally. But it's poor. I don't carry money in the car, other than my wallet, but three times now (upper radiator hose, flat tire, turbocharger) it has repaid me with a coin at the crack of the drivers seat. The first two were quarters, the last was a penny. Not terribly helpful, but nice to know it cared enough to try and keep me from hitting it with a hammer.

My 95 corolla was like that...well more like an old faithful pet that was just too old, but wouldnt die. It was leaking fuel from several places, made terrible groans and squeaks at times, several assemblies were backyarded to keep them working, and in general just needed a LOT of help all around...but the damned thing started and drove every friggin time...seriously - never left me stranded once. It was peppy, safe, comfortable, fun (5 speed and manual everything), easy to work on and easy to find parts for. It just got to where it was nickle and dime-ing me to death. Finally sold it ( with full disclosure to a factory Toyota tech in the family - it lives on). Was sad to see it go, it was just so damned dependable - wish their current offerings inspired such confidence.

The cars I hate are the ones you can hear laughing manically at you like a James Bond supervillian...

I had a VW that faught me constantly. It just didn't like going on the interstate. It would get all fussy ever time i got up to 75 and crap would start breaking. Once (in february in wisconsin) one of the rear windows slid into the door while on a 2 hour trip and the motor wasn't connected. I had to manually slide it back up, and ever bump lowered it an inch. It didn't like water either. We eventually opened the hood, started it up, and used a spray bottle to see what was shorting out in the rain. It turned out, any time the coil, plug wires, or distributor got wet (any of them) even a little bit, the engine died. sometimes i miss that car. other times i have to supress the vomit.

My old econoline, on the other hand, refuses to die. It just wont. It's older than me, is terribly underpowered (by my standards) and is fairly ugly, but it keeps running. Perfectly. It starts at -30F. It just carried 1400lbs more stuff than it was supposed to on a 1000 mile trip that involved mountians and never went wrong. I can't in good conscious get rid of this one.

The jetta is LONG GONE though... to a poor, poor soul...

In reply to Rufledt:

I had a '67 econoline with the 170ci. My old man and I routinely overloaded and abused the old girl but she never let us down. We once moved an early '70's Formula B roller INSIDE the van. Removed rear "subframe" and piled it on top of the rest of the car. The nose stuck out of the back about 3 feet and the wheels/tires were strapped to the roof. I once moved so many TR bits (rearends, blocks, trannys etc.) in her that I swear going up hills the steering would get frighteningly light... "I don't think the front wheels are touching anything."

Good times

What if your car is a vampire? Mine draws blood every time I work on it.

why do you think I pulled the plug on the NG900? damn thing wanted my soul

My mom's old supra had an attitde, too. my uncle was changing the oil once and it decided to spray the oil all over his face. He was laying down under it, too, so he couldn't get away! it was hilarious.

And yes, Econolines are awesome. I have decided that i'm never gonna sell it. I even got my fiance to start saying 'when it comes time to put another engine in the van...' instead of 'when it comes time to get rid of the van...' which may not be too long now... that thing is older than me...

Edit: actually now that i think about it, my other car is a rotary, so i'll probobly need a new engine in that first... I'll just keep my fingers crossed it happens before the warranty runs out...